What trends should we look for it we want to identify stocks that can multiply in value over the long term? Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. So when we looked at the ROCE trend of Oddity Tech (NASDAQ:ODD) we really liked what we saw.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Oddity Tech:

Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)

0.31 = US$122m ÷ (US$519m - US$131m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

Therefore, Oddity Tech has an ROCE of 31%. That's a fantastic return and not only that, it outpaces the average of 15% earned by companies in a similar industry.

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Oddity Tech compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free analyst report for Oddity Tech .

What Can We Tell From Oddity Tech's ROCE Trend?

Investors would be pleased with what's happening at Oddity Tech. The numbers show that in the last three years, the returns generated on capital employed have grown considerably to 31%. The amount of capital employed has increased too, by 445%. The increasing returns on a growing amount of capital is common amongst multi-baggers and that's why we're impressed.

In another part of our analysis, we noticed that the company's ratio of current liabilities to total assets decreased to 25%, which broadly means the business is relying less on its suppliers or short-term creditors to fund its operations. So shareholders would be pleased that the growth in returns has mostly come from underlying business performance.

The Key Takeaway

In summary, it's great to see that Oddity Tech can compound returns by consistently reinvesting capital at increasing rates of return, because these are some of the key ingredients of those highly sought after multi-baggers. And investors seem to expect more of this going forward, since the stock has rewarded shareholders with a 39% return over the last year. Therefore, we think it would be worth your time to check if these trends are going to continue.

Before jumping to any conclusions though, we need to know what value we're getting for the current share price. That's where you can check out our FREE intrinsic value estimation for ODD that compares the share price and estimated value.

If you want to search for more stocks that have been earning high returns, check out this free list of stocks with solid balance sheets that are also earning high returns on equity.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.