If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. In a perfect world, we'd like to see a company investing more capital into its business and ideally the returns earned from that capital are also increasing. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. In light of that, when we looked at Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.

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 Verizon Communications:

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

0.095 = US$30b ÷ (US$379b - US$61b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

Thus, Verizon Communications has an ROCE of 9.5%. On its own, that's a low figure but it's around the 9.3% average generated by the Telecom industry.

In the above chart we have measured Verizon Communications' prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free analyst report for Verizon Communications .

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

We weren't thrilled with the trend because Verizon Communications' ROCE has reduced by 26% over the last five years, while the business employed 30% more capital. However, some of the increase in capital employed could be attributed to the recent capital raising that's been completed prior to their latest reporting period, so keep that in mind when looking at the ROCE decrease. It's unlikely that all of the funds raised have been put to work yet, so as a consequence Verizon Communications might not have received a full period of earnings contribution from it. Additionally, we found that Verizon Communications' most recent EBIT figure is around the same as the prior year, so we'd attribute the drop in ROCE mostly to the capital raise.

The Key Takeaway

Bringing it all together, while we're somewhat encouraged by Verizon Communications' reinvestment in its own business, we're aware that returns are shrinking. Unsurprisingly then, the total return to shareholders over the last five years has been flat. All in all, the inherent trends aren't typical of multi-baggers, so if that's what you're after, we think you might have more luck elsewhere.

If you'd like to know about the risks facing Verizon Communications, we've discovered 4 warning signs that you should be aware of.

If you want to search for solid companies with great earnings, check out this free list of companies with good balance sheets and impressive 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.