If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's amount of capital employed. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. So while Fisher & Paykel Healthcare (NZSE:FPH) has a high ROCE right now, lets see what we can decipher from how returns are changing.

What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Fisher & Paykel Healthcare:

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

0.20 = NZ$419m ÷ (NZ$2.4b - NZ$373m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).

Thus, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare has an ROCE of 20%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Medical Equipment industry average of 9.5%.

View our latest analysis for Fisher & Paykel Healthcare

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Fisher & Paykel Healthcare compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free analyst report for Fisher & Paykel Healthcare .

What Can We Tell From Fisher & Paykel Healthcare's ROCE Trend?

In terms of Fisher & Paykel Healthcare's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. Historically returns on capital were even higher at 32%, but they have dropped over the last five years. However, given capital employed and revenue have both increased it appears that the business is currently pursuing growth, at the consequence of short term returns. If these investments prove successful, this can bode very well for long term stock performance.

What We Can Learn From Fisher & Paykel Healthcare's ROCE

While returns have fallen for Fisher & Paykel Healthcare in recent times, we're encouraged to see that sales are growing and that the business is reinvesting in its operations. Furthermore the stock has climbed 53% over the last five years, it would appear that investors are upbeat about the future. So while investors seem to be recognizing these promising trends, we would look further into this stock to make sure the other metrics justify the positive view.

If you want to continue researching Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, you might be interested to know about the 2 warning signs that our analysis has discovered.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare is not the only stock earning high returns. If you'd like to see more, check out our free list of companies earning high returns on equity with solid fundamentals.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.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.