There's Been No Shortage Of Growth Recently For JD.com's (NASDAQ:JD) Returns On Capital
If you're not sure where to start when looking for the next multi-bagger, there are a few key trends you should keep an eye out for. Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. So on that note, JD.com (NASDAQ:JD) looks quite promising in regards to its trends of return on capital.
Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What Is It?
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 JD.com:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.08 = CN¥29b ÷ (CN¥629b - CN¥266b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).
Thus, JD.com has an ROCE of 8.0%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Multiline Retail industry average of 12%.
Check out our latest analysis for JD.com
Above you can see how the current ROCE for JD.com compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering JD.com for free.
The Trend Of ROCE
The fact that JD.com is now generating some pre-tax profits from its prior investments is very encouraging. Shareholders would no doubt be pleased with this because the business was loss-making five years ago but is is now generating 8.0% on its capital. And unsurprisingly, like most companies trying to break into the black, JD.com is utilizing 311% more capital than it was five years ago. This can tell us that the company has plenty of reinvestment opportunities that are able to generate higher returns.
On a related note, the company's ratio of current liabilities to total assets has decreased to 42%, which basically reduces it's funding from the likes of short-term creditors or suppliers. This tells us that JD.com has grown its returns without a reliance on increasing their current liabilities, which we're very happy with. However, current liabilities are still at a pretty high level, so just be aware that this can bring with it some risks.
In Conclusion...
Overall, JD.com gets a big tick from us thanks in most part to the fact that it is now profitable and is reinvesting in its business. Investors may not be impressed by the favorable underlying trends yet because over the last five years the stock has only returned 1.9% to shareholders. Given that, we'd look further into this stock in case it has more traits that could make it multiply in the long term.
Like most companies, JD.com does come with some risks, and we've found 1 warning sign that you should be aware of.
For those who like to invest in solid companies, check out this free list of companies with solid balance sheets and 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.
