There's Been No Shortage Of Growth Recently For Vocera Communications' (NYSE:VCRA) Returns On Capital
If we want to find a stock that could multiply over the long term, what are the underlying trends we should look for? One common approach is to try and find a company with returns on capital employed (ROCE) that are increasing, in conjunction with a growing 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 Vocera Communications (NYSE:VCRA) and its trend of ROCE, we really liked what we saw.
Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What is it?
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. To calculate this metric for Vocera Communications, this is the formula:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.0036 = US$1.5m ÷ (US$498m - US$80m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021).
So, Vocera Communications has an ROCE of 0.4%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Healthcare Services industry average of 5.4%.
See our latest analysis for Vocera Communications
Above you can see how the current ROCE for Vocera Communications 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 Vocera Communications here for free.
What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us
We're delighted to see that Vocera Communications is reaping rewards from its investments and is now generating some pre-tax profits. Shareholders would no doubt be pleased with this because the business was loss-making five years ago but is is now generating 0.4% on its capital. Not only that, but the company is utilizing 263% more capital than before, but that's to be expected from a company trying to break into profitability. This can indicate that there's plenty of opportunities to invest capital internally and at ever higher rates, both common traits of a multi-bagger.
One more thing to note, Vocera Communications has decreased current liabilities to 16% of total assets over this period, which effectively reduces the amount of funding from suppliers or short-term creditors. So shareholders would be pleased that the growth in returns has mostly come from underlying business performance.
Our Take On Vocera Communications' ROCE
In summary, it's great to see that Vocera Communications has managed to break into profitability and is continuing to reinvest in its business. And a remarkable 165% total return over the last five years tells us that investors are expecting more good things to come in the future. Therefore, we think it would be worth your time to check if these trends are going to continue.
If you want to continue researching Vocera Communications, you might be interested to know about the 2 warning signs that our analysis has discovered.
While Vocera Communications isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.
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.
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