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There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next multi-bagger. 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. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. Although, when we looked at JOYY (NASDAQ:YY), it didn't seem to tick all of these boxes.

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 JOYY:

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

0.016 = CN¥734m ÷ (CN¥53b - CN¥6.9b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2020).

Therefore, JOYY has an ROCE of 1.6%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Interactive Media and Services industry average of 6.8%.

Check out our latest analysis for JOYY

Above you can see how the current ROCE for JOYY 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 report for JOYY.

The Trend Of ROCE

On the surface, the trend of ROCE at JOYY doesn't inspire confidence. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 22%, but since then they've fallen to 1.6%. Although, given both revenue and the amount of assets employed in the business have increased, it could suggest the company is investing in growth, and the extra capital has led to a short-term reduction in ROCE. If these investments prove successful, this can bode very well for long term stock performance.

The Bottom Line On JOYY's ROCE

Even though returns on capital have fallen in the short term, we find it promising that revenue and capital employed have both increased for JOYY. In light of this, the stock has only gained 33% over the last five years. So this stock may still be an appealing investment opportunity, if other fundamentals prove to be sound.

Like most companies, JOYY does come with some risks, and we've found 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.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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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