Yahoo Finance The Returns On Capital At LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) Don't Inspire Confidence
There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next multi-bagger. 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. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. However, after investigating LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB), we don't think it's current trends fit the mold of a multi-bagger.
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. The formula for this calculation on LyondellBasell Industries is:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.12 = US$3.5b ÷ (US$37b - US$7.2b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).
Therefore, LyondellBasell Industries has an ROCE of 12%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 9.7% generated by the Chemicals industry.
View our latest analysis for LyondellBasell Industries
In the above chart we have measured LyondellBasell Industries' prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering LyondellBasell Industries for free.
What Does the ROCE Trend For LyondellBasell Industries Tell Us?
When we looked at the ROCE trend at LyondellBasell Industries, we didn't gain much confidence. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 23% over the last five years. And considering revenue has dropped while employing more capital, we'd be cautious. This could mean that the business is losing its competitive advantage or market share, because while more money is being put into ventures, it's actually producing a lower return - "less bang for their buck" per se.
The Key Takeaway
From the above analysis, we find it rather worrisome that returns on capital and sales for LyondellBasell Industries have fallen, meanwhile the business is employing more capital than it was five years ago. Yet despite these concerning fundamentals, the stock has performed strongly with a 51% return over the last five years, so investors appear very optimistic. Regardless, we don't feel too comfortable with the fundamentals so we'd be steering clear of this stock for now.
If you want to continue researching LyondellBasell Industries, you might be interested to know about the 4 warning signs that our analysis has discovered.
While LyondellBasell Industries may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list here.
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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.
