Yahoo Finance UET United Electronic Technology (ETR:CFC) May Have Issues Allocating Its Capital
What trends should we look for it we want to identify stocks that can multiply in value over the long term? Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. However, after investigating UET United Electronic Technology (ETR:CFC), we don't think it's current trends fit the mold of a multi-bagger.
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 UET United Electronic Technology:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.057 = €2.7m ÷ (€54m - €6.9m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).
Thus, UET United Electronic Technology has an ROCE of 5.7%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Communications industry average of 13%.
Check out our latest analysis for UET United Electronic Technology
While the past is not representative of the future, it can be helpful to know how a company has performed historically, which is why we have this chart above. If you'd like to look at how UET United Electronic Technology has performed in the past in other metrics, you can view this free graph of UET United Electronic Technology's past earnings, revenue and cash flow.
What Does the ROCE Trend For UET United Electronic Technology Tell Us?
On the surface, the trend of ROCE at UET United Electronic Technology doesn't inspire confidence. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 13% over the last five years. 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.
On a side note, UET United Electronic Technology has done well to pay down its current liabilities to 13% of total assets. So we could link some of this to the decrease in ROCE. What's more, this can reduce some aspects of risk to the business because now the company's suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of its operations. Some would claim this reduces the business' efficiency at generating ROCE since it is now funding more of the operations with its own money.
In Conclusion...
While returns have fallen for UET United Electronic Technology in recent times, we're encouraged to see that sales are growing and that the business is reinvesting in its operations. However, despite the promising trends, the stock has fallen 24% over the last five years, so there might be an opportunity here for astute investors. So we think it'd be worthwhile to look further into this stock given the trends look encouraging.
If you want to know some of the risks facing UET United Electronic Technology we've found 3 warning signs (1 is a bit concerning!) that you should be aware of before investing here.
While UET United Electronic Technology 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.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com
