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Investors Met With Slowing Returns on Capital At Qurate Retail (NASDAQ:QRTE.A)

If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. 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. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. Having said that, from a first glance at Qurate Retail (NASDAQ:QRTE.A) we aren't jumping out of our chairs at how returns are trending, but let's have a deeper look.

What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

For those who don't know, ROCE is a measure of a company's yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Qurate Retail:

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

0.045 = US$428m ÷ (US$13b - US$3.1b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2022).

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So, Qurate Retail has an ROCE of 4.5%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Multiline Retail industry average of 15%.

Check out our latest analysis for Qurate Retail

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In the above chart we have measured Qurate Retail's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

The Trend Of ROCE

We're a bit concerned with the trends, because the business is applying 54% less capital than it was five years ago and returns on that capital have stayed flat. This indicates to us that assets are being sold and thus the business is likely shrinking, which you'll remember isn't the typical ingredients for an up-and-coming multi-bagger. Not only that, but the low returns on this capital mentioned earlier would leave most investors unimpressed.

On another note, while the change in ROCE trend might not scream for attention, it's interesting that the current liabilities have actually gone up over the last five years. This is intriguing because if current liabilities hadn't increased to 25% of total assets, this reported ROCE would probably be less than4.5% because total capital employed would be higher.The 4.5% ROCE could be even lower if current liabilities weren't 25% of total assets, because the the formula would show a larger base of total capital employed. With that in mind, just be wary if this ratio increases in the future, because if it gets particularly high, this brings with it some new elements of risk.

In Conclusion...

In summary, Qurate Retail isn't reinvesting funds back into the business and returns aren't growing. And investors appear hesitant that the trends will pick up because the stock has fallen 63% in the last three years. On the whole, we aren't too inspired by the underlying trends and we think there may be better chances of finding a multi-bagger elsewhere.

Qurate Retail does have some risks, we noticed 3 warning signs (and 1 which is a bit unpleasant) we think you should know about.

While Qurate Retail 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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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