Yahoo Finance Can Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Continue To Grow Its Returns On Capital?
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Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. So when we looked at Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) and its trend of ROCE, we really liked what we saw.
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 Ciena is:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.14 = US$454m ÷ (US$3.9b - US$713m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to May 2020).
So, Ciena has an ROCE of 14%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 6.3% generated by the Communications industry.
View our latest analysis for Ciena
Above you can see how the current ROCE for Ciena 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 Ciena.
What Can We Tell From Ciena's ROCE Trend?
Investors would be pleased with what's happening at Ciena. The numbers show that in the last five years, the returns generated on capital employed have grown considerably to 14%. The company is effectively making more money per dollar of capital used, and it's worth noting that the amount of capital has increased too, by 107%. This can indicate that there's plenty of opportunities to invest capital internally and at ever higher rates, a combination that's common among multi-baggers.
In Conclusion...
All in all, it's terrific to see that Ciena is reaping the rewards from prior investments and is growing its capital base. And a remarkable 110% total return over the last five years tells us that investors are expecting more good things to come in the future. In light of that, we think it's worth looking further into this stock because if Ciena can keep these trends up, it could have a bright future ahead.
Ciena does have some risks though, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Ciena that you might be interested in.
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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