Yahoo Finance Here's What Texas Roadhouse, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:TXRH) ROCE Can Tell Us
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Today we are going to look at Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:TXRH) to see whether it might be an attractive investment prospect. In particular, we'll consider its Return On Capital Employed (ROCE), as that can give us insight into how profitably the company is able to employ capital in its business.
First, we'll go over how we calculate ROCE. Second, we'll look at its ROCE compared to similar companies. Then we'll determine how its current liabilities are affecting its ROCE.
Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)
ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. All else being equal, a better business will have a higher ROCE. Overall, it is a valuable metric that has its flaws. Renowned investment researcher Michael Mauboussin has suggested that a high ROCE can indicate that 'one dollar invested in the company generates value of more than one dollar'.
So, How Do We Calculate ROCE?
The formula for calculating the return on capital employed is:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
Or for Texas Roadhouse:
0.12 = US$185m ÷ (US$1.9b - US$362m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2019.)
Therefore, Texas Roadhouse has an ROCE of 12%.
See our latest analysis for Texas Roadhouse
Is Texas Roadhouse's ROCE Good?
When making comparisons between similar businesses, investors may find ROCE useful. Texas Roadhouse's ROCE appears to be substantially greater than the 9.4% average in the Hospitality industry. We would consider this a positive, as it suggests it is using capital more effectively than other similar companies. Separate from Texas Roadhouse's performance relative to its industry, its ROCE in absolute terms looks satisfactory, and it may be worth researching in more depth.
We can see that , Texas Roadhouse currently has an ROCE of 12%, less than the 19% it reported 3 years ago. So investors might consider if it has had issues recently. You can see in the image below how Texas Roadhouse's ROCE compares to its industry. Click to see more on past growth.
Remember that this metric is backwards looking - it shows what has happened in the past, and does not accurately predict the future. ROCE can be misleading for companies in cyclical industries, with returns looking impressive during the boom times, but very weak during the busts. ROCE is, after all, simply a snap shot of a single year. Since the future is so important for investors, you should check out our free report on analyst forecasts for Texas Roadhouse.
What Are Current Liabilities, And How Do They Affect Texas Roadhouse's ROCE?
Short term (or current) liabilities, are things like supplier invoices, overdrafts, or tax bills that need to be paid within 12 months. Due to the way the ROCE equation works, having large bills due in the near term can make it look as though a company has less capital employed, and thus a higher ROCE than usual. To counter this, investors can check if a company has high current liabilities relative to total assets.
Texas Roadhouse has total liabilities of US$362m and total assets of US$1.9b. Therefore its current liabilities are equivalent to approximately 19% of its total assets. A fairly low level of current liabilities is not influencing the ROCE too much.
The Bottom Line On Texas Roadhouse's ROCE
This is good to see, and with a sound ROCE, Texas Roadhouse could be worth a closer look. There might be better investments than Texas Roadhouse out there, but you will have to work hard to find them . These promising businesses with rapidly growing earnings might be right up your alley.
For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
