If you're not sure where to start when looking for the next multi-bagger, there are a few key trends you should keep an eye out for. One common approach is to try and find a company with returns on capital employed (ROCE) that are increasing, in conjunction with a growing 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. So on that note, Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) looks quite promising in regards to its trends of return on capital.

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. To calculate this metric for Liquidity Services, this is the formula:

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

0.14 = US$26m ÷ (US$326m - US$143m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

So, Liquidity Services has an ROCE of 14%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Commercial Services industry average of 10% it's much better.

Check out our latest analysis for Liquidity Services

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Liquidity Services 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 analyst report for Liquidity Services .

So How Is Liquidity Services' ROCE Trending?

Liquidity Services has recently broken into profitability so their prior investments seem to be paying off. Shareholders would no doubt be pleased with this because the business was loss-making five years ago but is is now generating 14% on its capital. In addition to that, Liquidity Services is employing 48% more capital than previously which is expected of a company that's trying to break into profitability. This can indicate that there's plenty of opportunities to invest capital internally and at ever higher rates, both common traits of a multi-bagger.

Another thing to note, Liquidity Services has a high ratio of current liabilities to total assets of 44%. This effectively means that suppliers (or short-term creditors) are funding a large portion of the business, so just be aware that this can introduce some elements of risk. Ideally we'd like to see this reduce as that would mean fewer obligations bearing risks.