Will New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE:EDU) Multiply In Value Going Forward?

What trends should we look for it we want to identify stocks that can multiply in value over the long term? 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. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. Having said that, from a first glance at New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE:EDU) we aren't jumping out of our chairs at how returns are trending, but let's have a deeper look.

Understanding 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. The formula for this calculation on New Oriental Education & Technology Group is:

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

0.098 = US$399m ÷ (US$6.6b - US$2.5b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to May 2020).

Therefore, New Oriental Education & Technology Group has an ROCE of 9.8%. On its own, that's a low figure but it's around the 8.9% average generated by the Consumer Services industry.

Check out our latest analysis for New Oriental Education & Technology Group

In the above chart we have measured New Oriental Education & Technology Group's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering New Oriental Education & Technology Group here for free.

How Are Returns Trending?

In terms of New Oriental Education & Technology Group's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. 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.

In Conclusion...

While returns have fallen for New Oriental Education & Technology Group in recent times, we're encouraged to see that sales are growing and that the business is reinvesting in its operations. And the stock has done incredibly well with a 662% return over the last five years, so long term investors are no doubt ecstatic with that result. So while investors seem to be recognizing these promising trends, we would look further into this stock to make sure the other metrics justify the positive view.

If you're still interested in New Oriental Education & Technology Group it's worth checking out our FREE intrinsic value approximation to see if it's trading at an attractive price in other respects.

For those who like to invest in solid companies, check out this free list of companies with solid balance sheets and high 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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