Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? 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. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. So, when we ran our eye over Vipshop Holdings' (NYSE:VIPS) trend of ROCE, we liked what we saw.

Understanding 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 Vipshop Holdings:

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

0.19 = CN¥8.5b ÷ (CN¥75b - CN¥29b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2025).

Therefore, Vipshop Holdings has an ROCE of 19%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 11% generated by the Multiline Retail industry.

In the above chart we have measured Vipshop Holdings' 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 analyst report for Vipshop Holdings .

The Trend Of ROCE

While the returns on capital are good, they haven't moved much. The company has consistently earned 19% for the last five years, and the capital employed within the business has risen 75% in that time. 19% is a pretty standard return, and it provides some comfort knowing that Vipshop Holdings has consistently earned this amount. Over long periods of time, returns like these might not be too exciting, but with consistency they can pay off in terms of share price returns.

What We Can Learn From Vipshop Holdings' ROCE

The main thing to remember is that Vipshop Holdings has proven its ability to continually reinvest at respectable rates of return. However, despite the favorable fundamentals, the stock has fallen 28% over the last five years, so there might be an opportunity here for astute investors. For that reason, savvy investors might want to look further into this company in case it's a prime investment.

While Vipshop Holdings doesn't shine too bright in this respect, it's still worth seeing if the company is trading at attractive prices. You can find that out with our FREE intrinsic value estimation for VIPS on our platform.

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.