What trends should we look for it we want to identify stocks that can multiply in value over the long term? 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. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. However, after briefly looking over the numbers, we don't think Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) has the makings of a multi-bagger going forward, but let's have a look at why that may be.

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Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What Is It?

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. The formula for this calculation on Verizon Communications is:

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

0.098 = US$31b ÷ (US$380b - US$61b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2025).

Therefore, Verizon Communications has an ROCE of 9.8%. On its own, that's a low figure but it's around the 8.6% average generated by the Telecom industry.

See our latest analysis for Verizon Communications

In the above chart we have measured Verizon Communications' prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free analyst report for Verizon Communications .

What Does the ROCE Trend For Verizon Communications Tell Us?

Unfortunately, the trend isn't great with ROCE falling from 12% five years ago, while capital employed has grown 26%. Usually this isn't ideal, but given Verizon Communications conducted a capital raising before their most recent earnings announcement, that would've likely contributed, at least partially, to the increased capital employed figure. Verizon Communications probably hasn't received a full year of earnings yet from the new funds it raised, so these figures should be taken with a grain of salt. It's also worth noting the company's latest EBIT figure is within 10% of the previous year, so it's fair to assign the ROCE drop largely to the capital raise.

The Bottom Line On Verizon Communications' ROCE

In summary, Verizon Communications is reinvesting funds back into the business for growth but unfortunately it looks like sales haven't increased much just yet. And with the stock having returned a mere 0.5% in the last five years to shareholders, you could argue that they're aware of these lackluster trends. Therefore, if you're looking for a multi-bagger, we'd propose looking at other options.

One more thing, we've spotted 2 warning signs facing Verizon Communications that you might find interesting.

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.

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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.