Is Boston Beer Company (NYSE:SAM) Likely To Turn Things Around?

There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next 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. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. Having said that, while the ROCE is currently high for Boston Beer Company (NYSE:SAM), we aren't jumping out of our chairs because returns are decreasing.

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. The formula for this calculation on Boston Beer Company is:

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

0.22 = US$235m ÷ (US$1.3b - US$232m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2020).

Therefore, Boston Beer Company has an ROCE of 22%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Beverage industry average of 13%.

View our latest analysis for Boston Beer Company

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In the above chart we have measured Boston Beer Company's 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 report for Boston Beer Company.

How Are Returns Trending?

When we looked at the ROCE trend at Boston Beer Company, we didn't gain much confidence. Historically returns on capital were even higher at 29%, but they have dropped 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. And if the increased capital generates additional returns, the business, and thus shareholders, will benefit in the long run.

The Bottom Line On Boston Beer Company's ROCE

Even though returns on capital have fallen in the short term, we find it promising that revenue and capital employed have both increased for Boston Beer Company. And the stock has done incredibly well with a 419% return over the last five years, so long term investors are no doubt ecstatic with that result. So while the underlying trends could already be accounted for by investors, we still think this stock is worth looking into further.

On a final note, we've found 1 warning sign for Boston Beer Company that we think you should be aware of.

High returns are a key ingredient to strong performance, so check out our free list ofstocks earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.

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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