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    Here's What's Concerning About Viant Technology's (NASDAQ:DSP) Returns On Capital

    Simply Wall St·01/20/2026 10:05:35
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    If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. Firstly, we'll want to see a proven return on capital employed (ROCE) that is increasing, and secondly, an expanding base of capital employed. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. However, after briefly looking over the numbers, we don't think Viant Technology (NASDAQ:DSP) has the makings of a multi-bagger going forward, but let's have a look at why that may be.

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    What Is 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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Viant Technology:

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

    0.019 = US$5.3m ÷ (US$396m - US$120m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2025).

    Therefore, Viant Technology has an ROCE of 1.9%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Software industry average of 7.5%.

    Check out our latest analysis for Viant Technology

    roce
    NasdaqGS:DSP Return on Capital Employed January 20th 2026

    In the above chart we have measured Viant Technology'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 analyst report for Viant Technology .

    What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

    On the surface, the trend of ROCE at Viant Technology doesn't inspire confidence. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 26%, but since then they've fallen to 1.9%. However, given capital employed and revenue have both increased it appears that the business is currently pursuing growth, at the consequence of short term returns. If these investments prove successful, this can bode very well for long term stock performance.

    On a side note, Viant Technology has done well to pay down its current liabilities to 30% of total assets. That could partly explain why the ROCE has dropped. Effectively this means their suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of the business, which reduces some elements of risk. Since the business is basically funding more of its operations with it's own money, you could argue this has made the business less efficient at generating ROCE.

    What We Can Learn From Viant Technology'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 Viant Technology. And long term investors must be optimistic going forward because the stock has returned a huge 173% to shareholders in the last three years. 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.

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

    While Viant Technology may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list here.