If we want to find a stock that could multiply over the long term, what are the underlying trends we should look for? 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. With that in mind, the ROCE of Bucher Industries (VTX:BUCN) looks decent, right now, so lets see what the trend of returns can tell us.
For those that aren't sure what ROCE is, it measures the amount of pre-tax profits a company can generate from the capital employed in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Bucher Industries:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.15 = CHF281m ÷ (CHF2.7b - CHF795m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2025).
Therefore, Bucher Industries has an ROCE of 15%. That's a relatively normal return on capital, and it's around the 16% generated by the Machinery industry.
View our latest analysis for Bucher Industries
In the above chart we have measured Bucher Industries' 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 Bucher Industries .
The trend of ROCE doesn't stand out much, but returns on a whole are decent. The company has consistently earned 15% for the last five years, and the capital employed within the business has risen 23% in that time. 15% is a pretty standard return, and it provides some comfort knowing that Bucher Industries 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.
The main thing to remember is that Bucher Industries has proven its ability to continually reinvest at respectable rates of return. Despite the good fundamentals, total returns from the stock have been virtually flat over the last five years. That's why we think it'd be worthwhile to look further into this stock given the fundamentals are appealing.
While Bucher Industries 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 BUCN on our platform.
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.