Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base of capital employed. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. In light of that, when we looked at Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.

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What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

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 Mondelez International:

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

0.09 = US$4.3b ÷ (US$69b - US$21b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2025).

So, Mondelez International has an ROCE of 9.0%. On its own, that's a low figure but it's around the 10% average generated by the Food industry.

See our latest analysis for Mondelez International

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Mondelez International compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Mondelez International for free.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

Things have been pretty stable at Mondelez International, with its capital employed and returns on that capital staying somewhat the same for the last five years. This tells us the company isn't reinvesting in itself, so it's plausible that it's past the growth phase. So unless we see a substantial change at Mondelez International in terms of ROCE and additional investments being made, we wouldn't hold our breath on it being a multi-bagger. On top of that you'll notice that Mondelez International has been paying out a large portion (63%) of earnings in the form of dividends to shareholders. Most shareholders probably know this and own the stock for its dividend.

In Conclusion...

We can conclude that in regards to Mondelez International's returns on capital employed and the trends, there isn't much change to report on. Since the stock has gained an impressive 45% over the last five years, investors must think there's better things to come. However, unless these underlying trends turn more positive, we wouldn't get our hopes up too high.