内容摘要：Ignoring the stock price of a company, what are the underlying trends that tell us a business is pas the quiet one vitamix blender

Ignoring the stock price of a company,the quiet one vitamix blender what are the underlying trends that tell us a business is past the growth phase? A business that's potentially in decline often shows two trends, a

return

on capital employed (ROCE) that's declining, and a

base

of capital employed that's also declining. This combination can tell you that not only is the company investing less, it's earning less on what it does invest. In light of that, from a first glance at

Huntsman

(

NYSE:HUN

), we've spotted some signs that it could be struggling, so let's investigate.

What is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. To calculate this metric for Huntsman, this is the formula:

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

0.028 = US$171m ÷ (US$8.1b - US$1.9b)

(Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2020)

.

So,

Huntsman has an ROCE of 2.8%.

Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Chemicals industry average of 8.1%.

Check out our latest analysis for Huntsman

roce

In the above chart we have measured Huntsman's 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

report on analyst forecasts for the company

.

So How Is Huntsman's ROCE Trending?

In terms of Huntsman's historical ROCE trend, it isn't fantastic. Unfortunately, returns have declined substantially over the last five years to the 2.8% we see today. On top of that, the business is utilizing 24% less capital within its operations. The fact that both are shrinking is an indication that the business is going through some tough times. If these underlying trends continue, we wouldn't be too optimistic going forward.

The Bottom Line

In short, lower returns and decreasing amounts capital employed in the business doesn't fill us with confidence. Yet despite these poor fundamentals, the stock has gained a huge 209% over the last five years, so investors appear very optimistic. Regardless, we don't feel too comfortable with the fundamentals so we'd be steering clear of this stock for now.

Huntsman does have some risks, we noticed

4 warning signs

(and 2 which make us uncomfortable)

we think you should know about.

For those who like to invest in

solid companies,

check out this

free

list of companies with solid balance sheets and high returns on equity.

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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