Benzinga | May 25, 2021 01:22PM EDT

Return On Capital Employed Overview: Wolverine World Wide

Wolverine World Wide (NYSE:WWW) posted a 128.47% decrease in earnings from Q4. Sales, however, increased by 0.22% over the previous quarter to $510.70 million. Despite the increase in sales this quarter, the decrease in earnings may suggest Wolverine World Wide is not utilizing their capital as effectively as possible. Wolverine World Wide collected $509.60 million in revenue during Q4, but reported earnings showed a $204.10 million loss.

Why ROCE Is Significant

Return on Capital Employed is a measure of yearly pre-tax profit relative to capital employed by a business. Changes in earnings and sales indicate shifts in a company's ROCE. A higher ROCE is generally representative of successful growth of a company and is a sign of higher earnings per share in the future. A low or negative ROCE suggests the opposite. In Q1, Wolverine World Wide posted an ROCE of 0.09%.

Keep in mind, while ROCE is a good measure of a company's recent performance, it is not a highly reliable predictor of a company's earnings or sales in the near future.

Return on Capital Employed is an important measurement of efficiency and a useful tool when comparing companies that operate in the same industry. A relatively high ROCE indicates a company may be generating profits that can be reinvested into more capital, leading to higher returns and growing EPS for shareholders.

In Wolverine World Wide's case, the positive ROCE ratio will be something investors pay attention to before making long-term financial decisions.

Q1 Earnings Recap

Wolverine World Wide reported Q1 earnings per share at $0.4/share, which did not meet analyst predictions of $0.4/share.