Benzinga | Jun 16, 2021 10:03AM EDT

Looking Into Electronic Arts's Return On Capital Employed

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) posted Q4 earnings of $175.00 million, an increase from Q3 of 30.28%. Sales dropped to $1.49 billion, a 37.92% decrease between quarters. In Q3, Electronic Arts earned $251.00 million, and total sales reached $2.40 billion.

What Is ROCE?

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 Q4, Electronic Arts posted an ROCE of 0.02%.

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 Electronic Arts's case, the positive ROCE ratio will be something investors pay attention to before making long-term financial decisions.

Q4 Earnings Recap

Electronic Arts reported Q4 earnings per share at $1.23/share, which beat analyst predictions of $1.05/share.