Splunk Insights: Return On Capital EmployedIn Q1, Splunk (NASDAQ:SPLK) posted sales of $502.05 million. Earnings were up 402.72%, but Splunk still reported an overall loss of $435.35 million. Splunk collected $745.08

Splunk Insights: Return On Capital Employed

In Q1, Splunk (NASDAQ:SPLK) posted sales of $502.05 million. Earnings were up 402.72%, but Splunk still reported an overall loss of $435.35 million. Splunk collected $745.08 million in revenue during Q4, but reported earnings showed a $86.60 million loss.

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 Q1, Splunk posted an ROCE of -0.35%.

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 Splunk's case, the ROCE ratio shows the amount of assets may not be helping the company achieve higher returns. Investors may take this into account before making any long-term financial decisions.

Q1 Earnings Insight

Splunk reported Q1 earnings per share at $-0.91/share, which did not meet analyst predictions of $-0.7/share.