Return On Capital Employed Overview: American Airlines Group

American Airlines Group AAL reported Q2 sales of $1.62 billion. Earnings fell to a loss of $2.49 billion, resulting in a 2.47% decrease from last quarter. In Q1, American Airlines Group brought in $8.52 billion in sales but lost $2.55 billion in earnings.

What Is ROCE?

Return on Capital Employed is a measure of yearly pre-tax profit relative to capital employed in a business. Changes in earnings and sales indicate shifts in a company's ROCE. A higher ROCE is generally representative of successful growth in a company and is a sign of higher earnings per share for shareholders in the future. A low or negative ROCE suggests the opposite. In Q2, American Airlines Group posted an ROCE of 0.78%.

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.

ROCE is an important metric for the comparison of similar companies. A relatively high ROCE shows American Airlines Group is potentially operating at a higher level of efficiency than other companies in its industry. If the company is generating high profits with its current level of capital, some of that money can be reinvested in more capital which will lead to higher returns and earnings per share growth.

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

Q2 Earnings Insight

American Airlines Group reported Q2 earnings per share at $-7.82/share, which did not meet analyst predictions of $-7.7/share.