How Does Medtronic Boost Its Returns?
As investors, we need to understand how our companies truly make their money. A neat trick developed for just that purpose -- the DuPont Formula -- can help us do so.
The DuPont Formula can give you a better grasp on exactly where your company is producing its profit, and where it might have a competitive advantage. Named after the company where it was pioneered, the formula breaks down return on equity into three components:
Return on equity = net margin X asset turnover X leverage ratio
What makes each of these components important?
High net margins show that a company can get customers to pay more for its products. Luxury-goods companies provide a great example here.
High asset turnover indicates that a company needs to invest less of its capital, since it uses its assets more efficiently to generate sales. Service industries, for instance, often lack big capital investments.
Finally, the leverage ratio shows how much the company is relying on liabilities to create its profits.
Generally, the higher these numbers, the better. But too much debt can sink a company, so beware of companies with very high leverage ratios.
Let's see what the DuPont Formula can tell us about Medtronic (NYS: MDT) and a few of its sector and industry peers.
Company | Return on Equity | Net Margin | Asset Turnover | Leverage Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Medtronic | 20% | 19% | 0.54 | 1.93 |
Boston Scientific (NYS: BSX) | 5.1% | 7.3% | 0.35 | 1.95 |
St. Jude Medical (NYS: STJ) | 21% | 16.3% | 0.67 | 1.91 |
Stryker (NYS: SYK) | 16.7% | 15.3% | 0.71 | 1.54 |
Source: S&P Capital IQ.
In terms of return on equity, Medtronic is just edged out by St. Jude, despite having a higher net margin. With similar leverage, St. Jude uses a higher asset turnover to boost its ROE. While Stryker achieves a similar margin to St. Jude, its lower leverage pulls down its ROE. And Boston Scientific's ROE is hurt by much lower asset turnover and a margin that is less than its rivals'.
Using the DuPont formula can often give you some insight into how a company is competing against its peers and what type of strategy it's using to juice return on equity. To find more successful investments, dig deeper than the earnings headlines. And you can add any of these companies to your watchlist:
Add Stryker to My Watchlist.
Add St. Jude Medical to My Watchlist.
Add Medtronic to My Watchlist.
Add Boston Scientific to My Watchlist.
At the time thisarticle was published Jim Royal, Ph.D.,owns no shares in any company mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of St. Jude Medical and Medtronic.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended buying shares of Stryker. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.
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