How much profit a company earns on all the capital tied up in the business — its own and borrowed money together. 15% means: $100 of capital employed produces $15 of profit per year.
Rule of thumb:
MoatLens tip: For MoatLens this is the single most important number. Unlike return on equity, it cannot be flattered with debt — borrowed money has to earn its keep here too. High returns on capital sustained over many years almost always mean competitors could not catch up. That is a moat, visible in one figure.
In MoatLens this explanation sits right next to the number — one tap away. And you see the ten-year trend instead of a single value.
