> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.chicago.global/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) > Understanding ROIC - what the business earns on the money tied up in it, and how it helps assess whether growth creates or destroys value Return on invested capital measures what the operating business earns on the money committed to it. Comparing returns on new investment with the cost of capital helps assess whether growth creates value. ## Beginner ### What It Means If you put 100 into a business and it returns 20 a year, your ROIC is 20%. If new investment also earns 20% and capital costs 8%, that investment creates value. If the business only returns 5%, growing it destroys value even though revenue and profit both rise. ### Example Two companies both grow operating profit at 10%. The first earns 25% on new capital and must reinvest 40% of its profit to fund that growth. The second earns 12.5% and must reinvest 80%. Same growth rate, and the first company delivers three times the free cash flow. ### Why It Matters "Growth" on its own is not a virtue. Growth funded at returns below the cost of capital consumes value. ROIC is what separates a compounding business from one that is simply getting bigger. *** ## Advanced ### How to Read It `ROIC = NOPAT / beginning invested capital` `ROIC = NOPAT margin × invested-capital turnover` `Operating profit growth ≈ incremental ROIC × reinvestment rate` The final relationship links growth to reinvestment and the return earned on new capital under stable operating assumptions. The reinvestment rate can exceed 100% of NOPAT; the financing plan determines how that investment is funded. The relevant figure for valuation is the return on *incremental* capital, not the average across the existing base. A company can carry a high historical ROIC while investing new money at much lower returns. ### Common Misreadings * **Reading average ROIC as incremental ROIC**: legacy assets can flatter the average long after new investment stopped earning a spread. * **Ignoring the accounting basis**: capitalizing R\&D or leases changes both numerator and denominator. Comparisons must use one basis throughout. * **Assuming a high ROIC persists**: competition erodes excess returns. A terminal assumption of ROIC far above the cost of capital needs a durable, nameable advantage. * **Confusing ROIC with ROE**: ROE can rise purely through leverage, which increases sensitivity to both success and failure. ### In Parallax Reports Parallax exposes the implied ROIC and cash conversion of a forecast, so a reader can test whether projected growth is economically funded. Where a model shows rising growth alongside falling reinvestment, that combination is flagged as requiring an operating explanation. See [Growth, ROIC and Reinvestment](/methodology/valuation/growth-and-returns). ### Related Terms The denominator The hurdle ROIC must clear Where ROIC fades toward equilibrium