ROIC: The One Number That Rates Any Business (Free Course)

Is it actually a good business? Return on invested capital (ROIC) is the best single test, and in 19 minutes you'll learn to calculate it from a real 10-K (Costco), count invested capital two ways, see why ROE can hit 1,160% (Home Depot), handle goodwill (Roper Technologies), break ROIC into margin × turnover (Costco vs Lululemon), compare it with the cost of capital and economic profit, read industry data (Damodaran, January 2026), price growth with returns on new capital, and see why high returns fade without a moat. Then one illustrative company, start to finish, valued with the value-driver formula, and a 3-question self-quiz. Ivy League lessons. Cash price: $0. 0:00 Intro: the thin-margin retailer that wins 0:52 1 · Calculating ROIC (Costco) 2:32 2 · Invested capital, two ways 3:35 3 · ROIC vs ROE vs ROA (Home Depot) 5:16 4 · Goodwill and ROIC (Roper) 6:41 5 · The ROIC tree: margin × turnover 8:08 Halftime recap 8:31 6 · The spread: ROIC vs WACC 9:57 7 · The spread in dollars: economic profit 11:06 8 · ROIC by industry (Damodaran, Jan 2026) 12:35 9 · Growth: returns on incremental capital 13:47 10 · ROIC fade and moats 15:15 One company, start to finish (illustrative) 17:32 Self-quiz: 3 questions 18:58 Next: Deal Tax Quick Class Conventions: NOPAT = operating income × (1 − effective tax rate); invested capital = debt + leases + equity − cash, averaged over the year. Home Depot's ROIC is its own reported figure. Company figures are from 10-K filings (Costco, Lululemon and Roper fiscal 2025; Home Depot fiscal 2023), as of Sept 2026. Worked examples labelled "illustrative" (including "Summit Supply") are for teaching. Not financial advice. Figures illustrative when used for teaching. #TuitionZero #ROIC #Investing