Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

The data reveals varying financial performance over the five-year period under review. The net operating profit after taxes (NOPAT) exhibits fluctuations, with a peak in 2021 at 19,205 million US dollars, followed by a significant drop in 2022 to 6,839 million US dollars. This decline is then partially reversed in subsequent years, rising to 16,517 million in 2023 and 18,803 million in 2024. Despite these variations in profitability, the cost of capital remains relatively stable, fluctuating narrowly between 9.97% and 10.94%, with a slight decrease observed in the final year.

Invested Capital

The invested capital shows a general downward trend from 224,149 million US dollars in 2020 to 211,709 million in 2023, followed by a minor increase to 215,148 million in 2024. This indicates a moderate reduction in capital invested over the period, with a slight recovery in the latest year.

Economic Profit

Economic profit remained negative throughout the period, indicating that the company did not generate returns above its cost of capital. The figure shows improvement from the worst value of -16,166 million US dollars in 2022 to -2,638 million in 2024, suggesting a gradual reduction in economic losses. However, the persistent negative economic profit reflects ongoing challenges in creating shareholder value beyond the capital costs incurred.

Overall, the company's operating profit after tax has experienced significant volatility, while invested capital underwent a moderate reduction and recovered slightly in the final year. The steady cost of capital paired with continual negative economic profit, albeit improving, points to underlying efficiency and value creation issues that have persisted over the period, despite improvements towards the end of the timeline.

The financial data reveals notable fluctuations and a generally positive trend in profitability over the five-year period.

Net Income Attributable to Comcast Corporation

The net income increased significantly from 10,534 million US dollars in 2020 to 14,159 million US dollars in 2021, indicating a strong growth phase. However, there was a sharp decline in 2022 to 5,370 million US dollars, representing a substantial decrease from the previous year. This drop was followed by a robust recovery in 2023, with net income rising to 15,388 million US dollars, surpassing earlier levels. The upward trend continued in 2024 with net income further increasing to 16,192 million US dollars, reaching the highest point in the five-year span.

Net Operating Profit After Taxes (NOPAT)

NOPAT exhibited a similar pattern to net income. It increased from 14,617 million US dollars in 2020 to 19,205 million US dollars in 2021, reflecting improved operational profitability. In 2022, NOPAT dropped sharply to 6,839 million US dollars, mirroring the decline seen in net income. Following the decline, NOPAT rose again to 16,517 million US dollars in 2023, nearly returning to its previous peak. This increase continued into 2024, reaching 18,803 million US dollars, indicating strengthened operational efficiency and profitability.

Overall, the data shows a period of growth through 2021, followed by a significant contraction in 2022. The company demonstrated resilience with a strong recovery in 2023 and further improvement in 2024. Both net income and NOPAT followed consistent trends, suggesting that the fluctuations in net income were largely driven by changes in operational performance. The recovery and subsequent growth imply effective management responses to the downturn experienced in 2022.

The financial data over the five-year period reveals fluctuations in both income tax expense and cash operating taxes. Income tax expense exhibited a rising trend from 2020 through 2021, increasing significantly from 3,364 million USD to 5,259 million USD. In 2022, there was a decline to 4,359 million USD, followed by a rebound to 5,371 million USD in 2023. The most recent figure for 2024 shows a pronounced reduction to 2,796 million USD, representing the lowest value in the five-year span.

Cash operating taxes present a less consistent pattern. There was an initial decrease from 4,911 million USD in 2020 to 4,326 million USD in 2021. However, this was followed by a sharp increase in 2022 to 6,068 million USD, and a further substantial rise in 2023, reaching 9,025 million USD. In 2024, cash operating taxes dropped significantly to 4,622 million USD, nearing the levels observed at the start of the period.

Income Tax Expense Trends

Overall, income tax expenses experienced volatility with peaks in 2021 and 2023, and a notable trough in 2024, indicating possible changes in taxable income, tax rates, or deductions impacting the tax burden.

Cash Operating Taxes Trends

The pattern suggests variability with a dip in 2021, followed by two consecutive years of sharp increases and a steep decline in 2024. This could reflect fluctuations in operating profits, changes in tax regulations, or timing differences in tax payments.

Comparative Insights

Both tax-related measures show significant increases in 2023 followed by reductions in 2024, possibly indicating strategic tax planning or extraordinary items affecting tax calculations in those years. The divergence in 2022 and 2023, where cash operating taxes increased sharply yet income tax expense moved relatively moderately, might point to differences between tax liability and cash tax payments during the periods.

The financial data presents trends across a five-year period from 2020 to 2024 for key balance sheet items related to debt, equity, and invested capital.

Total reported debt & leases

The total reported debt and leases showed a decreasing trend from 2020 to 2022, falling from 108,218 million US dollars to 101,593 million US dollars. However, from 2022 onwards, there was a gradual increase, reaching 105,413 million US dollars by the end of 2024. This indicates some degree of deleveraging followed by a moderate uptrend in debt levels, suggesting a cautious approach to leverage after a period of reduction.

Total Comcast Corporation shareholders’ equity

Shareholders’ equity increased from 90,323 million US dollars in 2020 to a peak of 96,092 million US dollars in 2021. Following this peak, there was a sharp decline to 80,943 million US dollars in 2022. Equity subsequently experienced a mild recovery, increasing to 85,560 million US dollars by 2024. This pattern suggests significant changes in retained earnings or other comprehensive income components during 2022, possibly reflecting impactful operational results or adjustments, with partial restoration of equity in later years.

Invested capital

Invested capital increased slightly from 224,149 million US dollars in 2020 to 229,233 million US dollars in 2021, then declined steadily to 213,605 million US dollars in 2022 and further to 211,709 million US dollars in 2023. A slight recovery was observed in 2024, with invested capital increasing to 215,148 million US dollars. The overall trend points to a cautious reduction in invested capital post-2021, with a minor resurgence in the most recent year.

In summary, the period is characterized by an initial improvement in equity and invested capital until 2021, followed by a notable decrease in equity and invested capital in 2022, coinciding with the lowest debt level in the analyzed timeframe. The subsequent years show moderate recovery in equity and invested capital alongside a gradual increase in debt levels, indicating strategic adjustments in financial structure after a phase of deleveraging and equity decline.

Economic Profit

The economic profit exhibits substantial volatility and negative values throughout the analyzed period. Beginning at -$9,418 million in 2020, it decreases in magnitude to -$5,873 million in 2021, indicating an improvement. However, it sharply declines in 2022 to -$16,166 million, reflecting a significant deterioration in profitability. In subsequent years, economic profit improves again but remains negative, with values of -$6,570 million in 2023 and -$2,638 million in 2024. Overall, economic profit remains consistently negative, suggesting the company is generating returns below its cost of capital across all periods, though with some recovery towards the end of the timeline.

Invested Capital

The invested capital shows relative stability with slight fluctuations. It starts at $224,149 million in 2020 and gradually increases to $229,233 million in 2021. Following this, it decreases to $213,605 million in 2022 and remains relatively steady in 2023 at $211,709 million. A modest increase is observed in 2024, reaching $215,148 million. These changes indicate a moderate reduction in capital employed during 2022 and 2023, followed by a slight recovery in 2024, reflecting possible strategic investment management or asset reallocation within the company.

Economic Spread Ratio

The economic spread ratio consistently remains negative throughout the observed years, signaling that the company’s returns on invested capital are below the cost of capital. It starts at -4.2% in 2020, improves to -2.56% in 2021, but then worsens considerably to -7.57% in 2022. The ratio improves again in subsequent years, reaching -3.1% in 2023 and further improving to -1.23% in 2024. Despite the improvement trend in later years, the negative values indicate persistent challenges in generating adequate returns relative to the cost of capital.

Adjusted Revenue

The adjusted revenue shows a consistent upward trend throughout the five-year period. Starting at approximately 103.9 billion US dollars in 2020, it increased steadily each year, reaching about 124.0 billion US dollars by the end of 2024. This suggests continuous growth in the company's revenue base over the given timeline.

Economic Profit

The economic profit figures exhibit significant volatility and negative values in all periods. Initially, the economic profit was negative 9.4 billion US dollars in 2020, improved to negative 5.9 billion in 2021, then sharply declined to negative 16.2 billion in 2022. Following that, it again improved to negative 6.6 billion in 2023 and further to negative 2.6 billion in 2024. While the company consistently operates at an economic loss, the extent of the loss narrows significantly toward the end of the period.

Economic Profit Margin

The economic profit margin mirrors the trend observed in economic profit, remaining negative throughout. It begins at negative 9.07% in 2020, improves to negative 5.05% in 2021, then deteriorates sharply to negative 13.38% in 2022. In the subsequent two years, the margin recovers, improving to negative 5.37% in 2023 and further to negative 2.13% in 2024. This pattern highlights the increasing profitability challenges in 2022 but an improving operational efficiency or capital utilization afterward.

Overall Analysis

Despite steady revenue growth, the company experiences persistent economic losses, indicating that costs or capital charges exceed operating profits. The sharp deterioration in economic profit and margin in 2022 suggests an adverse event or increased costs during that year. The recovery trend in the final two years indicates effective management actions or improved market conditions contributing to narrowing losses. However, the economic profit remains negative, highlighting a continued need for focus on profitability enhancement.