Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

The analysis of key financial ratios over the specified periods reveals notable fluctuations and overall trends in the company's financial performance and leverage structure.

Return on Assets (ROA)

The ROA displays an initial upward trend from 4.21% in March 2021, peaking at 5.26% by June 2022. This is followed by a significant decline to approximately 2.09%-2.18% in the last quarters of 2022 and early 2023. Subsequently, there is a marked recovery and consistent increase, reaching 8.28% by September 2025. The data suggests periods of fluctuating asset efficiency with a strong resurgence in asset profitability toward the end of the timeline.

Financial Leverage

Financial leverage exhibits a decreasing trend from 3.01 in March 2021 to a low near 2.81 by September 2025, with minor fluctuations throughout. The leverage peaked around 3.18 in late 2022, indicating a temporary increase in debt usage relative to equity. Over the full term, the gradual decline suggests a strategic move towards lower leverage and potentially more conservative financing.

Return on Equity (ROE)

The ROE initially rises from 12.66% in March 2021 to over 15% by mid-2022, then sharply drops to a low of roughly 6.63%-6.86% at the end of 2022 and the start of 2023. This decline parallels the ROA trend, indicating a period of reduced equity profitability. From early 2023 onwards, ROE displays a strong and sustained upward trajectory, peaking at 23.65% in June 2025 before a slight decrease to 23.29% in September 2025. This pattern signifies enhanced returns to shareholders in later periods, likely benefiting from improved operational performance or financial management.

In summary, the company experienced phases of volatility in profitability and leverage during the observed period. After a mid-term dip in both asset and equity returns in late 2022 and early 2023, a robust recovery is evident, accompanied by a gradual reduction in financial leverage. The trends imply strengthening financial health and improved efficiency in asset use and equity profitability towards the end of the period.

Net Profit Margin

The net profit margin exhibits a notable fluctuation across the periods. Initially, from March 2021 to June 2022, the margin remains relatively stable around 11-12%. However, starting in September 2022, there is a sharp decline to below 5%, persisting through June 2023. Subsequently, a strong recovery is evident from September 2023 onward, with margins rising consistently to reach above 18% by September and June 2025. This pattern indicates a period of decreased profitability followed by a marked improvement.

Asset Turnover

Asset turnover shows a gradual upward trend from 0.37 in March 2021 to a peak of approximately 0.48 in September 2022, indicating increasing efficiency in using assets to generate revenue. After this peak, the ratio stabilizes at around 0.45 to 0.46, with minimal variation through to the end of the period in September 2025. The stabilization suggests a plateau in efficiency gains after a period of improvement.

Financial Leverage

Financial leverage starts at just above 3.0 in early 2021, experiences a slight decline to around 2.87 in December 2021, followed by an increase peaking near 3.2 around the end of 2023. Post this peak, there is a gradual reduction toward 2.8 by the end of the series in September 2025. This trend shows a moderate shift in capital structure, with leverage rising moderately and then decreasing, reflecting possible adjustments in debt levels or equity financing strategies.

Return on Equity (ROE)

ROE follows a pattern similar to net profit margin but with more pronounced changes. Initially strong around 12.66% in March 2021, it increases to approximately 15% by mid-2022, then notably drops below 7% between September 2022 and June 2023. From the third quarter of 2023, ROE sharply rebounds, climbing to nearly 24% by mid-2025. This recovery aligns with improvements in profitability and suggests enhanced value generation for shareholders after a challenging period.

Tax Burden

The tax burden ratio exhibited moderate fluctuations over the observed periods. Initially, it remained fairly stable around 0.72 to 0.76 in 2021 and early 2022, then declined notably to approximately 0.55 during late 2022 and early 2023. Subsequently, there was a gradual upward trend reaching as high as 0.86 by mid-2025, indicating an increasing proportion of earnings retained after taxes in the later periods.

Interest Burden

The interest burden ratio showed a generally steady pattern around 0.78 to 0.84 from 2021 through mid-2023, suggesting consistent management of interest expenses relative to earnings before interest and taxes. Thereafter, it experienced slight volatility but remained strong, closing near 0.86 by mid-2025, which implies interest expenses consumed a relatively stable and moderate share of operating profit throughout the timeline.

EBIT Margin

The EBIT margin presented significant volatility during the period. It initially trended upward from 19.1% in early 2021 to a peak above 21%. However, a sharp decline occurred in late 2022 to around 11-12%, marking a substantial reduction in operational profitability. From 2023 onward, the margin recovered markedly, consistently exceeding 20%, and reaching nearly 26% by late 2025, indicative of improved operational efficiency and profitability in the more recent quarters.

Asset Turnover

Asset turnover steadily increased from 0.37 in early 2021 to approximately 0.48 by late 2022, indicating improved efficiency in generating revenues from asset base. After this peak, the ratio stabilized around 0.45 to 0.46 for the remaining period, reflecting sustained but plateaued asset utilization efficiency through mid-2025.

Financial Leverage

Financial leverage ratios mostly fluctuated between 2.87 and 3.20 throughout the periods, demonstrating a relatively stable capital structure with modest variations. A slight declining trend is observed after early 2024, where leverage decreased from about 3.19 to near 2.81 by mid-2025, suggesting a gradual reduction in debt reliance over time.

Return on Equity (ROE)

ROE showed considerable variability, reflecting the combined effects of margins, asset turnover, and leverage changes. Initially strong growth occurred from 12.66% in early 2021 to over 15% in mid-2022, followed by a sharp decline to the 6.6-7.7% range during late 2022 and early 2023. Subsequently, there was a robust recovery with ROE rising to over 23.5% by late 2025, highlighting substantial improvements in overall profitability and efficiency in using shareholders’ equity toward the end of the analysis period.

Net Profit Margin

The Net Profit Margin exhibited some variability over the observed quarters. Initially, the margin showed a general upward trend from 11.25% in March 2021 to a peak of approximately 12.73% in September 2021, followed by a slight decrease and stabilization around 11.5% to 12.5% through the first half of 2022. A significant decline was observed in the third and fourth quarters of 2022, dropping sharply to approximately 4.46% and 4.42%, respectively. Following this dip, the margin recovered steadily, returning to a range between 12.5% and 13.1% from the last quarter of 2023 through mid-2025, with a notable increase reaching 18.44% in the third quarter of 2025 before a minor decrease to 18.33% by September 2025.

Asset Turnover

The Asset Turnover ratio showed a consistent increasing trajectory during the early periods, rising from 0.37 in March 2021 to approximately 0.48 by September 2022. After this peak, the ratio slightly declined to 0.47 and then stabilized at 0.46 from December 2022 through mid-2025. Towards the end of the series, a slight decrease to 0.45 is evident. This pattern suggests a gradual improvement in asset utilization efficiency until late 2022, followed by a plateau with minor fluctuations thereafter.

Return on Assets (ROA)

The ROA followed a pattern similar to the Net Profit Margin with an initial increase from 4.21% in March 2021 to a high point around 5.25% in mid-2022. However, significant decreases occurred during the second half of 2022, with ROA dropping to near 2.09% and 2.18% in the third and fourth quarters, respectively. A recovery phase began in early 2023, with ROA rising steadily and returning to levels above 5.8% by late 2023. The upward trend continued into 2024 and 2025, reaching a peak of 8.36% in the third quarter of 2025, followed by a slight decrease to 8.28%. This suggests improved profitability and asset efficiency post-2022 dip, possibly driven by operational or market factors.

Tax Burden

The tax burden ratio showed a relatively stable pattern from March 2021 through June 2022, fluctuating between 0.72 and 0.76. However, there was a sharp decline in the following two quarters to 0.55, maintaining this lower level through to the second quarter of 2023. Afterward, the tax burden increased steadily from 0.74 in the third quarter of 2023 to a peak of 0.86 in the second quarter of 2025 before slightly declining to 0.82 by the third quarter of 2025. This indicates fluctuations in effective tax rates impacting net profitability across these periods.

Interest Burden

The interest burden ratio remained stable and high (around 0.8) in the early periods up to mid-2022, indicating manageable interest expenses relative to earnings before interest. It then notably decreased to approximately 0.71 for two quarters in late 2022, suggesting an increase in interest expense or financing costs during that time. Subsequently, the ratio improved gradually, reaching highs around 0.87 by late 2024 and mid-2025, signifying strengthened control over interest expenses relative to earnings.

EBIT Margin

The EBIT margin demonstrated moderate fluctuations across the observed periods. Early 2021 to mid-2022 saw margins ranging mostly between 18.79% and 21.12%. However, there was a substantial drop to around 11.2%-11.75% in the latter half of 2022, indicating a period of margin compression. From early 2023 onwards, margins recovered strongly, climbing back to levels around 20% and ultimately peaking near 25.85% in the third quarter of 2025. This recovery and improvement imply enhanced operational efficiency or improved revenue quality in the latter periods.

Asset Turnover

Asset turnover ratios showed a steady increase from 0.37 in early 2021 to a peak near 0.48 in late 2022, reflecting progressively better utilization of assets in generating revenue. Following this peak, the ratio held relatively steady around 0.45-0.46 through the end of the observed timeline, indicating a stabilized asset productivity level.

Return on Assets (ROA)

ROA mirrored the patterns observed in EBIT margin and tax/interest burden ratios. It increased from 4.21% in early 2021 to over 5.2% through mid-2022 before experiencing a sharp decline to around 2.1%-2.4% in late 2022 and early 2023. Following this, ROA substantially recovered, rising above 5.8% and reaching its highest values in the final periods, peaking at 8.36% in late 2024. The trend indicates a period of diminished profitability followed by a strong rebound in asset efficiency and profitability.

Tax Burden

The tax burden ratio exhibits moderate fluctuations across the periods analyzed. Starting near 0.76 in early 2021, it declines to as low as 0.55 in late 2022 and early 2023, indicating a temporarily reduced tax impact on earnings. From mid-2023 onward, the tax burden ratio rises steadily, reaching approximately 0.85 by mid-2025. This upward trend suggests an increasing proportion of pre-tax earnings retained after taxes, potentially reflecting changes in tax strategy, rates, or profitability structure.

Interest Burden

The interest burden ratio remains relatively stable initially, hovering around 0.78 to 0.82 through most of 2021 and 2022. A notable decline to approximately 0.71 occurs in the latter half of 2022 and early 2023, implying an increased interest expense burden during this timeframe. However, the ratio recovers and improves throughout 2023 and into 2024, reaching around 0.87 by late 2025. This improvement suggests that the company effectively managed interest costs relative to earnings before interest and taxes, leading to higher earnings retention after interest expenses.

EBIT Margin

The EBIT margin shows significant variability over the periods. It begins near 19-21% in 2021 but declines sharply to about 11-12% in late 2022 and early 2023, indicating a substantial contraction in operating profitability during this interval. Subsequently, a strong rebound occurs, with margins climbing back above 20% through 2023 and in 2024. The margin further increases to approximately 25.8% by late 2025, marking a peak performance level. This pattern suggests a phase of operational challenges followed by sustained improvements in core profitability.

Net Profit Margin

Net profit margin trends closely parallel those of EBIT margin, although with a more pronounced fluctuation. Starting around 11-13% in 2021, the margin drops sharply to approximately 4.4-5.4% during late 2022 and early 2023, reflecting considerable pressure on overall profitability. Following this trough, the margin recovers robustly, exceeding 12% through 2023 and 2024, and reaching nearly 18.4% by late 2025. This recovery indicates improved cost management, tax, and interest expense effects, contributing to enhanced bottom-line profitability.

Overall Summary

The analyzed financial ratios reveal a pattern of initial stability in profitability metrics followed by a marked decline in late 2022 through early 2023, affecting operating and net profit margins as well as interest and tax burdens. After this period of contraction, a strong upward trend emerges in all key profitability measures, with margins surpassing prior levels and interest burden ratios improving, indicating effective financial management and operational recovery. The tax burden increasing toward 2025 suggests either higher effective tax rates or improved earnings quality, which, combined with enhanced operational efficiency, results in a strengthened net profitability position.