Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Current Ratio

The current ratio exhibits a declining trend from 0.93 in 2020 to a low of 0.6 in 2023, followed by a slight recovery to 0.68 in 2024. This indicates a general decrease in the company's ability to cover short-term liabilities with short-term assets over the period, though there is a modest improvement in the most recent year.

Quick Ratio

Similar to the current ratio, the quick ratio consistently decreases from 0.81 in 2020 to 0.5 in 2023, before slightly increasing to 0.53 in 2024. This suggests a reduction in the company's liquidity when excluding inventory, implying that quick assets available to meet immediate liabilities declined, with a small positive change in the last year.

Cash Ratio

The cash ratio shows a sharp decline from 0.41 in 2020 to 0.15 by 2023, with a marginal increase to 0.18 in 2024. This points to a diminished cushion of cash and cash equivalents against current liabilities throughout the period, albeit with a minor improvement recently.

The analysis of the provided financial data reveals a series of trends in liquidity over the five-year period from the end of 2020 through the end of 2024.

Current Assets

Current assets initially decreased from 26,741 million USD in 2020 to 21,826 million USD in 2022, indicating a reduction in resources readily convertible to cash. However, this trend reversed in 2023 and 2024, with current assets rising to 23,987 million USD and further to 26,801 million USD, approaching the 2020 level by the end of 2024.

Current Liabilities

Current liabilities demonstrated a different trajectory. They increased from 28,796 million USD in 2020 to 29,348 million USD in 2021, then slightly decreased to 27,887 million USD in 2022. A significant rise occurred in 2023 reaching 40,198 million USD, with a minor decrease to 39,581 million USD in 2024, remaining substantially higher than prior years.

Current Ratio

The current ratio, reflective of liquidity by comparing current assets to current liabilities, continually declined from 0.93 in 2020 to a low of 0.60 in 2023, suggesting a deteriorating short-term financial position and reduced ability to meet short-term obligations. While there was a modest improvement to 0.68 in 2024, the ratio remains below 1.0 throughout the period, indicating that current liabilities consistently exceeded current assets.

Overall, the data indicates pressures on liquidity, especially pronounced in 2023 with heightened current liabilities and minimum current ratio. The partial recovery in current assets and ratio in 2024 signals some restoration of short-term financial balance but still reflects vulnerability due to liabilities surpassing assets.

Total quick assets

The total quick assets exhibited a downward trend from 2020 to 2022, decreasing from 23,206 million US dollars to 17,421 million. However, there was a notable recovery in the subsequent years, with quick assets increasing to 20,028 million in 2023 and further to 20,983 million in 2024. Despite this rebound, the 2024 figure remains below the 2020 level.

Current liabilities

Current liabilities showed relative stability from 2020 through 2022, hovering around the range of 27,800 to 29,300 million US dollars. In 2023, there was a sharp increase to 40,198 million, followed by a slight decrease to 39,581 million in 2024, indicating a significant rise in short-term obligations during the latter part of the period under review.

Quick ratio

The quick ratio reveals a clear declining trend over the five-year span. Starting at 0.81 in 2020, the ratio decreased consistently each year to reach 0.50 in 2023, with a minor improvement to 0.53 in 2024. This downward trajectory is consistent with the patterns observed in quick assets relative to current liabilities, suggesting a weakening in short-term liquidity and a reduced ability to cover current liabilities with liquid assets.

Overall insight

The financial data points to a deterioration in the company's short-term liquidity position between 2020 and 2023, driven primarily by declining quick assets and rising current liabilities. Although there was some recovery in quick assets and a slight improvement in the quick ratio in 2024, the quick ratio remains substantially below its level in 2020. The notable increase in current liabilities in 2023 and 2024 further pressures the liquidity ratio, signaling potential challenges in meeting short-term obligations efficiently.

The analysis of the financial data reveals several key trends related to cash assets, current liabilities, and liquidity ratios over the five-year period.

Total Cash Assets

The total cash assets demonstrated a decreasing trend from 2020 through 2022, dropping significantly from $11,740 million in 2020 to $4,749 million in 2022. However, there was a subsequent recovery in the following years, with cash assets rising to $6,215 million in 2023 and further to $7,322 million in 2024. This indicates an improvement in cash reserves after a sharp decline.

Current Liabilities

Current liabilities showed relatively moderate changes initially, fluctuating slightly around the $28,000 to $29,000 million range between 2020 and 2022. In 2023, current liabilities increased sharply to $40,198 million and remained at a comparable level in 2024 at $39,581 million. This denotes a substantial increase in short-term obligations during the later years.

Cash Ratio

The cash ratio, an indicator of short-term liquidity, followed a downward trend from 0.41 in 2020 to a low of 0.15 in 2023, reflecting reduced cash coverage of current liabilities. A slight improvement occurred in 2024, with the ratio rising to 0.18, yet it remained significantly lower compared to the 2020 level. The continued low ratio indicates relatively weaker liquidity positions in terms of readily available cash.

Overall, the financial data suggest that while cash reserves experienced recovery after a steep decline, current liabilities saw a marked increase in the latter years, resulting in diminished cash ratio values and potential pressures on liquidity management. The slight improvement in the cash ratio in the most recent period may indicate steps towards better balancing of cash assets against current liabilities, though liquidity remains relatively constrained compared to the starting point of the observed period.