Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC)

The financial data reveals significant trends in profitability, capital costs, invested capital, and economic profit over the five-year period presented.

Net Operating Profit After Taxes (NOPAT)

The NOPAT demonstrates a declining trend from 2020 through 2024. Starting at a high of $22,960 million in 2020, it decreases to $19,493 million in 2021. A dramatic drop occurs in 2022, with NOPAT falling to $3,672 million. This downward trajectory continues with negative values in 2023 (-$1,469 million) and further decline in 2024 (-$13,095 million), indicating that the company has moved from profitability to operating losses on a net after-tax basis.

Cost of Capital

The cost of capital shows moderate fluctuations, starting at 13.46% in 2020 and declining steadily to 11.49% by 2024. While the overall trend is a decrease in the cost of capital, the variation is relatively minor, indicating a relatively stable capital environment with a slight easing in capital costs over time.

Invested Capital

Invested capital displays a gradual increase over the period. Beginning at $81,967 million in 2020, the invested capital rises each year, reaching $92,296 million by 2024. This steady increase suggests ongoing investments into assets or operational capabilities, albeit at a slowing growth rate in the later years.

Economic Profit

Economic profit declines sharply over the period. It starts with a strong positive value of $11,926 million in 2020 and decreases to $7,895 million in 2021. After that, it turns negative, showing a loss of $7,227 million in 2022, which deepens to negative $13,492 million in 2023 and further deteriorates to negative $23,697 million in 2024. This shift from positive to increasingly negative economic profit indicates that the company is not generating returns above its cost of capital, which aligns with the negative NOPAT observed in the latter years.

Overall, the data suggest that the company experienced a significant downturn in profitability and economic value generation starting in 2022. Despite a slight reduction in the cost of capital, the increased invested capital did not translate into sustained profitable returns. The persistent negative economic profit in the final years highlights substantial challenges in generating value beyond the capital costs.

Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Intel

The net income attributable to the company demonstrates a declining trend over the observed five-year period. In 2020, net income was robust at 20,899 million US dollars, followed by a slight decline to 19,868 million in 2021. Subsequently, the net income sharply decreased to 8,014 million in 2022 and further declined to a marginal 1,689 million in 2023. The latest period, 2024, shows a significant shift with a reported net loss of 18,756 million US dollars, indicating considerable financial challenges during this year.

Net Operating Profit After Taxes (NOPAT)

The NOPAT values depict a similar downward trajectory over the same timeline. The highest NOPAT figure was recorded in 2020 at 22,960 million US dollars. This declined moderately to 19,493 million in 2021, followed by a steeper drop to 3,672 million in 2022. In 2023, the company reported a negative NOPAT of 1,469 million, which further deteriorated to a negative 13,095 million in 2024. This trend points to declining operational profitability and indicates increasing operational inefficiencies or challenges.

Overall Analysis

Both net income and NOPAT exhibit a consistent decline throughout the period, culminating in losses by 2024. The transition from substantial profits in earlier years to losses in recent years suggests significant adverse developments in the company's financial performance. The negative figures in both metrics for the last two years highlight deteriorating profitability and may reflect increased costs, reduced revenues, or other operational difficulties. The gap between net income and NOPAT remains relatively consistent in direction, affirming that operating profitability issues are a key factor in the overall financial decline.

The financial data reveals notable fluctuations in tax-related figures over the five-year period from 2020 to 2024. Two primary tax metrics are observed: the provision for (benefit from) taxes and cash operating taxes, both measured in millions of U.S. dollars.

Provision for (benefit from) taxes

In 2020, the provision was a positive value of $4,179 million, indicating a tax expense. This figure decreased significantly to $1,835 million in 2021, suggesting a reduction in tax expense. In the subsequent years, the provision turned negative, at -$249 million in 2022 and further to -$913 million in 2023, which reflects a tax benefit (or potential tax credits/refunds) recognized by the company during these periods. However, in 2024, there is a sharp reversal, with the provision rising dramatically to $8,023 million, representing a substantial tax expense increase compared to previous years.

Cash operating taxes

Cash operating taxes demonstrated a steady increase from $2,488 million in 2020 to $2,675 million in 2021. This upward trend accelerated in 2022, reaching $4,893 million, which is a significant increase. However, the amount decreased substantially in 2023 to $1,005 million, before rising again in 2024 to $1,916 million. These movements suggest variability in the actual cash taxes paid, which do not exactly mirror the trends observed in the provision for taxes. The divergence between provision and cash taxes particularly in 2022 and 2023 highlights potential timing differences or adjustments related to deferred tax assets/liabilities or tax planning strategies.

Overall, the data indicates volatility in tax expense recognition and cash taxes paid across the five years. The negative provisions in 2022 and 2023 contrast with the cash taxes paid, implying tax benefits recorded in the accounts that did not translate immediately into cash savings. The sharp increase in provision in 2024, alongside rising cash tax payments, may reflect changes in tax regulations, adjustments, or an increase in taxable income. The inconsistencies between provision and cash taxes underscore complexities in the tax treatment and possibly strategic tax management during this period.

The financial data reveals several key trends pertaining to the company's debt, equity, and invested capital over the five-year period from 2020 to 2024.

Total reported debt & leases

This metric shows a consistent upward trend throughout the period. Starting at 36,928 million USD in 2020, it increased annually, reaching 50,471 million USD by 2024. The growth rate appears to accelerate particularly between 2022 and 2023, indicating increased leverage or obligations in recent years.

Total Intel stockholders’ equity

Stockholders’ equity also trended upward from 81,038 million USD in 2020 to a peak of 105,590 million USD in 2023. However, there is a noticeable decline in 2024, where equity decreased to 99,270 million USD. This dip after steady growth may suggest changes in retained earnings, dividend payments, share buybacks, or other equity-related activities impacting shareholders' net assets.

Invested capital

Invested capital rose more moderately compared to debt and equity. It increased from 81,967 million USD in 2020 to 92,296 million USD in 2024. While the upward movement is steady, the increments between years are smaller, and the curve flattens especially between 2022 and 2024, indicating stability or slower growth in capital investments relative to debt expansion.

In summary, the company's debt obligations have increased significantly, suggesting higher leverage or financing activities. While stockholders’ equity showed robust growth until 2023, a decline in 2024 raises questions about changes in capital structure or profitability. Invested capital growth is present but more restrained, reflecting cautious or stable investment in assets. These patterns collectively highlight a shift towards increased debt financing with potential impacts on shareholder value and capital deployment strategies.

Economic Profit

The economic profit demonstrated a declining trend over the analyzed periods. Starting at a positive value of 11,926 million US dollars in December 2020, it decreased to 7,895 million US dollars in December 2021. Subsequently, it turned negative with a value of -7,227 million US dollars in December 2022, further deteriorating to -13,492 million US dollars in December 2023 and -23,697 million US dollars by December 2024.

Invested Capital

Invested capital showed a gradual increase throughout the years. The figure rose from 81,967 million US dollars in December 2020 to 88,498 million in December 2021, remaining relatively stable at 88,671 million in December 2022. This upward trend continued slightly with 92,095 million in December 2023 and 92,296 million in December 2024.

Economic Spread Ratio

The economic spread ratio experienced a significant decline over the period. It started at a positive 14.55% in December 2020, dropped to 8.92% in December 2021, and eventually turned negative thereafter. By December 2022, the ratio was -8.15%, further worsening to -14.65% in December 2023 and reaching -25.67% in December 2024.

Overall Analysis

While invested capital steadily increased, indicating ongoing investment or asset accumulation, the economic profit and economic spread ratio both showed marked declines, transitioning from positive to negative values. This suggests that the returns generated on the invested capital have diminished significantly over the period, leading to economic losses. The growing negative economic spread ratio highlights decreasing efficiency in capital utilization and worsening profitability relative to the cost of capital.

Net Revenue

The net revenue shows a decreasing trend over the observed periods. Starting from US$77,867 million in 2020, it slightly increased to US$79,024 million in 2021. However, it declined significantly in subsequent years to US$63,054 million in 2022, then further dropped to US$54,228 million in 2023 and US$53,101 million in 2024. This consistent downward trajectory in revenue suggests challenges in sustaining sales or market demand.

Economic Profit

The economic profit demonstrates a stark negative shift over the years. Initially, it stood at US$11,926 million in 2020 and decreased to US$7,895 million in 2021. From 2022 onwards, the company experienced economic losses: -US$7,227 million in 2022, worsening to -US$13,492 million in 2023 and -US$23,697 million in 2024. This transition from positive to increasing negative economic profit indicates a deterioration in value creation beyond accounting profit, reflecting rising costs or reduced operational efficiency.

Economic Profit Margin

The economic profit margin parallels the trend in economic profit, starting at 15.32% in 2020 and falling to 9.99% in 2021. It then turned negative at -11.46% in 2022 and continued declining sharply to -24.88% in 2023 and -44.63% in 2024. This decline suggests that the company's profitability relative to revenue weakened substantially, resulting in growing economic losses per dollar of revenue.

Summary

Overall, the financial data reveal a significant downward trend in both revenue and economic profitability. The company experienced a notable revenue decrease starting in 2022, concurrent with a shift from positive to substantial negative economic profit and margins. These patterns indicate potential issues such as increased costs, pricing pressures, or operational challenges that have adversely affected financial performance and value generation over the periods analyzed.