Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

The analysis of intangible assets over the examined periods reveals several notable trends in valuation and composition.

Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets

The value of trade names, trademarks, and patents as indefinite-lived intangible assets remained relatively stable from 2020 to 2022, around $95 million to $97.5 million. However, there is a noticeable decline in 2023 to approximately $79.4 million, after which the value stabilizes slightly above that level through 2025. This indicates a reduction in indefinite-lived intangible assets, possibly reflecting impairment or reevaluation.

Acquired and Reacquired Rights

This category shows a fluctuation with a peak value of approximately $1,141.5 million in 2021, then a decline to around $957.6 million in 2023. Subsequently, it recovers partially to reach approximately $1,053.9 million by 2025, indicating some variability that may relate to acquisition or reacquisition activities or amortization adjustments.

Acquired Trade Secrets and Processes

The figures for acquired trade secrets and processes remain constant at $27.6 million throughout all periods, indicating no impairment, acquisition, or disposal in this asset group.

Trade Names, Trademarks, and Patents (Finite-Lived)

When assessed as part of finite-lived intangible assets, this group exhibits minor fluctuations between approximately $124.6 million and $131.2 million, with a modest upward trend towards 2025.

Licensing Agreements

Licensing agreements show some volatility, increasing from $16.6 million in 2020 to a peak of $19.3 million in 2022, followed by a drop to around $13 million in 2023 and maintaining that level thereafter. This suggests some licensing agreements may have ended or reduced in value starting 2023.

Other Finite-Lived Intangible Assets

The value in this category decreases overall from $22.8 million in 2020 to approximately $20.5 million in 2025, showing a slow but steady decline.

Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross Carrying Amount

The gross carrying amount peaked in 2021 at about $1,338.2 million and then declined significantly to around $1,182.1 million in 2022, continuing a downward trend to $1,149.3 million in 2023, before rising again to $1,246.2 million in 2025. This pattern indicates asset disposals or amortization exceeding additions initially, followed by renewed investment or acquisition in recent years.

Accumulated Amortization

Accumulated amortization shows an increasing absolute value from approximately $850.8 million in 2020 to $1,164.0 million in 2024, indicating continued amortization expense recognition. However, a slight decrease in amortization to about $1,158.9 million in 2025 might suggest impairment adjustments, disposals, or changes in amortization policy.

Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Net Carrying Amount

This amount declines sharply from $457.1 million in 2020 to just $25.4 million in 2021, falling further to $58.4 million in 2022 and reaching a low of $21.4 million in 2024 before recovering to $87.3 million in 2025. The dramatic drop followed by a partial recovery could indicate major write-offs or disposals followed by new finite-lived asset acquisitions or capitalizations.

Other Intangible Assets

The balance in other intangible assets decreases steadily from $552.1 million in 2020 to a low of $100.9 million in 2024, before increasing again to $166.8 million in 2025. The declining trend followed by a recovery may reflect asset impairment, amortization, and later revaluation or asset additions.

Goodwill

Goodwill starts at about $3,597.2 million in 2020, increases modestly to about $3,677.3 million in 2021, then experiences a decline to approximately $3,218.3 million in 2023. It recovers moderately thereafter to $3,368.9 million in 2025. This pattern suggests impairment losses or divestitures and subsequent acquisitions or revaluation impacting goodwill.

Other Intangible Assets and Goodwill (Combined)

The combined total decreases from $4,149.3 million in 2020 to $3,338.8 million in 2023, reflecting the overall downward trend in intangible assets and goodwill. Subsequently, it trends upward, reaching $3,535.7 million in 2025, indicating a partial recovery in intangible asset values.

In summary, the company’s intangible assets experienced notable declines around 2022 and 2023, primarily driven by decreases in indefinite-lived assets, finite-lived intangible assets, and goodwill. These reductions may be attributable to impairments, disposals, or amortization. From 2024 onwards, there are signs of stabilization and moderate recovery across several asset categories, suggesting renewed investment or revaluation efforts. Accumulated amortization steadily increased until 2024, indicating consistent expense recognition, with a slight reduction thereafter possibly related to asset write-offs or adjustments.

The analysis of the financial data over the periods from 2020 to 2025 reveals several notable trends in both reported and goodwill-adjusted figures.

Total Assets

Reported total assets show an overall upward trend, increasing from approximately 29.37 billion USD in 2020 to about 32.02 billion USD in 2025. However, a dip is observed in 2022 where the assets decreased to 27.98 billion USD before recovering in subsequent years. Adjusted total assets, which exclude goodwill, follow a similar pattern but at consistently lower levels, starting at 25.78 billion USD in 2020 and rising to roughly 28.65 billion USD by 2025. The adjusted figures also show the lowest point in 2022 at about 24.69 billion USD.

Shareholders’ Deficit

Both reported and adjusted shareholders’ deficits indicate a persistent negative equity position throughout the period under review. The reported shareholders’ deficit decreased in severity from -7.81 billion USD in 2020 to -5.32 billion USD in 2021, implying a temporary improvement. However, the deficit deepened again in 2022 to -8.71 billion USD and remained substantially negative in subsequent years, fluctuating around -7.44 billion USD to -8.09 billion USD by 2025. The adjusted shareholders’ deficit, which factors out goodwill, follows a comparable but more severe trend, starting at -11.40 billion USD in 2020. It improved somewhat in 2021 to -8.99 billion USD but then deteriorated in 2022 to -11.99 billion USD, remaining significantly negative through 2025, ending near -11.47 billion USD.

Insights

The data reveal volatility in asset values with a recovery trend after a trough in 2022. The persistent and sizeable shareholders’ deficit, especially when adjusted for goodwill, suggests ongoing challenges in equity structure and possibly highlights the impact of intangible asset impairments or other adjustments. The divergence between reported and adjusted figures emphasizes the substantial portion of asset value represented by goodwill, and the adjusted figures present a more conservative view of financial position.

The analysis of the financial ratios over the reported periods reveals distinct trends in asset utilization and profitability metrics.

Total Asset Turnover

The reported total asset turnover ratio has shown a general upward trajectory from 0.8 initially to a peak of 1.22 before slightly decreasing to 1.15 and then marginally increasing to 1.16 in the most recent period. This indicates improving efficiency in generating sales from the assets over time. The adjusted total asset turnover ratio, which accounts for goodwill adjustments, starts higher than the reported ratio at 0.91 and follows a similar improving pattern, reaching a maximum of 1.37 and then declining somewhat to 1.29 and 1.3. The adjusted figures consistently suggest better asset utilization once goodwill effects are removed.

Return on Assets (ROA)

Reported ROA (expressed as a percentage) displays considerable volatility, with a low initial value of 3.16%, followed by a significant rise to 13.38%, and then fluctuating between approximately 11.73% and 14.01% over the subsequent periods before decreasing sharply to 5.8% in the final year. The adjusted ROA mirrors this trend but consistently exceeds the reported figures, starting at 3.6%, peaking around 15.73%, and subsequently declining to 6.48%. This suggests that excluding goodwill yields a somewhat stronger performance indication, although the downward trend in the latest period suggests a reduction in asset profitability.

Financial Leverage and Return on Equity (ROE)

Data pertaining to financial leverage and return on equity, both reported and adjusted, are not available for analysis. Therefore, no conclusions can be drawn regarding leverage effects or shareholder returns from this dataset.

Overall, the trends indicate improvements in asset turnover and asset-based profitability through the middle periods, with a notable decline in the most recent year that may warrant further investigation. The adjustments for goodwill seem to provide a more optimistic view of operational efficiency and profitability, underscoring the importance of considering intangible asset effects in performance assessments.

Total Assets

The reported total assets exhibited moderate fluctuations over the periods analyzed. Beginning at 29,374,500 thousand US dollars, the figure increased to 31,392,600 thousand by the subsequent year, followed by a decline to 27,978,400 thousand in the third year. Thereafter, total assets experienced a recovery trend, rising again to 31,319,300 thousand in the fifth year and continuing to increase to 32,019,700 thousand in the final year observed. Adjusted total assets, which exclude goodwill, followed a similar pattern but remained consistently lower than the reported figures, indicating the presence and adjustment of goodwill assets within the balance sheet.

Total Asset Turnover

Both reported and adjusted total asset turnover ratios showed a positive trend with increasing efficiency in asset utilization. The reported total asset turnover ratio rose steadily from 0.80 to a peak of 1.22 in the fourth year, before slightly declining and stabilizing around 1.15 to 1.16 in the subsequent periods. The adjusted total asset turnover ratio demonstrated higher values in each period, starting at 0.91 and reaching a peak of 1.37, followed by a marginal decline and stabilization near 1.29 to 1.30. This indicates improved operational performance when goodwill is excluded.

Insights

Overall, the trends suggest that despite some volatility in the size of total assets, the efficiency with which those assets generate revenue has generally improved over time. The consistently higher adjusted total asset turnover ratios imply that goodwill adjustments provide a clearer view of asset productivity, reflecting enhanced core asset performance. The periods of asset decline followed by recovery may highlight strategic asset management or external economic factors affecting asset value or composition.

The analysis of the financial data over the examined periods reveals several noteworthy trends and patterns related to the company's asset base and shareholders' equity position, both in reported terms and after adjustments for goodwill.

Total Assets

The reported total assets demonstrate a fluctuating yet generally upward trajectory over the years. Beginning at approximately 29.4 billion US dollars in late 2020, the reported assets peaked at about 31.4 billion by late 2025, indicating a moderate growth overall. However, there was a noticeable dip observed in the years 2021 to 2022, where assets decreased from 31.4 billion to roughly 28.0 billion, before recovering in subsequent years.

The adjusted total assets, which exclude goodwill, follow a similar but slightly more volatile pattern. The value declined from roughly 25.8 billion in 2020 to about 24.7 billion in 2022, marking a sharper reduction than the reported figure in the same timeframe. Subsequently, a recovery phase took place, with adjusted assets increasing to approximately 28.7 billion by 2025. This suggests that adjustments primarily related to goodwill impact the asset valuation meaningfully and that underlying tangible assets have shown resilience and growth post-2022.

Shareholders’ Deficit

The reported shareholders' deficit exhibits significant fluctuations throughout the periods examined. Initially, the deficit stood at about -7.8 billion US dollars in 2020, improving to -5.3 billion by 2021, indicating a temporary reduction in negative equity. However, this was followed by sharp increases in the deficit to around -8.7 billion in 2022 and a partial improvement thereafter, ending near -8.1 billion in 2025. This pattern reflects instability in the company's equity position and suggests episodes of financial strain or substantial write-downs impacting shareholders’ equity.

The adjusted shareholders’ deficit, which incorporates goodwill adjustments, reveals consistently larger and more negative balances than the reported figures, starting at roughly -11.4 billion in 2020 and worsening slightly over the periods to approximately -11.5 billion by 2025. Though there are fluctuations, the adjusted deficit remains significantly negative and exhibits limited improvement, implying that goodwill adjustments have a considerable impact on equity and that the company faces ongoing challenges in enhancing its net asset position on an adjusted basis.

Financial Leverage

No data is available for either reported or adjusted financial leverage ratios over the periods assessed. As such, it is not possible to analyze trends regarding the company's leverage or capital structure adjustments based on this ratio.

In summary, the company’s total assets reflect general growth with periodic declines, while adjusted assets demonstrate more pronounced variations. Shareholders’ deficit remains substantially negative and more severe after goodwill adjustments, suggesting persistent equity-related challenges. The absence of financial leverage data precludes analysis of leverage trends and capital risk during the timeframe considered.

The financial data indicates that both the reported and adjusted shareholders’ deficits have remained significantly negative over the analyzed periods, demonstrating a persistent deficit position for the company. Although there are fluctuations, the shareholder deficits do not exhibit a clear improving trend.

Reported shareholders’ deficit

The reported shareholders’ deficit showed a reduction from -7,805,100 thousand USD in 2020 to -5,321,200 thousand USD in 2021, indicating an improvement in net equity position. However, this was followed by a steep increase to -8,706,600 thousand USD in 2022, then fluctuated downward slightly to -7,994,800 thousand USD in 2023 and further to -7,448,900 thousand USD in 2024, before increasing again to -8,096,600 thousand USD in 2025. This volatility indicates challenges in managing equity deficits over the period with no clear sustained recovery.

Adjusted shareholders’ deficit

When adjusted for goodwill, the shareholders’ deficit was consistently more negative compared to the reported figures, starting at -11,402,300 thousand USD in 2020 and improving somewhat to -8,998,500 thousand USD in 2021. However, similarly to the reported figures, the adjusted deficit deepened to -11,990,100 thousand USD in 2022 and fluctuated with a slight improvement to -11,213,100 thousand USD in 2023 and -10,764,600 thousand USD in 2024, before worsening again to -11,465,500 thousand USD in 2025. This adjusted measure suggests that when excluding goodwill, the net equity position is significantly weaker and experiences similar fluctuations as the reported deficit.

Return on Equity (ROE)

No reported or adjusted ROE percentages were provided in the data, which limits the ability to assess profitability relative to shareholders’ equity during these years.

Overall, the data indicate a challenging equity position with a substantial deficit that fluctuates but does not demonstrate a consistent trend toward recovery. The adjusted deficit figures, which exclude goodwill, highlight a larger negative equity position, underscoring potential concerns about the company’s net asset base. The absence of ROE data prevents further analysis of profitability trends in relation to equity.

The analysis of the financial data over the periods from 2020 to 2025 reveals several noteworthy trends in both reported and goodwill-adjusted figures.

Total Assets

The reported total assets exhibit fluctuation over the years. Starting at approximately 29.37 billion US dollars in 2020, the value increased to around 31.39 billion in 2021, followed by a decline to 27.98 billion in 2022. Subsequently, total assets recovered, reaching 29.45 billion in 2023 and further increasing to 31.34 billion in 2024, culminating in 32.02 billion in 2025. The adjusted total assets, which exclude goodwill, show a similar but slightly lower trend, beginning at about 25.78 billion in 2020, rising to 27.72 billion in 2021, dipping to 24.69 billion in 2022, and then progressively increasing through to 28.65 billion in 2025. This pattern indicates asset base fluctuations but a general recovery and growth trend in recent years after the dip in 2022.

Return on Assets (ROA)

The reported ROA fluctuates significantly across the periods. It starts moderately at 3.16% in 2020, then sharply increases to 13.38% in 2021. There is a slight decrease to 11.73% in 2022, followed by an increase to 14.01% in 2023. However, in the later years, ROA declines to 12% in 2024 and then more notably to 5.8% in 2025. The adjusted ROA, which takes goodwill into account, follows a similar pattern but consistently shows higher values than reported ROA. It rises from 3.6% in 2020 to a peak of 15.73% in 2023, then declines to 13.42% in 2024 and drops significantly to 6.48% in 2025.

Overall Insights

The data indicates that the company experienced an asset reduction in 2022, but total assets improved thereafter, both in reported terms and goodwill-adjusted terms. The ROA metrics reveal improved asset profitability starting in 2021, with peaks around 2023, followed by declines in the latest observed years, particularly in 2025, which suggests some deterioration in asset efficiency or profitability despite growing asset base. The adjusted ROA being consistently higher than reported ROA suggests that goodwill adjustments lead to a portrayal of stronger returns, pointing to the impact of intangible assets on company performance metrics.