Workday Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY)

The financial data presents trends in both reported and adjusted net income for the company over six consecutive annual periods.

Reported Net Income (Loss)

The reported net income shows a volatile pattern throughout the observed years. Initially, the company experienced significant losses, with the largest loss recorded in January 2020 at -481 million US dollars. This loss decreased substantially by January 2021, reaching -282 million. In January 2022, the company achieved a positive net income of 29 million, marking a notable improvement from prior years.

However, the following year in January 2023 saw a return to a substantial loss of -367 million, indicating a setback in profitability. Thereafter, there was a strong recovery, with reported net income increasing sharply to 1381 million in January 2024, followed by a decrease yet remaining positive at 526 million in January 2025. Overall, this reflects a trend of high volatility with a recent shift towards profitability.

Adjusted Net Income (Loss)

The adjusted net income figures closely follow the trend of the reported net income, with minor differences in values, suggesting consistent adjustments applied across the periods. Beginning with a loss of -478 million in January 2020, the loss reduced to -284 million by January 2021.

Similar to the reported figures, adjusted net income turned positive in January 2022 at 23 million, but the company experienced a drop to -378 million in January 2023. A strong rebound occurred once more, with adjusted net income peaking at 1399 million in January 2024, followed by a moderate decline to 530 million in January 2025.

The close alignment between reported and adjusted values indicates the adjustments made do not significantly alter the overall net income trajectory, reinforcing the observed pattern of initial losses, volatile performance, and eventual return to positive earnings.

In summary, the company displays considerable fluctuations in net income across the examined periods with a trend towards improving financial performance marked by strong profitability in the most recent years. Despite interim setbacks, the recovery in net income suggests effective management of operational or structural challenges during the timeframe.

Net Profit Margin

The reported net profit margin experienced significant fluctuations over the examined periods. Initially, it was negative at -13.25% in 2020, progressively improving to a positive margin of 0.57% by 2022. A decline followed in 2023, with the margin reverting to a negative -5.9%. Subsequently, a notable recovery occurred in 2024, reaching a high of 19.02%, before decreasing to 6.23% in 2025. The adjusted net profit margin followed a very similar trajectory, remaining closely aligned with the reported figures throughout the timeline.

Return on Equity (ROE)

The reported ROE showed a pattern consistent with the net profit margins, starting with a deeply negative value of -19.33% in 2020 and improving to a marginally positive 0.65% by 2022. It then declined again in 2023 to -6.57%, followed by a strong rebound to 17.09% in 2024 and a decrease to 5.82% in 2025. The adjusted ROE followed this same trend with slightly lower values during positive periods but maintaining near parity during negative phases.

Return on Assets (ROA)

ROA trends were consistent with those of net profit margins and ROE, beginning at -7.05% in 2020 and improving towards a small positive figure of 0.28% in 2022. The ratio then declined to -2.72% in 2023 before exhibiting a significant rise to 8.39% in 2024, followed by a decrease to 2.93% in 2025. The adjusted ROA mirrored this pattern closely, with marginal differences throughout the periods.

Overall Trends and Insights

Across all profitability metrics—net profit margin, ROE, and ROA—there is a clear pattern of initial substantial losses that gradually improve to break-even or modest profitability by 2022. The year 2023 marks a setback with profitability declining again, which is then followed by a pronounced recovery peak in 2024. The following year, 2025, sees a reversion to moderate profitability levels. Adjusted figures closely parallel reported results, indicating that the adjustments made do not significantly alter the underlying profitability trends. The volatility observed suggests an underlying instability in earnings during the earlier years, with improvement becoming evident in the latter periods.

Net Income Trends

The reported net income showed a substantial loss of $481 million in 2020, followed by a reduced loss of $282 million in 2021. In 2022, the company transitioned to a positive net income of $29 million, indicating an improvement. However, this was followed by a renewed loss of $367 million in 2023. There was a significant recovery in 2024 with a reported net income of $1,381 million, which then declined to $526 million in 2025, although still remaining positive.

The adjusted net income follows a very similar pattern to the reported figures, starting at a loss of $478 million in 2020, improving slightly in 2021, becoming positive in 2022, dipping again in 2023, and then seeing a marked increase to $1,399 million in 2024 before decreasing to $530 million in 2025.

Net Profit Margin Trends

The reported net profit margin reflects the behavior of net income, starting at -13.25% in 2020 and improving over the next two years to 0.57% in 2022, indicating a brief period of profitability. This margin fell again to -5.9% in 2023 before improving sharply to 19.02% in 2024 and declining to 6.23% in 2025. This shows considerable variability in profitability relative to revenue over the reported periods.

The adjusted net profit margin similarly mirrors the reported margin with slight differences. It progressed from -13.19% in 2020 improving steadily to a near breakeven 0.45% in 2022, dropped again to -6.08% in 2023, then demonstrated a significant increase to 19.27% in 2024 before falling to 6.28% in 2025. This suggests that adjustments made to net income do not substantially alter the trend pattern.

Overall Insights

Both reported and adjusted financial data show a pattern of volatility with periods of losses juxtaposed with short-lived profitability and a notable peak in the fiscal year 2024. The recovery in 2024 is pronounced, with net income and profit margin reaching their highest levels in the series, suggesting a strong but potentially unsustainable improvement. The drop observed in 2025 indicates the possibility of challenges in maintaining this positive financial performance over time.

The similarity between reported and adjusted figures implies that the adjustments made have minimal impact on overall net income and profitability trends, reflecting consistent underlying operating results across the years.

Net Income (Loss) Trends

The reported net income experienced significant fluctuations over the periods. Initially, there was a substantial loss of US$481 million in 2020, which reduced to a smaller loss of US$282 million in 2021. The company then achieved a positive net income of US$29 million in 2022, followed by a return to losses amounting to US$367 million in 2023. A marked improvement occurred in 2024 with net income surging to US$1,381 million, before decreasing to US$526 million in 2025. The adjusted net income reflects a similar trend, with slightly different magnitudes but following the same pattern of loss reduction, recovery to profitability, a setback, then a strong gain, and a subsequent decline.

Return on Equity (ROE) Trends

Reported ROE mirrored the net income pattern, starting with negative values at -19.33% in 2020 and improving to -8.62% in 2021. ROE reached a marginally positive 0.65% in 2022 before turning negative again to -6.57% in 2023. The year 2024 showed a significant positive spike to 17.09%, followed by a decrease to 5.82% in 2025. Adjusted ROE values followed almost identical trends to the reported values, indicating consistent adjustments without materially altering the overall performance pattern.

Overall Insights

The data reveals a company experiencing volatility in profitability and equity returns over the observed period. After initial heavy losses, there is evidence of recovery with profitability achieved in 2022, a setback in 2023, and a pronounced improvement in 2024. However, the decline in both net income and ROE from 2024 to 2025 suggests the company faced challenges maintaining peak profitability. The close alignment between reported and adjusted figures indicates that adjustments made to reported results do not significantly change the underlying performance trends. This pattern of fluctuation suggests periods of operational challenges followed by episodes of financial recovery.

Net Income Analysis

The reported net income exhibits a fluctuating trajectory over the examined periods. Starting with a significant loss of $481 million in 2020, the loss narrows in 2021 to $282 million. In 2022, the company achieves a marginal profit of $29 million, followed by a return to loss of $367 million in 2023. Notably, the most recent years show a marked improvement with a substantial profit of $1,381 million in 2024, declining to $526 million in 2025, yet remaining positive overall.

The adjusted net income mirrors this pattern closely, with losses in the early years decreasing from $478 million in 2020 to $284 million in 2021. The company then reports a small gain of $23 million in 2022, a downturn to a $378 million loss in 2023, and subsequently experiences impressive profitability of $1,399 million in 2024 and $530 million in 2025. The alignment between reported and adjusted figures suggests consistency in the adjustments made.

Return on Assets (ROA) Analysis

The reported ROA reflects the changes observed in net income, indicating initial negative asset efficiency with -7.05% in 2020 improving to -3.24% in 2021. In 2022, ROA turns slightly positive at 0.28%, before declining again to -2.72% in 2023. A significant positive shift occurs in 2024, with ROA increasing to 8.39%, followed by a decrease to 2.93% in 2025, yet remaining in positive territory.

The adjusted ROA follows a similar trend, beginning at -7.02% in 2020, improving towards -3.26% in 2021, and rising just above zero at 0.22% in 2022. A dip to -2.8% in 2023 precedes a peak at 8.5% in 2024, which then declines to 2.95% in 2025. This close correlation between reported and adjusted ROA again indicates that adjustments have a negligible impact on overall asset performance ratios.

Overall Insights

The financial performance over the periods shows considerable volatility with initial losses followed by intermittent profitability and renewed losses, culminating in a pronounced recovery in 2024. This recovery is evidenced by net income turning strongly positive along with improved ROA, suggesting enhanced operational effectiveness or favorable accounting or market conditions. Despite a slight decline in 2025, profitability and asset returns remain positive compared to earlier years. The negligible differences between reported and adjusted figures highlight consistency in financial reporting adjustments over time.