Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:APC)

The financial performance metrics over the observed periods reveal distinct trends in profitability and leverage.

Return on Assets (ROA)

The ROA indicates initial positive returns with a peak around September 2013 at approximately 3.21%. Subsequently, there is a noticeable decline beginning in early 2014, transitioning into negative territory. From March 2014 onwards, the ROA remains negative, reaching a low of approximately -14.42% in December 2015. Although slight improvements are observed afterward, the ROA persists in negative values through the subsequent periods, concluding near -4.51% by September 2017. This pattern suggests deteriorating asset efficiency and profitability during the timeframe.

Financial Leverage

The leverage ratio exhibits a gradual increasing trend across the periods. Starting at 2.54 in March 2013, it remains relatively stable around the 2.4 to 2.5 range until late 2013. From 2014 forward, there is a steady upward movement peaking at 4.10 by March 2016. Although minor fluctuations are noted afterward, leverage maintains elevated levels above 3.5 for subsequent periods, ending near 4.00 in September 2017. This steady rise implies increased reliance on debt or other liabilities in the capital structure over time.

Return on Equity (ROE)

The ROE pattern mirrors the ROA trend but with more pronounced variation. Initially, ROE shows strong positive performance peaking at roughly 7.94% in September 2013. However, it sharply reverses to negative values starting in March 2014, reaching a nadir of -52.20% by December 2015. Although some recovery takes place subsequently, the ROE remains deeply negative, suggesting significant losses for equity holders. By September 2017, ROE stabilizes near -18.06%. This trend highlights severe challenges in generating shareholder returns, exacerbated by higher financial leverage.

Overall, the data reflects a decline in profitability both on assets and equity bases, coinciding with an increase in financial leverage throughout the periods. The combination of deteriorating returns and rising leverage suggests an increased risk profile and stress on financial performance during the timeframe analyzed.

Net Profit Margin

The net profit margin exhibited a positive trend during the first four quarters ending in December 2013, peaking around 12.37%. However, from the first quarter of 2014 onward, it shifted to negative territory, reflecting consistent losses. This negative trend intensified significantly through 2015 and 2016, reaching the lowest point with a margin close to -70.55% by the end of 2015. Although some improvement was observed during 2017, the margin remained substantially negative, suggesting ongoing challenges in profitability.

Asset Turnover

Asset turnover showed a gradual increase from 0.25 in early 2013 to around 0.28 by the end of 2014, indicating a more efficient use of assets to generate sales during this period. However, starting in 2015, asset turnover declined steadily to a low of 0.17 by the fourth quarter of 2016, signaling a reduction in operational efficiency. From early 2017 onwards, there was a modest recovery in asset turnover, reaching approximately 0.24 by the third quarter, yet still below the earlier peak levels.

Financial Leverage

Financial leverage ratios demonstrated an upward trajectory throughout the period under review. Beginning at approximately 2.54 in early 2013, leverage increased consistently, surpassing 3.0 in early 2014 and rising further to over 4.0 by the third quarter of 2017. This indicates a growing reliance on debt or other liabilities relative to equity, which may amplify risk in conjunction with deteriorating profitability.

Return on Equity (ROE)

ROE mirrored the net profit margin trend, showing initial positive returns of around 7.94% at the end of the third quarter 2013 before transitioning sharply into negative territory starting in 2014. The negative returns deepened significantly during 2015 and 2016, reaching a low of approximately -52.20% by the end of 2015. Although performance improved somewhat in 2017, ROE remained negative throughout, indicating sustained losses impacting shareholder value.

Overall Observations

The data reveals a clear decline in profitability and operational efficiency from 2014 onward, accompanied by increased financial leverage. The substantial negative net profit margins and ROE during this time frame suggest significant financial distress or challenging market conditions. The gradual increase in leverage may have compounded financial risk during periods of declining earnings. Mild recovery in asset turnover and profitability ratios in 2017 suggests some improvement, but these measures remained below early 2013 levels.

The financial analysis over multiple quarters reveals significant volatility and a declining trend in profitability metrics. The EBIT margin shows a marked deterioration from positive values close to 20-29% in 2013 to consistent and deep negative values starting in early 2014, declining further through 2015 and 2016, and stabilizing at negative double-digit percentages in 2017. This indicates a persistent decrease in operating profitability over the examined periods.

Return on Equity (ROE) aligns with the EBIT margin trend, moving from a modest positive level in 2013 with peaks around 7-8% to a pronounced negative trend starting in 2014. ROE reaches values as low as -52.2% in late 2015, indicating substantial losses and reduced shareholder value. Although ROE slightly improves after this nadir, it remains significantly negative through 2017, confirming sustained challenges in generating profit relative to equity.

Asset turnover demonstrates relative stability with slight fluctuations. Starting around 0.25-0.27 initially, it declines progressively to a low near 0.17 by 2016 before showing minor recovery towards 0.24 in late 2017. This reduction suggests a decline in asset efficiency, likely reflecting operational or market challenges affecting the company's ability to generate sales from its asset base.

Financial leverage remains elevated throughout the period, showing an increasing trend from approximately 2.5 in 2013 to around 4.0 in 2017. The rising leverage ratio indicates greater use of debt relative to equity, which could heighten financial risk especially in the context of declining profitability and operational efficiency.

Tax burden ratios available in 2013 indicate values varying between 0.36 and 0.52, but data after this period is unavailable, preventing further assessment of tax effects on net profitability.

The interest burden ratio fluctuates notably, with positive and robust values in early periods (around 0.73 to 0.83 in 2013) but shifting to negative values in parts of 2014, suggesting possible reporting issues or significant negative influences from interest expense relative to earnings before interest and taxes.

In summary, the data reflects a company facing significant profitability challenges with deteriorating EBIT margins and ROE, accompanied by weakening asset turnover and increasing financial leverage. These trends suggest stress on operational profitability and greater financial risk exposure through rising leverage, highlighting substantial challenges in financial performance and stability during the periods analyzed.

EBIT Margin

Declined from positive ~20-29% in 2013 to large negative values (~ -14% to -92%) from 2014 to 2017.

Return on Equity (ROE)

Shifted from positive up to ~7.9% in 2013 to deeply negative (up to -52.2%) from 2014 onwards, indicating sustained losses.

Asset Turnover

Relatively stable initially (0.25-0.27), declining to 0.17 by 2016, slight recovery to 0.24 in 2017, suggesting reduced efficiency.

Financial Leverage

Increased from ~2.5 in 2013 to 4.0 in 2017, indicating increased reliance on debt financing.

Tax Burden

Available only in 2013, showing moderate ratios between 0.36 and 0.52.

Interest Burden

Strong and positive in early 2013, with erratic and negative values appearing in 2014, implying variability in interest costs or earnings.

Net Profit Margin

The net profit margin exhibited positive values throughout 2013, peaking at approximately 12.37% in the second and third quarters. Beginning in the first quarter of 2014, there was a notable shift to negative territory, with margins declining sharply and reaching a low point of -70.55% in the last quarter of 2015. Following this trough, the margin somewhat improved but remained deeply negative through 2017, fluctuating between approximately -36% and -18%. This trend indicates a sustained period of unprofitability after 2013, with considerable volatility and no return to positive margins over subsequent years.

Asset Turnover

Asset turnover ratio displayed relative stability across the entire period but with some fluctuations. From 0.25 in early 2013, the ratio showed slight growth peaking at 0.28 during late 2013 and early 2014. Subsequently, there was a gradual decline from 0.28 in early 2015 to around 0.17 in the last quarter of 2016. However, this downward trajectory reversed moderately in 2017, rising to approximately 0.24 by the third quarter. Overall, asset turnover remained low, indicating limited efficiency in generating sales from assets, with a decline during the middle years followed by some recovery.

Return on Assets (ROA)

ROA followed a pattern similar to net profit margin. Positive returns were observed throughout 2013, with a 3.21% peak in the third quarter. Beginning in 2014, ROA turned negative and progressively worsened, reaching a low of -14.42% in the fourth quarter of 2015. After this significant dip, the ROA gradually improved but stayed negative during 2016 and 2017, improving from approximately -11.83% to around -4.51%. These trends suggest considerable challenges in asset profitability during the period, with sustained losses and only modest recovery towards the end.

The financial ratios reveal several distinct trends over the observed periods. The tax burden ratio was relatively low and fluctuated between 0.36 and 0.52 during the first year but then had no data for subsequent periods. The interest burden ratio remained stable around 0.73 to 0.83 in the first four quarters but exhibited significant anomalies thereafter, including negative values, indicating potential distortions or unfavorable interest expenses in those periods.

EBIT margin percentages show a marked decline starting from a reasonably strong position in early 2013, with values ranging from approximately 17.84% to as high as 29.18%. However, starting in 2014, the margin deteriorated considerably, turning negative in multiple quarters and reaching extreme lows such as -92.18% and -84.04%. This persistent negative performance in EBIT margin throughout subsequent periods indicates sustained profitability challenges or significant operational difficulties.

The asset turnover ratio remained relatively stable initially, maintaining levels near 0.25 to 0.28 through 2013 and early 2014. Starting in late 2014, a gradual decline materialized, bottoming out around 0.17 to 0.18 before showing a slight recovery towards the end of the period under review, reaching about 0.24 in late 2017. This trend suggests a reduction in the efficiency with which assets were being utilized to generate revenue, followed by a modest improvement in recent quarters.

Return on assets (ROA) exhibited a positive but modest performance in 2013, peaking near 3.21% but declining markedly thereafter. From early 2014 onward, ROA remained negative, mostly ranging between -4.5% and -14.4%, with the most severe declines occurring in 2015 and early 2016. The gradual lessening of negative ROA values towards 2017 indicates some improvement but still reflects an ongoing inability to generate positive returns from asset investments over an extended timeframe.

Tax Burden

Initially low and somewhat variable, data becomes unavailable after 2013, limiting trend analysis for later periods.

Interest Burden

Stable in early years but shows irregular and negative values starting in late 2014, suggesting increased interest expenses or financial distress.

EBIT Margin

Strong positive margins in 2013 collapsed sharply from 2014 onward, with persistent negative percentages indicating ongoing earnings difficulties.

Asset Turnover

Modest decline in efficiency from late 2014, followed by slight recovery in 2017, signaling fluctuating asset utilization effectiveness.

Return on Assets (ROA)

Positive but low returns in 2013 reversed into significant negative territory from 2014 through 2016, with minor improvements by 2017, reflecting sustained challenges in asset profitability.

The financial data reveals noticeable trends and fluctuations in profitability and cost management over the examined quarterly periods.

Tax Burden

The tax burden ratio exhibited variability in the early periods, starting at 0.36 and increasing to 0.52 within 2013. Data for subsequent quarters is unavailable, which limits observation of any extended trend. The initial increase suggests a growing proportion of earnings allocated to taxes during that timeframe.

Interest Burden

The interest burden ratio was relatively stable and positive in the first half of 2013, ranging between 0.73 and 0.83, indicating manageable interest expenses relative to earnings. However, in 2014, the ratio turned negative for select quarters (notably -2.08 and -0.21), signaling potential interest expense issues or exceptional items negatively impacting earnings before interest and taxes during those periods.

EBIT Margin

This metric showed a positive and relatively strong performance throughout 2013, peaking near 29% before declining towards the end of the year. Beginning in 2014, EBIT margin shifted to negative figures, indicating operational challenges or decreased profitability. The negative trend intensified markedly through 2015 and 2016, with margins falling as low as approximately -92%. Some improvement was visible by 2017, although margins remained negative, reflecting sustained operational difficulties or adverse market conditions affecting earnings before interest and taxes.

Net Profit Margin

The net profit margin followed a similar trajectory to the EBIT margin. Positive and moderately strong in 2013, it declined sharply from 2014 onwards, recording significant negative values throughout 2015 and 2016, bottoming near -70%. Although gradual improvement was observed by 2017, the margin remained negative, suggesting persistent net losses. This trend underscores the company's struggles with profitability, possibly due to decreased revenues, increased costs, or other financial setbacks.

Overall, the data depicts a company transitioning from a profitable position in 2013 to sustained losses in subsequent years, with operational profitability and net earnings margins reflecting challenging economic or industry conditions. The volatility in interest burden further hints at possible financing difficulties during parts of the reporting period.