Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA)

Inventory Turnover

The inventory turnover ratio shows a gradual improvement over the period analyzed. Starting at 0.78 in March 2020, it experienced minor fluctuations but generally increased to 0.88 by September 2023 before stabilizing around 0.8 towards March 2025. This suggests a modest enhancement in the efficiency of inventory management, with goods being sold and replaced slightly more rapidly over time.

Receivables Turnover

The receivables turnover ratio demonstrated notable volatility. After initially declining from 29.75 in March 2020 to a low near 20.27 in September 2022, it showed intermittent recovery peaks such as 29.37 in March 2024. Despite these fluctuations, the overall trend points to a decrease in the speed at which receivables were collected, indicating some challenges in accounts receivable management or changes in credit terms and customer payment behavior.

Payables Turnover

The payables turnover ratio consistently increased from approximately 4.94 in March 2020 to above 6.0 in several quarters between 2021 and 2025, peaking near 6.43 in March 2025. This marks a steady acceleration in the rate at which payables are settled, indicating potentially improved supplier payment terms or a deliberate strategy to expedite payables.

Working Capital Turnover

The working capital turnover ratio showed a strong upward trend, rising from 1.69 early in the period to a high of 6.04 in June 2024. However, this was followed by a significant decline to 2.15 by September 2024 before partially recovering to 2.89 by March 2025. This pattern suggests fluctuating efficiency in using working capital to generate sales, with a notable dip indicating potential operational or investment changes during 2024.

Average Inventory Processing Period

The average number of days to process inventory remained elevated but showed a decreasing tendency. It peaked at just under 500 days in the early periods before declining steadily to around 416 days in September 2023. Afterwards, there was a partial reversal with days increasing again to near 460 by early 2025. This reflects a generally slow inventory turnover with phases of improved velocity followed by some deceleration.

Average Receivable Collection Period

The receivable collection period remained relatively stable, fluctuating mostly between 12 and 17 days throughout the timeline. Small increases suggest occasional tightening in payment collection, but the overall period did not exhibit major shifts, indicating consistent credit management policies and customer payment behaviors.

Operating Cycle

The operating cycle, combining inventory and receivables periods, hovered between 430 and 510 days. It declined from a peak near 511 days in mid-2020 to about 427 days by September 2023, suggesting improved operational efficiency. Nonetheless, the cycle lengthened again somewhat towards early 2025, indicating variability in overall operations time.

Average Payables Payment Period

The payables payment period demonstrated a steady shortening from about 74 days in March 2020 to around 57-62 days during later periods, with a slight increase to 65 days in June 2024 before a decrease again. This decrease indicates faster payment to suppliers, which could reflect either improved liquidity or strategic supplier relationship management.

Cash Conversion Cycle

The cash conversion cycle mirrored the trends in the operating cycle, remaining high around 400 to 450 days initially, before gradually decreasing to a low around 365 days in late 2023 and early 2024. A subsequent increase to over 400 days occurred again into 2025. This reflects large working capital demands and prolonged cash flow recovery periods typical of the company’s operations, though with some periods of improvement.

Cost of Products and Services

The cost of products and services exhibits notable fluctuations across the observed periods. Initially, a decline is observed from $16,756 million in March 2020 to $12,967 million in June 2020, followed by a moderate increase and subsequent spikes towards the end of 2020, reaching $20,982 million in December 2020. During 2021, costs remain relatively elevated but show some variability, peaking again in December 2021 at $17,300 million. Throughout 2022 and into early 2023, the values hover between $13,638 million and $18,116 million, with periodic rises and falls. The second half of 2023 and into 2024 reflects a pattern of volatility, with costs ranging roughly between $14,693 million and $21,347 million, indicating potential shifts in operational intensity or pricing pressures. In the latest quarters available, costs appear to maintain an elevated but somewhat stable level, concluding near $17,079 million.

Inventories

Inventories demonstrate a gradual upward trend over the periods with occasional minor declines. Starting at $80,020 million in March 2020, inventory levels increase steadily to about $86,961 million by September 2020 before dropping slightly towards the end of 2020. Throughout 2021, inventory remains relatively stable in the range of approximately $78,823 million to $82,000 million. A slight reduction is observed during 2022, with values decreasing from around $79,819 million to $78,151 million, followed by stabilization. The first half of 2023 shows a modest increase, reaching about $79,872 million in December 2023. The most recent data through 2024 shows a consistent upward movement, culminating at $89,077 million by March 2025, signaling an accumulation of stock or slower inventory turnover over time.

Inventory Turnover Ratio

The inventory turnover ratio data begins from September 2020 and exhibits a relatively narrow range between 0.74 and 0.88 across all reported quarters. Early reported figures indicate a ratio around 0.75 to 0.78, with a notable improvement peaking at approximately 0.88 in the latter part of 2023. After reaching this peak, the ratio experiences minor fluctuations, maintaining levels mostly above 0.78 except for a dip in mid-2024. Such stability in turnover suggests that, despite inventory build-up, the company is able to manage inventory movement at a consistent rate without significant inefficiencies or overstocking anomalies. The general trend points to a modest improvement in inventory management efficiency toward late 2023 and early 2024, although no dramatic shifts are evident.

The revenues exhibit considerable fluctuation across the quarters from 2020 through 2025. Starting at $16,908 million in March 2020, there is a notable decline during the second quarter of 2020 to $11,807 million, likely reflecting external market pressures or operational disruptions. Subsequently, revenues demonstrate a partial recovery, reaching a peak of $22,018 million in December 2023, followed by alternating increases and decreases, ending at $19,496 million in March 2025. This pattern suggests a volatile revenue environment with intermittent growth phases and contractions.

Accounts receivable, net, show moderate variations within the observed periods. Starting at $3,211 million in March 2020, there is a downward trend until December 2020, reaching a low of $1,955 million. Following this, receivables generally increase through 2023, peaking near $3,032 million in September 2023. The amounts then fluctuate marginally but remain mostly within the $2,600 million to $3,200 million range through early 2025. These fluctuations may indicate changing credit sales conditions or collection efficiency adjustments over time.

The receivables turnover ratio, available from September 2020 onward, ranges between approximately 20 and 30 times per annum. The highest turnover ratio is 29.75 at the start of available data and peaks again at 29.37 in December 2023. Periods of lower turnover, such as 20.27 in March 2022 and 21.67 in March 2025, suggest slower collections during those intervals. Overall, the turnover ratio maintains relative stability with variations indicating changes in receivables management and collection velocity.

Revenue Trends

Revenues initially dropped sharply in mid-2020 but gradually increased into late 2023, achieving a peak before fluctuating again. Such patterns imply sensitivity to external factors impacting revenue generation capabilities.

Accounts Receivable Behavior

A decline in accounts receivable in 2020 contrasts with recovery and stabilization thereafter, potentially reflecting shifts in credit policies or customer payment behaviors.

Receivables Turnover Analysis

Ratios indicate overall efficient collections with periodic slowdowns. The turnover remains robust yet experiences cyclical declines, influencing cash flow dynamics.

Overall Insights

The interplay of revenue and receivables data suggests the company manages receivables effectively relative to changes in revenue volume, though volatile revenue impacts may challenge consistent cash inflow predictability.

Cost of products and services

The cost of products and services shows significant fluctuations over the observed periods. Initially, there was a decline from 16,756 million USD in Q1 2020 to a low of 12,967 million USD in Q2 2020, followed by a gradual increase reaching 20,982 million USD in Q4 2020. Subsequently, the cost oscillated between approximately 13,000 million USD and 19,000 million USD across the quarters of 2021 to early 2024, with occasional peaks notably in Q4 2021 and Q4 2023 exceeding 19,000 million USD. The data suggests cyclical cost patterns possibly aligned with operational cycles or market demand, without a clear long-term upward or downward trend. The latest periods indicate a cost level close to 17,000 million USD, aligning with mid-range values seen in previous years.

Accounts payable

Accounts payable exhibit a declining trend early in the data, dropping from 14,963 million USD in Q1 2020 to a trough around 9,261 million USD in Q4 2020. From 2021 onwards, payables stabilize mostly between 9,000 and 12,000 million USD, with a moderate increasing trend noticeable in 2021 and early 2022. The figures fluctuate around 11,000 million USD in the most recent quarters, indicating a relatively consistent level of short-term liabilities relating to payables. The variability is less pronounced than that of cost of products and services, suggesting more controlled management or steadier short-term obligations.

Payables turnover ratio

The payables turnover ratio, available from Q4 2020 onwards, ranges between approximately 4.9 and 6.7 times annually. Early measurements in late 2020 and early 2021 show values near 5, progressing to several peaks exceeding 6 turnovers annually in multiple consecutive quarters of 2021 and 2022. The ratio then shows a gradual decline to about 5.8–6.0 in late 2023 and early 2024, before increasing again to around 6.4 by Q1 2025. This turnover behavior indicates periods of faster payment cycles alternating with more extended payment terms, reflecting changes in working capital management or supplier payment policies over time.

Overall analysis

The data reveals a dynamic environment with notable cost fluctuations and moderately stable accounts payable levels. The cost of products and services is characterized by volatility, possibly driven by external market conditions or internal operational shifts. Accounts payable remained fairly contained after an initial decline, while the payables turnover ratio indicates variable payment speeds with tendencies to accelerate payments in some periods and slow down in others. Together, these trends suggest active management of payables amid changing cost pressures, which may impact liquidity and supplier relationships.

Working Capital Trend

The working capital exhibits a volatile trend over the periods. Initially, it increased significantly from 16,509 million USD at the end of March 2020 to a peak near 38,705 million USD by September 2020. Subsequently, it experienced a declining pattern with some fluctuations, reaching values as low as approximately 12,136 million USD in June 2024. Notably, there was a sharp increase again in March 2025 to 24,008 million USD, indicating potential changes in current asset or liability management.

Revenue Trend

The revenue pattern reveals fluctuations within a range varying from approximately 11,807 million USD to around 22,018 million USD. There is a visible recovery after the low point in June 2020. Revenues generally increase over time with some intermittent decreases, culminating near 19,496 million USD at the latest period reported. This indicates ongoing business activity with periods of growth and contraction.

Working Capital Turnover Trend

The working capital turnover ratio, which reflects how efficiently working capital generates revenues, indicates a strong upward trend starting from 1.69 in December 2020 to a peak of approximately 6.04 in September 2024. This sharp increase suggests considerable improvement in working capital efficiency over time. However, this is followed by a marked decline to 2.15 and then a mild recovery to 2.89 in the most recent periods, indicating some loss of efficiency or changes in capital structure.

Correlation Between Working Capital and Revenue

Periods with declining working capital often coincide with relatively stable or rising revenues, especially from mid-2022 to the end of the data series. The increasing working capital turnover ratio supports this observation, suggesting that the company was able to generate higher revenues with comparatively lower working capital investment in recent years.

Overall Insights

The data reveals volatility in working capital levels, alongside fluctuating revenue streams. Despite this, efficiency as measured by working capital turnover showed significant improvement up to late 2024, highlighting effective working capital management. The recent reversal in turnover ratio accompanied by a rise in working capital might warrant further investigation into operational or financial changes during the final periods.

Inventory Turnover

The inventory turnover ratio demonstrates a relatively stable trend starting from the end of 2020 through early 2025, with values fluctuating within a narrow range between approximately 0.74 and 0.88. Initially, from March 2021 to December 2021, the turnover remained just below 0.8, then showed a slight upward trend, reaching a peak of 0.88 in September 2023, indicating a marginal improvement in inventory efficiency during this period. However, following this peak, the ratio exhibited a slight decline with modest fluctuations, settling around 0.78-0.80 by March 2025. Overall, the turnover ratio does not reveal major volatility, but suggests moderate improvements followed by a plateau in inventory turnover speed over the timeframe analyzed.

Average Inventory Processing Period

The average inventory processing period, expressed in days, moves inversely to the turnover ratio as expected. Beginning from around 467 days in March 2021, this metric increased slightly to near 496 days by June 2021, indicating a slower inventory processing period initially. Subsequently, there was a consistent decline to 416 days by September 2023, reflecting an improvement in inventory management efficiency. After this trough, the processing period showed volatility with increases and decreases, rising again to approximately 466 days by March 2025. This pattern suggests that while operational efficiencies were gained up to late 2023, some challenges or strategic adjustments led to a lengthening of the inventory processing period thereafter.

Overall Observations

The data indicates a cyclical behavior where inventory turnover ratios and average inventory processing periods improved up to around the third quarter of 2023. After these improvements, a slight reversal in trends appeared, with turnover ratios decreasing and processing periods lengthening by early 2025. These shifts could reflect changing market conditions, supply chain factors, or internal operational adjustments affecting the pace at which inventory is managed and moved. The metrics point toward moderate enhancements in inventory control during the middle of the period analyzed, followed by a stabilization or slight relaxation in inventory efficiency toward the end of the observed timeline.

The analysis of the receivables metrics over the observed periods reveals fluctuations in both turnover ratios and collection periods, indicating variability in the company's efficiency in managing accounts receivable.

Receivables Turnover Ratio

The receivables turnover ratio demonstrates a range of values fluctuating between approximately 20.27 and 29.75 over the reported periods. The initial available ratio is high at 29.75, followed by a noticeable decline to 23.97 and 24.76 in the subsequent periods. Thereafter, the turnover fluctuates, exhibiting some recovery toward the end of 2021 (reaching up to 27.95) but generally remains within a moderately stable range between 20 and 27 over the ensuing quarters.

From 2022 to 2025, the turnover ratio shows variations without a clear continuous trend; however, its value fluctuates around mid-20s with occasional dips to near 20. The most recent periods show a modest declining tendency, with the March 2025 figure reported at 21.67, suggesting a slight easing in receivables collection efficiency compared to earlier higher ratios.

Average Receivable Collection Period

The average collection period inversely correlates with the turnover ratio and varies between 12 and 18 days across the periods. It started around 12 days in early observations, rising gradually to approximately 15-16 days during mid periods, indicating a longer duration to collect receivables.

There is evidence of some improvements at certain intervals, such as a drop back to 12 days at one point (end of 2023), but this is followed by fluctuations mainly in the 14 to 17 days range. The latest figures around early 2025 again reflect a period around 17 days, implying a slight increase in the collection period compared to earlier quarters.

Overall, the data suggests the company experienced varying effectiveness in managing accounts receivable across these periods, with no consistent upward or downward trend, but rather cyclical fluctuations in both turnover ratios and collection periods. The most recent data indicates a modest decline in turnover and a slight increase in collection days, which could warrant closer monitoring to ensure receivables management remains efficient.

The data reveals several trends in inventory processing, receivable collection, and the overall operating cycle over the periods analyzed.

Average Inventory Processing Period

This metric generally fluctuates within a range from 415 to 496 days. Initially, there was an increasing trend reaching around 496 days by mid-2020, followed by a gradual reduction from early 2022 through late 2023, dipping to approximately 416 days. However, from late 2023 onward, the period sees a moderate increase again, reaching close to 470 days by early 2025. This indicates periodic variations in inventory efficiency, with some improvement during 2022 and 2023 before a reversal to longer processing times.

Average Receivable Collection Period

The receivable collection days remain relatively stable but show some mild volatility in the range of 12 to 18 days. Initially at about 12 days, the period rises slightly from mid-2020, peaking near 18 days in late 2021. Afterward, collection times stabilize mostly between 14 and 16 days with minor fluctuations through to early 2025. This suggests persistent but manageable credit collection practices without significant deterioration or improvement.

Operating Cycle

The operating cycle, representing the sum of inventory processing and receivable collection periods, exhibits a pattern consistent with its components. It experiences an increase to around 511 days by mid-2020, followed by a slow downward trend to approximately 431 days in late 2023, before rising again to nearly 486 days by early 2025. These movements reflect the combined effects of inventory and receivables trends, highlighting cyclical operational efficiency.

Overall, the data shows cyclical variations in operational timing metrics, with periods of increased efficiency in inventory management and receivables collection followed by phases of elongation. The patterns suggest responsiveness to market or internal conditions influencing working capital cycles but do not indicate sustained improvement or deterioration across the entire timeline.

Payables Turnover

The payables turnover ratio shows a general increasing trend from the first available data point in March 31, 2020 through March 31, 2025. Initially reported at 4.94, the ratio increases steadily and peaks at 6.73 around June 30, 2022. Following this peak, the ratio exhibits some minor fluctuations but maintains a level above 6.0 in most of the subsequent quarters. Towards the end of the period, specifically in the last two quarters, the ratio rises again, reaching 6.43 by March 31, 2025. This overall upward trend suggests an improvement in the efficiency of managing payables over the given timeframe.

Average Payables Payment Period

The average payables payment period reveals an inverse pattern in comparison to the payables turnover ratio. Starting at 74 days in March 31, 2020, the payment period gradually declines to a low of 54 days by June 30, 2022. This indicates a shortening in the duration taken to pay suppliers, reflecting possibly enhanced cash management or improved payment terms. Post mid-2022, the payment period slightly fluctuates between 57 and 65 days, suggesting some stabilization but with a mild lengthening trend near the end of the reported period. By March 31, 2025, the payment period decreases again to 57 days, indicating a renewed tendency toward faster payment cycles.

Overall Analysis

The data illustrates a clear relationship between payables turnover and average payables payment period, consistent with financial theory as these metrics are inversely correlated. The company has demonstrated increased efficiency in handling its payables, as evidenced by the rising turnover ratio and shortening payment period. The fluctuations observed in the latter periods may suggest adjustments in operational or financial strategies impacting payment schedules. Nonetheless, the general positive trend indicates effective management of payables contributing to better liquidity management over the analyzed quarters.

The financial data reveals patterns in operating cycle management over multiple quarters, focusing on inventory, receivables, payables, and overall cash conversion periods.

Average Inventory Processing Period

This metric remained relatively stable around the high 400s to mid-400s days initially, peaking at 496 days in the second quarter of 2020. Subsequently, there was a gradual decline observed from the end of 2022 through 2023, reaching its lowest point near 415 days toward the end of 2023. However, slight increases followed in 2024, suggesting some variability but overall improvement in inventory turnover efficiency compared to earlier periods.

Average Receivable Collection Period

Receivables collection exhibited moderate fluctuation across the periods, fluctuating mostly between 12 and 18 days. There was a peak around the third quarter of 2022 with 18 days, indicating a lengthening in collection times. In recent quarters, the period stabilized around 14 to 17 days, demonstrating consistent collection effectiveness with minor variability.

Average Payables Payment Period

Payables payment period showed a decreasing trend from 74 days in the first half of 2020 toward approximately 57-59 days during 2021 and early 2022. Post that period, payment days increased slightly into the low 60s during mid-2023 and 2024 before a modest decrease back toward 57 days by the first quarter of 2025. This indicates a shift toward slightly faster payments in early periods and some elongation in payment terms more recently.

Cash Conversion Cycle

The cash conversion cycle started near 405 days in early 2020, peaked at approximately 453 days during late 2021 and mid-2022, reflecting longer working capital tie-up. Following this peak, a notable declining trend occurred through 2023, reaching about 365 days by year-end 2023, indicating improved liquidity and operational efficiency. Nevertheless, it increased again in 2024, nearing above 400 days toward the end of the period, suggesting some re-extension in cash cycle duration.

In summary, the data indicates an overall effort toward improving inventory and collection efficiencies, with the inventory processing period showing the most significant reduction over time. Receivables collection remained relatively stable with occasional upticks. Payables terms initially shortened but slightly lengthened in more recent quarters. The cash conversion cycle mirrored these dynamics, showing initial deterioration, then improvement, and a subsequent moderate extension near the latest quarters. These trends highlight oscillations in working capital management and suggest areas where operational focus might enhance liquidity and capital utilization further.