ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Inventory Turnover

The inventory turnover ratio demonstrates a notable upward trend from 2020 through early 2023, increasing from 18.75 to a peak of 64.39. After reaching this peak, the ratio declines steadily through 2024 and into mid-2025, settling around 30.47. This indicates an initial acceleration in the rate at which inventory is sold and replaced, followed by a gradual slowdown in turnover activity.

Receivables Turnover

The receivables turnover ratio fluctuates over the periods analyzed, generally rising from 6.82 in early 2020 to a high of 14.73 in late 2022. After this peak, there is a decline to around 10.11 through early 2024, with some minor recovery observed thereafter. This pattern suggests varying efficiency in collecting receivables, with improved collection in the middle of the timeframe and a slight easing in subsequent periods.

Payables Turnover

Payables turnover exhibits a rising trend from 6.96 in early 2020, peaking near 14.81 in late 2022, then declining to below 9. Meanwhile, the ratio sees some variability, indicating fluctuating speed in settling payables. The high turnover during 2021 and 2022 points to quicker payments to suppliers, whereas the later dip may reflect an extension in payment terms or slower payments.

Working Capital Turnover

The working capital turnover ratio displays a significant increase beginning 2021, rising from approximately 2.8 to a peak of 19.57 by the second quarter of 2025. The trend is marked by some short-term fluctuations, but overall points to enhanced capital efficiency in generating sales relative to working capital employed.

Average Inventory Processing Period

The average inventory processing period consistently shortened from 19 days in early 2020 to a low of 6 days between late 2021 and early 2023, reflecting faster inventory movement. Following this minimum period, the duration gradually lengthened to around 12 days by mid-2025, indicating some slowing in inventory turnover speed in the latter periods.

Average Receivable Collection Period

This metric exhibits variability but generally trends downward from 54 days in 2020 to a low near 25-26 days during 2022-2023, signaling improved receivables collection efficiency. Subsequently, the collection period lengthens again to approximately 36-45 days through mid-2025, indicating slower receivables recovery in the latter periods.

Operating Cycle

The operating cycle, comprising inventory processing and receivables collection, follows a similar pattern to its components, decreasing from 73 days in early 2020 to below 40 days in 2022, then increasing to 48-57 days by 2025. This implies improved overall operating efficiency through 2022, with some loss of efficiency thereafter.

Average Payables Payment Period

The average payables payment period lengthens from 52 days in early 2020 to a trough of 25 days in late 2022, after which it steadily increases back to approximately 41-47 days by mid-2025. This indicates initially quicker payments to suppliers followed by a trend toward longer payment durations in recent years.

Cash Conversion Cycle

The cash conversion cycle shows a decline from 21 days in early 2020 to a minimum of 6-7 days by late 2024 and early 2025. This downward trend reflects improved cash flow efficiency, with the company reducing the time between cash outflows and inflows. The minor fluctuations observed towards 2025 represent maintained but stabilized cash cycle improvements.

Sales and other operating revenues

Sales and other operating revenues exhibited significant volatility throughout the reported periods. Starting from 6,158 million USD in the first quarter of 2020, there was a noticeable decline in the second quarter to 2,749 million USD, likely reflecting external adverse conditions impacting sales. Following this trough, revenues showed a recovery trend through 2021, peaking at 15,120 million USD by the end of that year. In 2022, sales reached the highest levels seen in the dataset, exceeding 21,000 million USD during mid-year quarters, before declining steadily towards the end of the year and the first quarter of 2023. From 2023 through 2025, revenues generally trended downward with some fluctuations, hitting levels between roughly 13,500 and 16,500 million USD. Overall, while revenues demonstrated resilience and recovery from early 2020 lows, there was a gradual cooling in sales growth in the latest quarters analyzed.

Inventories

Inventory levels showed a continuous upward trajectory over the periods, beginning at 726 million USD in the first quarter of 2020 and steadily rising to 1,897 million USD by mid-2025. There were minor fluctuations within certain quarters, but the general pattern reflects an accumulation of inventory over time. This rising inventory level indicates either increased stockpiling or slower turnover relative to sales or production cycles. The increase suggests a strategic or market-influenced build-up in inventories.

Inventory turnover ratio

The inventory turnover ratio, measuring how efficiently inventory is managed relative to sales, was not consistently available for early periods but showed a clear pattern from late 2020 onward. The ratio climbed steadily from approximately 18.75 at the end of the third quarter 2020 to a peak of over 64 by the final quarter of 2022. This sharp rise indicates an improvement in inventory management or accelerated sales relative to inventory held. However, from the first quarter of 2023 onward, the turnover ratio declined consistently, falling back to levels around the low 30s by the middle of 2025. This decline in turnover ratio suggests a slowing velocity of inventory movement, which may be due to decreasing sales volumes or increasing inventory levels relative to sales. The pattern reflects a period of strengthening operational efficiency followed by a gradual easing in that efficiency across recent quarters.

Sales and Other Operating Revenues

The quarterly sales and operating revenues exhibit considerable volatility over the observed period. There is a significant decline in revenue in the second quarter of 2020, presumably related to external market disruptions, followed by a recovery phase throughout the remainder of 2020 into early 2021. Revenues then show an upward trajectory, peaking at over 21 billion US dollars in mid-2022. Subsequently, there is a gradual decline from late 2022 into 2024, with occasional modest rebounds, ending with fluctuating values around 14 to 16 billion US dollars. This pattern suggests sensitivity to market conditions, with cyclical peaks and troughs evident.

Accounts and Notes Receivable, Net of Allowance

Accounts and notes receivable increased steadily from early 2020, roughly doubling by the end of 2021, indicating growing outstanding sales yet to be collected. A peak occurs in the first half of 2022, after which the receivables begin to moderate and decline through 2023. In 2024 and early 2025, the receivables exhibit fluctuations but show a general downward trend. The initial increase in receivables aligns with the period of rising sales, while the later reduction may indicate improved collections or more conservative credit management.

Receivables Turnover Ratio

The receivables turnover ratio, reported beginning in the third quarter of 2020, shows substantial improvement over time. Starting around 6.8, it increases steadily, reaching a peak above 14 in early 2023, indicating faster collection of receivables relative to sales. Following this peak, the ratio declines somewhat but remains elevated around 10 to 11 through the remainder of 2023 and into 2024, implying sustained efficiency in receivables management compared to earlier periods. This trend highlights increased effectiveness in converting receivables to cash.

Overall Analysis

The data suggests that the company experienced notable revenue volatility, possibly driven by external factors influencing demand and pricing. Receivables rose in line with sales growth but later declined, potentially reflecting tighter credit policies or improved cash collection practices. The upward trend in receivables turnover ratio corroborates this improved credit management efficiency. Periodic declines in revenues and receivables during 2023 and 2024 may indicate market challenges or strategic adjustments to business operations. Overall, the financial indicators point to a dynamic environment with responsive adjustments in both sales and receivables handling over the analyzed quarters.

The financial data reveals several notable trends across the periods analyzed. Sales and other operating revenues demonstrate significant fluctuations with an initial decline in early 2020, which likely reflects challenging market conditions. Starting from March 2021, revenues show a strong upward trajectory, peaking in mid-2022, before experiencing some volatility and a moderate downtrend toward early 2024. This pattern suggests periods of market recovery and increased operational activity, followed by stabilization and slight declines in subsequent quarters.

Accounts payable figures exhibit a generally increasing trend over the entire timeframe, rising from a lower base in early 2020 to substantially higher values by mid-2025. This increase implies an expansion in operational scale or changes in credit terms with suppliers. Despite some quarter-to-quarter fluctuations, the overall growth indicates higher purchasing activity or deferred payment terms.

The payables turnover ratio, calculated for available periods starting mid-2020, shows a notable improvement early on, rising from about 6.96 to a peak of 14.81 by early 2023. This suggests more efficient payment processing and possibly stronger cash flow management during that period. However, from early 2023 onward, the turnover ratio declines steadily to around 7.81 by mid-2025, indicating a slowdown in the rate at which payables are settled, which could signal tighter liquidity or changes in payment policies.

Overall, the data reflects a business environment characterized by recovery and growth from mid-2020 to early 2022, followed by periods of operational stabilization and a potential tightening in liquidity management as observed from the payables turnover trends. The interplay between rising sales revenues and increasing accounts payable, alongside the variations in turnover ratios, warrants close monitoring to maintain financial health and operational efficiency.

Working Capital Trends

The working capital values exhibit notable fluctuations over the periods analyzed. Starting at 7,069 million USD in March 2020, there is a general decline evident through various quarters, with a low point around the end of 2021 at 4,029 million USD. Following this decline, working capital shows slight recovery and intermittent decreases, settling around 2,953 million USD by June 2025. This overall trend indicates tightening liquidity or possibly increased efficiency in capital management, albeit with some volatility.

Sales and Other Operating Revenues Trends

Sales and operating revenues have shown substantial growth from early 2020 through the end of 2022, increasing from approximately 6,158 million USD in March 2020 to a peak near 21,161 million USD in June 2022. This upward trajectory reflects significant expansion or improved sales performance during this period. However, from late 2022 onward, there is a clear reduction in revenue figures, declining to about 14,004 million USD by June 2025. This pattern suggests that after a period of robust revenue generation, the company faced a downturn or market challenges impacting revenue streams.

Working Capital Turnover Ratio Analysis

The working capital turnover ratio demonstrates a marked increase over time, indicating improved efficiency in generating sales from working capital resources. Initially absent from early periods, the ratio appears around 2.8 by late 2020 and escalates significantly to as high as 19.57 by June 2025. The peak turnover ratios in 2023 and 2024 reflect the company's enhanced utilization of working capital to drive sales. Despite some fluctuations, the general upward trend in turnover ratio aligns with the observed decreases in working capital and the dynamic changes in sales volumes, underscoring effective working capital management or changing operational dynamics.

Overall Financial Insights

The combined analysis suggests that while revenue growth was strong initially, subsequent declines put pressure on working capital, which decreased in magnitude through the periods analyzed. Meanwhile, the increasing working capital turnover ratio points toward more efficient use of available capital to support sales. The overall pattern implies strategic adjustments or operational shifts allowing the company to maintain sales levels relative to working capital despite the volatility experienced in both metrics. These trends merit close monitoring to assess sustainability and the impact on liquidity and operational flexibility.

Inventory Turnover Ratio

The inventory turnover ratio is initially unavailable for the quarters before March 31, 2020. Starting from March 31, 2020, there is a clear upward trend in inventory turnover, increasing from 18.75 to a peak of 64.39 by March 31, 2023. After reaching this peak, the ratio begins to decline gradually, settling around 30.47 by June 30, 2025. This suggests an initial improvement in how efficiently inventory is sold or used, followed by a gradual slowdown in turnover efficiency over the latter periods.

Average Inventory Processing Period

The average inventory processing period decreases from 19 days at the beginning (March 31, 2020) to a low of 6 days around December 31, 2022, demonstrating increasingly faster inventory processing. From this low point, the inventory processing period starts to increase slightly, rising to 12 days by June 30, 2025. This indicates that the company initially improved its inventory management speed, but there has been a modest reversal in this trend towards slightly longer processing times in more recent quarters.

Relationship Between Inventory Turnover and Processing Period

As expected, the inventory turnover ratio and the average inventory processing period demonstrate a strong inverse relationship throughout the periods. As the turnover ratio increases sharply, the processing period correspondingly decreases, supporting the conclusion that inventory is managed more efficiently during this phase. Conversely, when turnover declines in the later periods, the processing period lengthens, indicating a relative deterioration in inventory management efficiency.

Overall Interpretation

The data reflects a phase of significant improvement in inventory management efficiency from 2020 to early 2023, characterized by higher turnover and shorter processing times. However, from mid-2023 onwards, these gains moderate, with a reversal in trend indicative of operational adjustments that have led to slower inventory turnover and longer processing durations. This pattern may warrant closer monitoring to determine the underlying causes, such as changes in supply chain dynamics, demand, or inventory strategy adjustments.

Receivables Turnover

The receivables turnover ratio exhibits a generally upward trend from early 2021 through late 2023, increasing from around 6.82 to a peak of 14.73. This suggests an improvement in the efficiency of collecting receivables during this period. However, after reaching this peak, the ratio declines notably to approximately 8.18 by mid-2025, indicating a slowdown in collection efficiency.

Average Receivable Collection Period

The average receivable collection period mirrors the inverse of the receivables turnover trend. It starts high at 73 days in the second quarter of 2021, then steadily decreases to a low of 25 days by the first quarter of 2023. This reduction indicates enhanced collection speed and improved working capital management. Nevertheless, from early 2023 onwards, the collection period gradually increases, reaching about 45 days by the second quarter of 2025, reflecting a lengthening in the average time to collect receivables.

Summary Insight

The data reveals a period of significant improvement in receivables management from 2021 to early 2023, with faster collection cycles and higher turnover ratios. Post-2023, there is a noticeable reversal, with declining turnover and increasing collection periods, possibly suggesting emerging challenges in collections or changes in credit policy or customer payment behavior during this latter period.

Average Inventory Processing Period

The average inventory processing period demonstrates a clear downward trend from March 2021 through December 2023, decreasing steadily from 19 days to a low of 6 days. This reduction indicates improved efficiency in inventory turnover during this period. Beginning in March 2024, the period begins to slightly increase again, reaching 12 days by June 2025, suggesting a moderate reversal or possible challenges in managing inventory efficiently in the later periods.

Average Receivable Collection Period

This metric shows more fluctuation compared to the inventory processing period. Starting from 54 days in March 2021, it peaks at 73 days in June 2021, indicating a longer collection time early in the period. After this peak, there is a general decreasing trend dropping to 25 days by March 2023, reflecting enhanced efficiency in receivables collection. However, from mid-2023 onward, the collection period rises again, reaching 45 days in March 2025 before declining slightly to 36 days in June 2025. These variations suggest inconsistency in credit management or changes in payment terms with customers.

Operating Cycle

The operating cycle, which combines inventory processing and receivables collection periods, follows a pattern consistent with the individual components. It climbs from 73 days in March 2021 to a peak of 91 days in June 2021 and then declines sharply to 32 days by March 2023, indicating overall improved operational efficiency during this timeframe. Following this improvement, the cycle lengthens again, reaching 57 days by March 2025, before a slight decrease to 48 days in June 2025. This trend highlights periods of operational optimization followed by some degree of performance decline or external factors impacting cycle duration.

Payables Turnover

The payables turnover ratio exhibits a general upward trend from the initial available data in March 2021 through December 2023, beginning at 6.96 and reaching a peak of 14.81 in March 2023. This increase indicates an acceleration in the frequency of paying off accounts payable during this period. After the peak, the ratio declines somewhat, falling to 7.81 by June 2025, which suggests a slowdown in the payment rate more recently.

Average Payables Payment Period

The average payables payment period, expressed in days, demonstrates an inverse pattern relative to the payables turnover ratio, which is consistent with expectations. From March 2021 with a high of 52 days, the payment period decreases steadily to a low of 25 days in June and September 2023, reflecting quicker payments to suppliers. Post this low, the payment period tends to increase again, reaching 47 days by June 2025, indicating a lengthening in the time taken to settle payables.

Overall Observations

The data suggests a period of increasingly efficient payables management through 2023, characterized by more frequent and faster payments. However, starting in late 2023 and into 2024 and 2025, there is a noticeable reversal with payments becoming less frequent and more delayed. This shift may be indicative of changing liquidity conditions, operational strategies, or supplier negotiations affecting the company's cash flow management.

Average Inventory Processing Period

The average inventory processing period demonstrates a general downward trend from the first available data point in March 2021 at 19 days, gradually decreasing to a low of 6 days by December 2022 and maintaining nearly the same level through March 2023. Starting from mid-2023, there is a slight increase observed, moving back up to 12 days by mid-2025. This indicates an initial improvement in inventory turnover efficiency followed by a modest lengthening of the period toward the end of the dataset.

Average Receivable Collection Period

The receivable collection period shows notable volatility. Initially, this metric peaks at 73 days in June 2020, then consistently decreases to reach a low of 25 days by March 2023. Post this low, it rises again to approximately 36 days by the end of 2023 and remains volatile in the following periods, fluctuating between 32 and 45 days through mid-2025. This pattern suggests periods of tightening and loosening credit or collection policies.

Average Payables Payment Period

The payables payment period initially increases sharply from 52 days in March 2020 to 62 days in June 2020, indicating delayed payments to suppliers early on. From September 2020 onwards, the period declines steadily to a low of 25 days by March 2023. Starting from mid-2023, payment periods begin to lengthen again, reaching 47 days at mid-2025. This reflects an initial strategy to delay cash outflows followed by quicker payments and then a return to extended payment periods later.

Cash Conversion Cycle

The cash conversion cycle fluctuates between 6 and 29 days across the periods. After peaking at 29 days in June 2020, it generally trends downward to reach 7 days by both March and December 2023, indicating improvements in converting resources back to cash quickly. From early 2024 onwards, this metric shows variability with minor increases and decreases but remains below 20 days, suggesting overall enhanced efficiency in working capital management despite some variability.

Overall Insights

The overall working capital metrics reveal efforts to manage liquidity and operational efficiency through inventory, receivable, and payable cycles. Early data points show longer collection and payment periods, potentially a response to economic conditions, followed by more efficient turnover and shortened cycles up to early 2023. In the most recent periods, slight reversals in these trends indicate adjustments or potential external factors influencing working capital policies. The maintenance of a relatively low cash conversion cycle throughout suggests focused management on improving cash flow efficiency despite shifts in individual components.