Elevance Health Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

The analysis of the liquidity ratios over the observed periods reveals several noteworthy trends and fluctuations.

Current Ratio

The current ratio starts at 1.53 in March 2020, showing a mild increase to a peak of 1.64 by June 2020, before gradually declining through 2021 and reaching a low of 1.35 in the third quarter of 2022. Subsequently, it exhibits a recovery phase, climbing back to around 1.44 by the end of 2023. However, in 2024 and early 2025, the ratio fluctuates slightly but remains in a narrow band between 1.43 and 1.50, suggesting a relatively stable short-term liquidity position in this latter period.

Quick Ratio

The quick ratio mirrors the overall shape of the current ratio's trend but at slightly lower levels, starting from 1.37 in March 2020 and rising to 1.49 by June 2020. Similar to the current ratio, it declines through late 2021 and reaches its lowest point of 1.21 in September 2022. After this trough, it moves upward again, reaching approximately 1.32 by the end of 2023, and remains relatively steady with modest fluctuations around the 1.30 to 1.34 range through early 2025. This pattern indicates a consistent ability to cover immediate liabilities with the most liquid assets over the longer term, despite some short-term variability.

Cash Ratio

The cash ratio shows greater volatility and a generally declining trend over the period. Initially, it improves from 0.95 in March 2020 to a peak of 1.10 in June 2020, but then it gradually decreases through the subsequent quarters. By the third quarter of 2022, the ratio dips below 0.88 and maintains a downward trend overall, with minor fluctuations, eventually falling to around 0.79 by mid-2025. This decline suggests a reduction in cash and cash equivalents relative to current liabilities, indicating a decreasing cushion of the most liquid assets to cover immediate obligations.

In summary, the company’s liquidity, as measured by these three ratios, shows an initial strengthening in early 2020 followed by a weakening through 2021 into 2022, and then a partial recovery in the current and quick ratios by late 2023. The cash ratio, however, presents a consistent downward trend, hinting at a potential erosion of its immediate liquidity buffer. Despite fluctuations, the current and quick ratios remain above 1.3 in recent periods, indicating that short-term liabilities are adequately covered by current and liquid assets in general.

The analysis of current assets, current liabilities, and the current ratio over the provided periods reveals several trends indicative of the company's short-term financial position and liquidity management.

Current Assets

Current assets have generally increased over the entire period, starting at approximately $41.26 billion in March 2020 and rising to about $63.32 billion by June 2025. The growth exhibits some fluctuations, notably a significant rise from March 2020 through March 2021, followed by periods of relative stability and incremental increases through mid-2025. This upward trend suggests expansion in liquid or soon-to-be-liquid resources held by the company.

Current Liabilities

Current liabilities have increased from roughly $27.04 billion in March 2020 to about $43.83 billion in June 2025. The liabilities grew steadily with some minor fluctuations, with notable increases particularly between late 2020 and early 2022. The data indicate an increasing obligation load, though the pace of growth in liabilities is generally slower than that of current assets.

Current Ratio

The current ratio started at 1.53 in March 2020, peaked near 1.64 in June 2020, then saw a downward trend until early 2022 reaching lows around 1.35 to 1.40. From 2022 onwards, the ratio steadied and showed minor oscillations, maintaining levels mostly between 1.40 and 1.50 until June 2025. This suggests a relatively stable liquidity position, with current assets exceeding current liabilities by a comfortable margin throughout. However, the decline from early higher values indicates a slight tightening of liquidity early on, stabilizing later in the period.

Overall, the data depict a company that has increased its current assets and current liabilities substantially over the observed timeframe, with liquidity ratios indicating a consistently sufficient ability to cover short-term liabilities. The decline and subsequent stabilization of the current ratio highlight careful management of working capital, balancing asset growth with liability obligations.

The financial data reveals several key trends in the company's liquidity position over the analyzed quarters from March 2020 through June 2025.

Total Quick Assets

The total quick assets exhibit a general upward trend over the entire period, increasing from approximately $37.1 billion in March 2020 to about $57.9 billion by June 2025. There are some fluctuations within individual quarters, such as a slight decline from March 2021 to June 2021 and from December 2023 to March 2024, but overall the asset base grows steadily, suggesting an accumulation of liquid or near-liquid resources.

Current Liabilities

Current liabilities also follow an upward trajectory, rising from roughly $27.0 billion at the beginning of the period in March 2020 to approximately $43.8 billion in June 2025. This indicates a growing level of short-term obligations. Similar to quick assets, liabilities exhibit periods of slight decreases and increases but maintain an increasing pattern overall.

Quick Ratio

The quick ratio, which measures short-term liquidity by comparing quick assets to current liabilities, shows a declining trend from 1.37 in March 2020 to lows around 1.21 in the third quarter of 2022. Following this trough, it recovers moderately and stabilizes around the 1.3 mark through mid-2025. This decline and partial recovery suggest tightening liquidity conditions in the intermediate period, followed by a stabilization phase. The ratio remains above 1.2 throughout, indicating that the company maintains liquid assets exceeding current liabilities consistently.

In summary, both quick assets and current liabilities increase over time, with quick assets growing at a somewhat higher pace, supporting a relatively stable quick ratio. The company maintains a comfortable liquidity buffer despite some volatility, signaling prudent management of liquid resources relative to short-term obligations throughout the period.

Total Cash Assets

The total cash assets exhibited an overall upward trajectory from March 2020 through September 2023, starting at approximately 25.8 billion USD and reaching a peak close to 38.9 billion USD. This growth phase was interrupted by periods of fluctuation, notably a decline in cash assets during the fourth quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024. Following this, total cash assets showed some recovery but remained below the earlier peak through the middle of 2025, ending near 34.8 billion USD. The data indicates relative liquidity strength during the middle years highlighted by a significant accumulation of cash reserves, followed by some volatility in recent quarters.

Current Liabilities

The current liabilities consistently increased over the observed timeframe, beginning around 27.0 billion USD in March 2020 and rising to a range exceeding 42.6 billion USD by mid-2025. This upward trend demonstrates a growing obligation profile, with occasional minor decreases that were short-lived. A notable acceleration in liabilities was apparent from early 2021 through 2022, with values climbing rapidly and reaching a higher plateau that fluctuated near the 40-44 billion USD mark thereafter. The persistent increase in current liabilities suggests increased short-term financial commitments or operations scaling.

Cash Ratio

The cash ratio, representing the ratio of cash assets to current liabilities, showed a declining trend over the period. Starting above 0.95 in early 2020, it experienced modest fluctuations but predominantly trended downward. From a peak near 1.1 in mid-2020, it steadily decreased to levels around 0.79 by mid to late 2025. This persistent decline indicates that the relative liquidity buffer compared to current liabilities has weakened, reflecting that cash holdings have not kept pace with the increasing level of short-term liabilities. Despite occasional minor improvements, the ratio remained below 1.0 post-2021, suggesting less than full coverage of current liabilities by cash assets alone.

Summary of Observed Trends

The data reveals a company maintaining and expanding its cash assets notably through 2023, but facing continuously rising current liabilities. The resultant pressure on liquidity is evident in the declining cash ratio, underscoring a reduction in immediate liquidity coverage over time. This situation could suggest intensified operational scale, increased short-term debt, or other obligations that exceed cash growth. Careful monitoring of liquidity management remains critical given these trends, especially as the cash ratio approaches levels below 0.8 in the latest periods.