Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F)

Return on Assets (ROA)

The ROA values indicate a fluctuating but overall positive trend from late 2020 through to mid-2025. Initially, there was a negative ROA of -0.48% as of December 31, 2020, followed by a recovery to positive values starting March 31, 2021. The peak value was observed on December 31, 2021, at 6.98%, after which ROA generally declined but remained positive. Periodic fluctuations are noticeable, with ROA hovering around the 1% to 2% range in the later quarters, showing moderate profitability relative to assets. The data suggests transient dips, such as -0.77% in December 31, 2022, but these are promptly followed by recoveries. The most recent data points reflect ROA values mostly above 1%, implying consistent asset profitability.

Financial Leverage

Financial leverage has exhibited a downward trend from the first quarter of 2020 (8.91) through the end of 2021, reaching a low of approximately 5.3 by December 31, 2021. This indicates a reduction in reliance on debt or other liabilities relative to equity during this period. However, from early 2022 onwards, leverage ratio stabilized within a range of around 5.5 to 6.5 without large variability. Slight increases are observed from mid-2023 through mid-2025, moving from near 6.0 to values around 6.5. This suggests a modest increase or stabilization in leverage following the earlier decline.

Return on Equity (ROE)

ROE demonstrates substantial volatility over the observed period. Starting from a significant negative position (-4.17%) in late 2020, the company experienced strong growth reaching a peak of 36.97% by December 31, 2021. This peak reflects a period of exceptional profitability for shareholders. Subsequently, ROE decreased sharply but remained positive through much of 2022 and 2023, fluctuating between approximately 6.8% and 13.9%. Another decline is visible toward late 2024 and early 2025, with values approaching around 7%. The overall pattern suggests cyclical performance with episodes of high returns followed by moderate corrections.

The financial data reveals several key trends over the analyzed periods.

Net Profit Margin

The net profit margin exhibited volatility, starting with negative or missing values in early 2020, followed by a noticeable improvement peaking at 14.21% in December 2021. After this peak, the margin declined steadily throughout 2022 and into early 2023, even dropping into negative territory by March 2023. From mid-2023 onwards, the margin showed moderate recovery, stabilizing around 2% to 3% but trending slightly downward again towards early 2025.

Asset Turnover

Asset turnover was unreported in early 2020 but once available, it demonstrated a generally positive trajectory. Starting at 0.43 in the third quarter of 2020, it gradually increased to a peak near 0.61 from mid-2023 onward, with minor fluctuations. This pattern indicates growing efficiency in utilizing assets to generate revenue, reaching a stable level over the later periods.

Financial Leverage

Financial leverage began at a relatively high level around 8.9 in early 2020, then declined sharply during 2020 and 2021 to approximately 5.3 by the end of 2021. Following this drop, leverage moderately increased and stabilized around 6.3 to 6.5 from 2022 through mid-2025. The initial reduction suggests efforts to deleverage the balance sheet, followed by a period of relative stability in leverage ratios.

Return on Equity (ROE)

Return on equity showed significant fluctuations. Early values were negative or unavailable until the second quarter of 2020, after which ROE experienced robust growth, peaking at nearly 37% in December 2021. This high level was followed by a substantial decline throughout 2022, dipping into negative territory again by early 2023. Subsequently, ROE improved steadily, reaching levels between 7% and 14% from late 2023 to mid-2025, indicating a recovery in profitability for shareholders.

Overall, the data illustrates a period of considerable instability and recovery. Profitability metrics such as net profit margin and ROE peaked towards late 2021 but faced downturns in 2022 and early 2023, followed by gradual improvements. Asset turnover improved consistently, signaling enhanced operational efficiency, while financial leverage was actively managed downward before stabilizing at moderate levels. These trends may reflect external economic conditions impacting performance along with internal strategic financial management efforts.

The analysis of the quarterly financial ratios reveals several noteworthy trends and changes over the examined periods.

Tax Burden

The tax burden ratio shows variability, beginning near 1.00 in early 2021, peaking around 1.25 in the last quarter of 2022, and subsequently displaying a declining trend to below 0.80 in the first two quarters of 2025. This suggests fluctuations in effective tax rates or tax-related impacts on profitability across quarters, with a generally downward pressure noted in recent periods.

Interest Burden

The interest burden ratio initially reflects a significant negative value in late 2020, indicating an unusual or one-time event impacting interest expense. From 2021 onward, the ratio stabilizes between approximately 0.60 and 0.87, showing relatively consistent interest expense effects on earnings before tax. This stabilization may indicate improved management of interest costs or steady borrowing conditions during this period.

EBIT Margin

The EBIT margin demonstrates considerable volatility, with persistently low values in 2020 transitioning to a sharp improvement in early 2021 peaking at over 15%. However, this strong performance is not consistently maintained, as margins decline through 2022, briefly going negative at the start of 2023, before moderate recovery later in 2023 and early 2024. This fluctuation points to challenges in maintaining operating profitability, possibly due to market conditions or cost pressures.

Asset Turnover

Asset turnover exhibits a generally upward trend from 0.43 in early 2021 to a stable range around 0.60–0.61 from late 2022 through 2025. This improvement suggests enhanced efficiency in asset utilization to generate sales over time, indicating operational gains or asset base optimization.

Financial Leverage

Financial leverage decreases markedly from very high levels near 8.9 in early 2020 to around 5.3 by the end of 2021, indicating a reduction in debt relative to equity. Thereafter, leverage levels stabilize in the 6.0–6.5 range through mid-2025, reflecting a more balanced capital structure with controlled use of debt financing.

Return on Equity (ROE)

ROE fluctuates significantly, with negative returns in late 2020 and early 2023, contrasting with substantial peaks above 30% in early 2022 and double-digit returns sustained through much of 2021 and 2024. The pattern demonstrates periods of strong profitability interspersed with setbacks, highlighting volatility likely driven by operational and financial factors impacting net income and equity base.

In summary, key observations include improving asset efficiency and reduced financial leverage, contrasted with notable variations in profitability metrics such as EBIT margin and ROE. Tax and interest burden ratios also show distinctive fluctuations. The data collectively suggest phases of recovery and growth interspersed with challenges affecting profitability and earnings consistency.

The analyzed data reveals several key trends regarding profitability and asset efficiency over multiple quarters.

Net Profit Margin

The net profit margin experienced a significant fluctuation during the observed periods. It started negative at -1.1% in the first quarter of 2020 and then improved steadily through 2020 and 2021, peaking at 14.21% in the last quarter of 2021. Following this peak, the margin decreased significantly to -1.33% in the first quarter of 2022, showing volatility. From mid-2022 onwards, the margin showed a moderate recovery trend with values oscillating between roughly 1.8% and 3.75%, indicating some stabilization but remaining well below the previous peak. In recent quarters, the margin hovered around low positive single digits, with a slight downward slope towards the end of the forecast period.

Asset Turnover

Asset turnover data began in the first quarter of 2021 at 0.43 and exhibited a gradual improvement over time. The ratio generally increased through subsequent quarters, reaching a relatively stable range around 0.60 to 0.61 between mid-2022 and late 2024. This suggests an improvement in the company’s ability to generate sales from its asset base. Towards the very end of the period, a slight decline to 0.59 is observed, signaling a minor decrease in asset use efficiency but still remaining near historical highs.

Return on Assets (ROA)

The ROA followed a pattern similar to that of net profit margin, with initial negative values (-0.48%) at the beginning of 2020, followed by improvement to a peak of 6.98% at the end of 2021. After this peak, the ROA declined to negative territory at -0.77% in early 2022. Subsequently, it displayed a gradual recovery from 2022 to 2023, stabilizing around the 1% to 2.3% range. In the latter part of the dataset, ROA shows a slow decline, ending at about 1.08%, which reflects a modest return relative to assets employed, yet still positive.

Overall, the data indicates that after a period of strong profit and asset utilization performance peaking at the end of 2021, there was a marked downturn in early 2022. Since then, gradual improvements have been made, but the company has not fully returned to previous peak levels in profitability or asset returns. Asset turnover exhibits a steady increase and stabilization, which suggests improvements in operational efficiency despite fluctuations in profit margins and returns on assets.

The financial ratios exhibit several notable trends across the analyzed periods. The tax burden ratio, which reflects the proportion of earnings retained after taxes relative to pre-tax earnings, generally fluctuates above 0.8 from 2021 onward, indicating relatively stable tax impact on profitability with some variation. Earlier data is sparse, but the later periods show occasional dips below 0.9, suggesting some variability in tax expenses or credits affecting net income.

The interest burden ratio, which measures the effect of interest expenses on earnings before tax, is marked by a substantial negative outlier in late 2020, suggesting an unusual or significant interest burden or possibly reporting anomalies. Subsequently, this ratio stabilizes around the 0.7 to 0.9 range, indicating a moderately consistent level of interest expense relative to operating profit. The steady values from 2021 forward imply controlled financing costs or interest management.

EBIT margin demonstrates considerable volatility, with early periods showing low and even negative margins, notably in late 2022 with a negative margin of -1.06%. However, very strong improvement is seen in 2021 with peaks above 15%, followed by a general decline and fluctuating marginal profitability between 2% and 5%, reflecting challenges in maintaining operational efficiency or market pressures affecting earnings. The trend suggests a recovery from initial challenges but ongoing operational volatility.

The asset turnover ratio, indicative of operational efficiency in using assets to generate revenue, exhibits a gradual and steady increase from approximately 0.43 in early periods to around 0.6 by 2023 and beyond. This trend suggests improved asset utilization over time, implying enhanced operational efficiency or changes in the asset base relative to sales.

Return on assets (ROA), measuring overall profitability relative to assets, mirrors the trends observed in EBIT margin and asset turnover but with less pronounced peaks. Early negative returns shift to positive territory in 2021 with values near 7%, followed by a moderate decline and fluctuating modest positive returns typically between 1% and 2.5%. This pattern points to improved profitability after initial losses, yet persistent limitations in achieving robust asset profitability consistently.

Overall, the data indicates an initial period of instability and negative performance metrics transitioning into a phase of recovery, operational efficiency gains, and moderate profitability. However, continued volatility in margins and returns highlights challenges in sustaining high profit levels and managing costs, particularly interest expenses and tax impacts. Asset utilization improvements are a key positive note, supporting future growth and profitability prospects if sustained.

Tax Burden

Generally stable above 0.8 from 2021 onward with some variability, indicating fluctuating but moderate tax impact on profitability.

Interest Burden

Marked by an anomalous negative value in 2020, followed by stabilization around 0.7 to 0.9, reflecting managing of interest costs over time.

EBIT Margin

Highly volatile with initial low or negative margins, peak performance in 2021 over 15%, followed by moderate margins in subsequent years.

Asset Turnover

Gradual increase from 0.43 to around 0.6, indicating improving efficiency in asset utilization to generate revenue.

Return on Assets (ROA)

Transition from negative to moderate positive returns, peaking around 7% in early 2021 and stabilizing between 1% and 2.5% thereafter.

The financial data exhibits variability across key profitability and burden ratios over the analyzed quarters. Notably, some entries are missing data for earlier periods, limiting the ability to assess trends prior to mid-2020.

Tax Burden

The tax burden ratio is largely above 0.9, signaling that a significant portion of earnings before tax translates into net income after tax. There is an observable peak around 1.25 in late 2022, which could imply a tax benefit or adjustments during that period. Following this peak, the ratio fluctuates, generally remaining above 0.8 but showing a decreasing trend towards the final quarters, dropping to 0.73 by mid-2025, indicating a potential increase in effective tax rate or tax expenses impacting net income.

Interest Burden

The interest burden undergoes notable volatility initially, with a sharp negative value early on (-2.11), possibly reflecting abnormal charges or financial costs exceptional in that quarter. Subsequently, the ratio stabilizes mostly between 0.6 and 0.9, reflecting consistent interest expense relative to earnings before interest and taxes. The values depict a mild downward trend in later periods, ending around 0.79 by mid-2025, suggesting a slight increase in interest expense burden over time.

EBIT Margin

The EBIT margin demonstrates significant fluctuations. Early positive values in 2020 shift to a high peak of 15.53% by March 2022, indicative of a period of strong operational profitability. After this, the margin declines, even turning negative around December 2022 (-1.06%), pointing to operational challenges or increased costs in that timeframe. Recovery follows with margins hovering between approximately 2.5% and 5%, showing moderate profitability in recent periods up to mid-2025, though no return to the earlier peak levels is observed.

Net Profit Margin

Net profit margin patterns largely mirror those of EBIT margin but with somewhat lower percentages, consistent with the impact of interest and taxes on operating profits. Initial negative margins indicate losses early on, improving notably to 14.21% by March 2022, consistent with the EBIT peak. The margin decreases sharply afterward, with negative profit margin recorded in late 2022, followed by partial recovery stabilizing between 1.8% and 3.5% in recent quarters. However, the data show a slight downward trend towards mid-2025, potentially suggesting emerging pressures on net profitability.

Overall, the data reveal a period of strong earnings and profitability peaking around early 2022, followed by a phase of volatility and moderated recovery. Interest and tax-related burdens have shown some increase in recent periods, likely contributing to the compression of net profit margins. The analysis suggests the company faced operational and financial challenges post-peak profitability and has since managed partial recovery but not a return to previous high-profit levels.