Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F)

Debt to Equity Ratio

The debt to equity ratio exhibits a general downward trend from March 31, 2020 (5.64) to December 31, 2021 (2.85), indicating a reduction in leverage relative to shareholders' equity. Subsequently, the ratio stabilizes around the range of 3.0 to 3.5 through March 31, 2025, suggesting a moderate and consistent use of debt financing in relation to equity in recent periods.

Debt to Capital Ratio

This ratio shows a slight decrease from 0.85 in early 2020 to 0.74 by December 31, 2021. Following this period, it remains fairly stable around 0.75 to 0.78, indicating that the proportion of debt in the company’s total capital structure has modestly declined and plateaued, reflecting a balanced capital mix.

Debt to Assets Ratio

The debt to assets ratio declines initially from 0.63 at the start of 2020 to approximately 0.52 in mid-2022, implying a gradual reduction in leverage relative to asset base. From mid-2022 onwards, the ratio slightly fluctuates around 0.54 to 0.56, showing a consistent level of debt coverage in terms of total assets.

Financial Leverage Ratio

Financial leverage decreases from a high of 8.91 in the first quarter of 2020 to 5.3 by the end of 2021, indicating reduced reliance on debt relative to equity. Thereafter, it settles in the 5.9 to 6.5 range, suggesting stabilization in leveraging practices while maintaining moderate leverage levels.

Interest Coverage Ratio

Interest coverage data begins with limited availability, emerging from 0.32 in the third quarter of 2020 to a significant peak of 10.86 by the fourth quarter of 2021, reflecting improved ability to meet interest obligations during that period. However, it experiences volatility afterwards, including a negative value (-1.4) at the end of 2022, signaling potential earnings insufficiency to cover interest expenses at that time. Subsequently, the ratio recovers gradually, stabilizing in the range of approximately 3.5 to 7.5 by early 2025, indicating moderate but improved interest payment capability.

The financial data reveals several notable trends in the company's leverage and capital structure over the observed periods.

Total debt

Total debt exhibited fluctuations with an overall declining trend from March 2020 through June 2022, falling from approximately 167 billion USD to around 129 billion USD. This decline was followed by an upward movement starting in the second half of 2022, reaching a peak near 158 billion USD by December 2024 before slightly decreasing again in March 2025.

Equity attributable to the company

Equity demonstrated a general upward trajectory from March 2020 (approximately 29.7 billion USD) through December 2021, peaking at around 48.5 billion USD. Subsequently, equity levels experienced modest fluctuations but maintained a relatively stable range between roughly 42 billion USD and 44.8 billion USD from March 2022 onward, ending near 44.6 billion USD in March 2025.

Debt to equity ratio

The debt to equity ratio decreased markedly from 5.64 in March 2020 to a low of 2.85 by December 2021, reflecting the reduction in leverage and/or improvement in equity position during this period. After reaching this trough, the ratio steadily increased, oscillating within the 3.2 to 3.55 range from early 2022 through the end of the data set, suggesting a moderate rise in leverage relative to equity after the initial improvement.

In summary, the data points to an initial phase of deleveraging and equity growth that improved the company's financial stability up to late 2021. The subsequent trend shows an increase in total debt with relatively stable equity, resulting in a gradual rise in leverage ratios. This shift may indicate changes in financing strategy or responses to external conditions influencing capital structure management in recent periods.

Total Debt

The total debt initially increased from 167,326 million USD at the end of March 2020 to a peak of 175,230 million USD by June 2020. Subsequently, it declined steadily until December 2021, reaching 138,092 million USD. This downward trend was followed by a period of relative fluctuation between 135,601 million USD and 143,236 million USD throughout 2022 and the end of 2023. Starting in early 2024, the total debt resumed an upward trajectory, climbing from 149,415 million USD in June 2024 to 158,522 million USD by December 2024, before slightly decreasing to 155,270 million USD in March 2025.

Total Capital

Total capital mirrored the general shape of total debt but with less volatility. It rose from 196,976 million USD in March 2020 to 206,054 million USD by June 2020, then declined steadily to a low point of 170,454 million USD by September 2022. After this trough, total capital gradually increased, reaching a peak of 203,357 million USD in December 2024 before experiencing a modest decrease to 199,905 million USD at the close of March 2025.

Debt to Capital Ratio

The debt to capital ratio started very high at 0.85 in March and June 2020, indicating a strong reliance on debt relative to total capital during the early periods. From mid-2020 through 2021, there was a noticeable reduction in this ratio, dropping to a low of 0.74 by December 2021, reflecting a relatively improved capital structure with less dependency on debt. However, from 2022 onwards, the ratio stabilized around 0.75 to 0.78, showing a consistent leverage level with minor fluctuations. The ratio remained generally steady at approximately 0.78 from mid-2024 through the first quarter of 2025, suggesting a maintained level of financial leverage in recent periods.

Total Debt

The total debt exhibits a fluctuating but generally declining trend from March 31, 2020, to March 31, 2025. Initially, debt peaked at 175,230 million US dollars in June 2020, followed by a notable decrease to 138,092 million US dollars by December 2021. After this low, debt levels showed some increases and stabilizations, reaching 158,522 million US dollars by June 2024, then slightly decreasing to 155,270 million US dollars by March 2025. Overall, the company managed to reduce debt from its mid-2020 peak but experienced minor rebounds afterward.

Total Assets

Total assets started around 264,150 million US dollars in March 2020, showing slight volatility but a general upward trend starting from December 2021. Despite a decline between early 2020 and mid-2021, assets gradually increased to a high of 287,047 million US dollars by September 2024. By March 2025, total assets slightly decreased to 284,539 million US dollars, indicating asset growth over the five-year period, especially after the mid-2021 trough.

Debt to Assets Ratio

This ratio declined from 0.63 in March 2020 to a low near 0.52 in mid-2022, indicating an improvement in financial leverage and a reduction in reliance on debt relative to assets. Following that period, the ratio slightly increased and stabilized around 0.54 to 0.56 through March 2025. This suggests a moderately stable leverage position, with the company maintaining a consistent balance between debt and asset levels in the later periods.

Summary

The company demonstrated effective debt management following the peak in mid-2020, reducing total debt significantly by late 2021. Concurrently, total assets experienced recovery and growth particularly from late 2021 onward, which contributed to an improved debt to assets ratio. The stabilized leverage ratio from mid-2022 to early 2025 indicates a maintained equilibrium between debt obligations and asset base, reflecting sustained financial prudence. Minor fluctuations in debt and assets toward early 2025 suggest ongoing adjustments in the company's capital structure or operational balance but no severe volatility.

The analysis of the quarterly financial data reveals several notable patterns and shifts in the financial position over the observed period.

Total Assets

Total assets exhibited fluctuations across the quarters but displayed an overall moderate increase from the beginning to the end of the period. Starting at approximately $264.15 billion, total assets rose to around $284.54 billion by the last reported quarter. Some periods experienced minor declines, particularly notable around mid-2020 and mid-2022, but the trend resumes an upward trajectory afterward, indicating ongoing investment or asset growth strategies.

Equity Attributable to the Company

Equity attributable to the company demonstrated a general upward trend with intermittent variability. Beginning at roughly $29.65 billion, equity increased substantially by late 2021, peaking near $48.52 billion. This peak reflects a significant improvement in shareholders' equity during that phase. However, following the peak, equity decreased and then fluctuated moderately in subsequent quarters, stabilizing towards the $44 billion to $45 billion range in recent quarters. This fluctuation suggests periods of gains and possible distributions or losses affecting retained earnings and overall equity.

Financial Leverage (Ratio)

The financial leverage ratio, defined as the ratio of total assets to equity, declined sharply from 8.91 at the start of the measurement period to a low around 5.30 by the end of 2021. This considerable reduction implies a significant decrease in debt relative to equity, signaling deleveraging or enhanced equity financing. Post-2021, the financial leverage ratio began to gradually increase, stabilizing around 6.3 to 6.4 in the most recent periods, indicating a moderate rise in leverage though remaining significantly lower than initial levels. This pattern reflects a strategic shift possibly balancing between risk reduction and capital structure optimization.

In summary, the company’s assets have grown moderately with strategic increases in total assets. Equity has shown strong growth phases with fluctuations consistent with operational outcomes or capital management actions. The marked decrease and subsequent moderate increase in financial leverage suggest an active effort to reduce debt levels initially, followed by a controlled increase in leverage to support ongoing business activities. Overall, the data indicates prudent financial management with attention to balancing asset growth, equity strength, and leverage levels.

The earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of the company show significant volatility throughout the reported periods. Initially, there is a negative EBIT of -919 million USD in March 2020, which recovers and reaches a substantial positive peak of 3,254 million USD by September 2020. However, this is followed by a sharp decline into negative territory again in December 2020, with a low of -3,336 million USD. From March 2021 onwards, EBIT fluctuates noticeably, seeing both strong positive results, such as 11,656 million USD in December 2021, and further negative instances, such as -3,540 million USD in March 2022 and -1,501 million USD in December 2023. The data indicates cyclical swings in operational profitability without a sustained trend of either consistent growth or decline up to March 2025.

Interest expense on company debt excluding Ford Credit remains relatively stable over the entire period, ranging mostly between approximately 270 million USD and 474 million USD quarterly. A slight downward trend is observable after December 2020, with expense values mostly stabilizing around 300 million USD from March 2022 to March 2025. This suggests controlled debt servicing costs without significant escalation despite EBIT volatility.

The interest coverage ratio demonstrates considerable fluctuation in line with EBIT volatility. After missing values for early periods, the ratio begins at a low point of 0.32 in December 2020, reflecting difficulty in covering interest expenses due to negative EBIT. It improves markedly in 2021, peaking at 10.86 in December 2021 aligned with the highest EBIT of that same quarter, indicating strong capability to meet interest obligations. However, post-2021, the ratio declines and oscillates mostly between 3.0 and 7.5, except for a negative value (-1.4) in March 2023, coinciding with a negative EBIT quarter. Overall, the interest coverage ratio appears moderately strong but mirrors the volatility seen in EBIT, emphasizing sensitivity of the company's debt service capacity to operational earnings fluctuations.