Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT)

The financial ratios and period metrics exhibit notable trends over the observed quarters.

Inventory turnover

This ratio demonstrates a fluctuating pattern starting near 2.23 and generally declining to a low around 1.91 before modest recovery to approximately 2.12 in the latest periods. The trend indicates some variability in inventory management efficiency, with a dip suggesting slower movement of inventory during certain quarters.

Receivables turnover

Receivables turnover exhibits a gradual decrease from 6.22 to around 5.15 towards the end of the timeframe. This reduction suggests a lengthening in the collection period for receivables, potentially indicating slower collection or extended credit terms to customers.

Payables turnover

The payables turnover ratio fluctuates between approximately 4.46 and 5.67 without a clear long-term trend, indicating variability in the speed of paying suppliers. Periods of lower ratios suggest longer payment cycles, potentially reflecting strategic delay in payments or cash flow management adjustments.

Working capital turnover

This ratio shows periods of improvement highlighted by a peak near 3.84, followed by some decline but remaining above earlier lows. The changes suggest varying efficiency in utilizing working capital to generate sales, with certain quarters reflecting more effective turnover.

Average inventory processing period (days)

The processing period for inventory remains relatively stable with a slight upward drift from around 164 days to approximately 190 days at its peak, then moderately decreasing to about 172 days. This increase points to inventory being held longer before sale, consistent with the lower inventory turnover observed.

Average receivable collection period (days)

The average collection period rises gradually from about 59 days to approximately 71 days, indicating customers are taking longer to pay, consistent with the weakening receivables turnover ratio.

Operating cycle (days)

The operating cycle measures the time taken from inventory acquisition to cash collection. Values increased from roughly 223 days to a peak near 260 days before slightly contracting to around 243 days. This elongation reflects longer inventory and receivables periods, impacting overall business cash flow timing.

Average payables payment period (days)

The payables payment period varies between the mid-60s to low 90s of days. There is no strong directional trend but some notable spikes suggest occasional lengthening of payment periods, which could be a tactical measure to preserve cash.

Cash conversion cycle (days)

The cash conversion cycle exhibits an overall increasing trend from approximately 146 days to a peak of about 189 days, with some fluctuation afterward settling near 166 days. This indicates that the time between cash outflow for purchases and inflow from sales is lengthening, potentially highlighting growing liquidity constraints or less efficient working capital management.

In summary, the data indicates moderate challenges in working capital management over the periods analyzed, with lengthening in inventory holding and receivables collection times contributing to an overall increase in the cash conversion cycle. Payables management appears more variable but may offer some offsetting cash flow benefits during certain quarters. The trends underscore the importance of ongoing focus on optimizing inventory turnover and receivables collections to improve liquidity and operational efficiency.

The analysis of the quarterly financial data reveals notable trends regarding cost of products sold, inventories, and inventory turnover over the examined period.

Cost of products sold, excluding amortization of intangible assets

This metric exhibits fluctuations across quarters. Initial values around the July 2019 period are in the range of approximately 2,366 million US dollars, followed by a gradual increase reaching peaks near 3,045 million US dollars by the July 2024 quarter. Intermittent declines are observed, for instance during the April 2020 and July 2021 quarters, indicating possible impacts from external factors influencing production cost or sales volume. The general long-term pattern suggests upward movement, but with volatility consistent with operational or market conditions.

Inventories

Inventory levels show a clear upward trajectory over the evaluated timeline. Starting near 3,932 million US dollars in July 2019, inventories increase steadily to exceed 5,600 million US dollars in mid-2023, slightly tapering thereafter but remaining at elevated levels close to 5,400–5,600 million US dollars through early 2025. The steady rise indicates growth in stock holdings, possibly related to expanded operations or strategic stockpiling. Periodic minor declines may represent normal adjustment cycles in inventory management.

Inventory turnover ratio

Inventory turnover, available starting from the first quarter of 2020, initially measures 2.23 and experiences a gradual decline over subsequent quarters, reducing to levels around 1.92–2.00 during 2022 and early 2023. Toward the more recent quarters, turnover ratios modestly recover to about 2.10–2.15. This trend signifies inventory is moving slightly more slowly through the sales process in the middle period but shows signs of improvement afterward. A lower turnover ratio in the mid-term may reflect increased inventory levels not matched proportionally by sales growth, while the recent recovery suggests adjustments enhancing inventory efficiency.

In summary, the company demonstrates an overall increase in costs of products sold and inventory holdings, while facing challenges in maintaining inventory turnover efficiency during parts of the period. Recent improvements in turnover ratios point to actions aimed at optimizing inventory management relative to sales operations.

The financial data reveals several noteworthy trends in net sales, accounts receivable, and receivables turnover over the observed periods.

Net Sales

Net sales demonstrate a general upward trend from mid-2019 through early 2025, albeit with some volatility. Initial values start around 7,493 million US dollars in July 2019, followed by a dip in April 2020 to 5,997 million, likely influenced by external economic factors. Subsequently, net sales recover and reach new peaks around 8,589 million by April 2024. However, intermittent declines are observed, such as drops in July 2022 and January 2025. The pattern shows resilience with a recovery after downturns and an overall positive trajectory.

Accounts Receivable, Less Allowances and Credit Losses

Accounts receivable values fluctuate similarly to net sales but display a more muted upward trend. Starting near 5,894 million in July 2019, a significant decline occurs in April 2020 to 4,645 million, followed by a gradual recovery to 6,515 million in April 2025. The levels do not escalate disproportionately relative to net sales, implying effective management of receivables. The movements in accounts receivable correspond closely with the sales trend, suggesting consistent collection practices aligned with sales fluctuations.

Receivables Turnover Ratio

The receivables turnover ratio, which reflects the efficiency of collecting receivables, presents a gradual decrease over time. Starting at 6.22 in April 2020, the ratio trends downward to levels between 5.15 and 5.44 in subsequent years. This decline suggests a slight decrease in the speed of receivables collection. Despite the reduced turnover, the ratio remains relatively stable with no sharp drops, indicating continued maintenance of collection effectiveness, even amid sales fluctuations.

In summary, net sales have shown recovery and growth after a temporary downturn, while accounts receivable have been managed in a manner consistent with revenue changes. The gradual decline in receivables turnover ratio indicates a modest extension of collection periods, warranting monitoring but not immediately signaling significant issues in credit management.

The analysis of the quarterly financial data reveals several notable trends and patterns across the observed periods.

Cost of Products Sold, Excluding Amortization of Intangible Assets

The cost of products sold exhibits a generally increasing trend over the entire period, starting from 2,366 million USD in July 2019 and rising to 3,146 million USD by April 2025. There are minor fluctuations observed, such as slight decreases in early 2021 and again around mid-2023, but the overall direction is upward with occasional sharp increases particularly noted between October 2022 and April 2023 (from 2,535 million to 2,979 million USD) and from April 2024 to April 2025 (from 2,782 million to 3,146 million USD). This pattern may reflect growing sales volume, increased production costs, or a combination thereof.

Accounts Payable

Accounts payable figures also demonstrate variability, moving between 1,720 million USD and 2,662 million USD during the period. The lowest value appears in July 2020 whereas the highest is recorded in April 2023. The accounts payable do not follow a clear trend but show cyclical fluctuations, possibly linked to seasonal purchasing patterns or changes in supplier terms. Notably, there are pronounced increases in accounts payable in the period from July 2022 through April 2023. Subsequently, the values fluctuate moderately but remain elevated compared to the early periods.

Payables Turnover Ratio

The payables turnover ratio, available from April 2020 onwards, ranges mostly between approximately 4.0 and 5.6. Initially, it peaks at around 5.56 in October 2020, then varies within a slightly declining and recovering band. A significant dip occurs around July 2023 where the ratio reaches a low of 4.03, indicating slower payments or longer average payment periods. Following this, the ratio trends upward again to values near 5.0 by April 2025. This ratio's fluctuations suggest changes in payment speed or management of trade payables, with an overall tendency toward moderate variability rather than a consistent directional change.

In summary, the cost of products sold is on an upward trajectory reflecting increased operational scale or cost pressures. Accounts payable display cyclical fluctuations without a strong directional trend, and payables turnover indicates some variability in payment practices but no sustained trend of faster or slower payables turnover. These observations suggest stable but dynamic management of costs and supplier payments in response to business conditions during this timeframe.

Working Capital

The working capital levels exhibit notable fluctuations over the observed periods. Beginning at approximately 14,187 million USD in July 2019, the value initially increased slightly by January 2020 before experiencing a significant decline around April 2020 to approximately 11,665 million USD. Thereafter, it oscillated with some recovery peaking near 14,928 million USD in October 2021, followed by another downward trend hitting a low of about 8,086 million USD in July 2022. From this trough, the working capital demonstrated a gradual recovery through 2023 and into 2024, albeit with some volatility, ending near 10,935 million USD in April 2025. Overall, the working capital showed a pattern of cyclical decline and partial recovery across the time span.

Net Sales

Net sales present a variable but generally upward trajectory with intermittent declines. Starting around 7,493 million USD in July 2019, sales rose to a peak near 8,188 million USD by April 2021. A period of volatility ensued with dips such as in July 2022 to roughly 7,371 million USD, followed by recovery periods punctuated by peaks reaching as high as 8,927 million USD in April 2025. Sales trends appear to reflect some sensitivity to external factors causing fluctuations but maintain an overall growth trend over the longer term.

Working Capital Turnover Ratio

The working capital turnover ratio, calculable only from April 2020 onward, indicates an overall increasing efficiency in the use of working capital to generate sales. Initial values around 2.48 showed a slight downward adjustment through early 2021, however, from mid-2021 onwards, the ratio incrementally rose, exceeding 3.0 in multiple recent quarters. This suggests an improvement in operational efficiency or sales generation per unit of working capital during the latter periods.

Integrated Analysis

Despite fluctuations in working capital levels, the rising turnover ratio indicates that the company has enhanced its ability to generate sales relative to working capital invested. The net sales growth coupled with improved turnover suggests better management of resources or stronger market conditions. The cyclical dips in working capital and sales highlight periods of potential disruption or investment adjustment, yet the recovery phases demonstrate resilience. Monitoring the interplay between working capital and sales will continue to be important for assessing liquidity and operational effectiveness.

Inventory Turnover Ratio

The inventory turnover ratio exhibits fluctuation over the examined periods, starting at 2.23 in July 2020 and showing a general declining trend until reaching a low point around the period of January 2023 at 1.92. Following this decline, a recovery is observed, with the ratio gradually increasing to approximately 2.12 by April 2025. This pattern suggests periods of both faster and slower inventory movement, reflecting changes in sales efficiency and inventory management practices across these quarters.

Average Inventory Processing Period

The average inventory processing period displays an inverse pattern relative to the inventory turnover ratio, beginning around 164 days in July 2020 and increasing steadily to peak near 191 days in April 2023. After this peak, a gradual reduction is noticed, with the processing period declining to 172 days by April 2025. This indicates an initial lengthening of the time inventory remains on hand before sale, followed by improvements in inventory processing speed in the more recent periods.

Relationship Between Inventory Metrics

The inverse relationship between the inventory turnover ratio and the average inventory processing period is consistent with theoretical expectations. As the turnover ratio decreases, the average inventory processing time increases, and vice versa, indicating fluctuating efficiency in inventory management. The observed fluctuations may reflect external factors impacting supply chain effectiveness or demand volatility during the examined timeframe.

Receivables Turnover

The Receivables Turnover ratio exhibited a declining trend from a value of 6.22 in the earliest available quarter (July 31, 2020) down to 5.21 by January 29, 2021. Following this decline, the ratio experienced some fluctuations but generally maintained values between approximately 5.15 and 5.85. Notable periodic increases occurred around October 29, 2021 (5.82), April 29, 2022 (5.84), and October 27, 2023 (5.42), indicating slight improvements in the efficiency of collecting receivables during these intervals. However, the overall pattern suggests a modest decrease in receivables turnover over the period analyzed, pointing to a somewhat lengthening collection process or reduced sales efficiency relative to receivables.

Average Receivable Collection Period

The Average Receivable Collection Period showed an overall increasing trend from 59 days in July 31, 2020, reaching up to 71 days by January 24, 2025. After an initial rise from 59 to 70 days between July 2020 and January 2021, the metric evidenced minor fluctuations around the mid-60s to 70-day range. Periods such as January 27, 2023, and January 24, 2025, recorded peaks at 70 and 71 days respectively, indicating longer durations for receivables to be collected. This upward trend complements the observed decline in receivables turnover and suggests a lengthening of the collection cycle over time.

Overall Insights

The combined analysis of these two metrics highlights a gradual weakening in the efficiency of receivables management. A decreasing receivables turnover ratio along with an increasing average collection period suggests that the company is taking longer to collect payments from customers. This situation could have implications for cash flow and working capital management. Although there are periodic improvements, the general trend points to challenges in maintaining optimal collection timeframes across the analyzed quarters.

Average Inventory Processing Period

The average inventory processing period shows a notable increase over the analyzed timeframe. Starting from 164 days in July 2020, it fluctuates slightly but generally trends upwards, peaking at 190 days in April 2023. After this peak, there is a mild decline to 170 days in July 2024, followed by some variability, ending at 172 days in April 2025. This pattern suggests some operational inefficiencies or changes in inventory management practices that have led to a longer period to process inventory, though the recent minor declines could indicate efforts to improve turnover.

Average Receivable Collection Period

This metric reveals a gradual increase in the average time taken to collect receivables, reflecting potential challenges in credit management or customer payment behavior. It rises from 59 days in July 2020 to a high of 70 days observed several times, including January 2023 and April 2023. Following this, the collection period remains relatively stable around 67 to 71 days until April 2025. The persistently longer receivable period post-2020 might impact cash flow, warranting attention to credit policies or collection efficiency.

Operating Cycle

The operating cycle, which combines inventory processing and receivables collection periods, exhibits a similar increasing trend. Beginning at 223 days in July 2020, it experiences a steady rise, peaking at 260 days in April 2023. After this, the cycle slightly decreases but remains elevated around 239 to 245 days through April 2025. This extended cycle duration indicates that the business requires more time to convert inventory into cash, potentially affecting liquidity and operational efficiency.

The payables turnover ratio demonstrates variability over the observed periods, with values starting from 4.72 and fluctuating across quarters. It reaches peaks such as 5.67 and 5.6, indicating periods of faster payables turnover, while dips to values like 4.03 and 4.46 suggest slower turnover phases. The general range suggests moderate consistency with intermittent fluctuations rather than a steady trend upward or downward.

Correspondingly, the average payables payment period shows an inverse relationship to the turnover ratio, varying between 64 and 91 days across quarters. There are distinct periods of higher payment days—such as 91 and 82 days—indicating slower payment cycles. Conversely, lower values around 64 to 66 days suggest faster payment processing. The payment period also experiences oscillations rather than a monotonic trend, reflecting changes in the company's payment practices or cash management strategies over time.

Payables Turnover Ratio

The ratio generally fluctuates around a range from approximately 4.0 to 5.7, without a clear directional trend. Peaks tend to be followed by declines, illustrating variability in how quickly the company settles its payables.

Values oscillating near the midpoint of this range imply periods of balance between cash flow timing and supplier payments. No sustained upward or downward movement suggests the company maintains a flexible approach to managing payables.

Average Payables Payment Period

Payment periods range from a low near 64 days to a high of 91 days, displaying a cyclical behavior inversely related to the turnover ratio.

Higher payment periods correspond with lower turnover ratios, indicating slower payment rates to suppliers, which might reflect strategic cash flow management or temporary changes in liquidity.

The observed fluctuations imply adaptation to changing business or market conditions, rather than long-term shifts in payment policies.

Overall Insights

The data reflects a dynamic management of payables, with the company adjusting payment timings across quarters. This variability may be influenced by operational requirements or external economic factors.

The absence of a clear sustained trend in either metric suggests a balance between maintaining supplier relationships and optimizing internal cash flows, without significant alterations in payment strategy over the time frame.

Inventory Processing Period

The average inventory processing period displays a generally increasing trend from the mid-160s days in mid-2020 to peaks near 190 days by late 2022 and early 2023. There are periodic fluctuations, with some slight declines in mid-2023 followed by increases again. This indicates a tendency towards longer inventory holding times over the periods analyzed, suggesting either slower inventory turnover or potential stock accumulation challenges.

Receivable Collection Period

The average receivable collection period also shows a rising trend, moving from roughly 59 days in mid-2020 to about 70 days by early 2023. After this peak, the figures exhibit small oscillations but remain relatively stable around the high 60s to low 70s. This suggests a modest lengthening in the time taken to collect receivables, potentially reflecting changes in credit policies or customer payment behaviors.

Payables Payment Period

The payables payment period presents greater variability throughout the timeline. Starting from about 77 days in mid-2020, it declines to mid-60s by late 2020, then fluctuates between approximately 65 and 91 days. Notably, a substantial peak above 90 days occurs around early 2023, followed by decreases and increases thereafter. This inconsistency indicates varying supplier payment practices or negotiated payment terms, impacting the company's management of cash outflows.

Cash Conversion Cycle

The cash conversion cycle, incorporating the effects of inventory, receivables, and payables, generally trends upward from approximately 146 days in mid-2020 to nearly 190 days in early 2023. After this high point, it experiences some decline and subsequent fluctuations but remains elevated compared to the earlier period. The extended cash conversion cycle suggests that the company is tying up more capital in working capital components over time, reflecting slower collections and inventory turnover despite variability in payables payment periods.