SLB N.V. (NYSE:SLB)

The analysis of the quarterly financial metrics over the observed periods highlights distinct trends in profitability and financial structure.

Return on Assets (ROA)

The ROA demonstrated a substantial improvement beginning from a negative value of -6.76% in the first quarter of 2021 to a peak near 9.12% by late 2024. This upward trajectory suggests increasing operational efficiency and asset utilization. After reaching this peak, ROA experienced a decline in 2025, falling to 6.62% by the third quarter, indicating a potential reduction in asset profitability or changing business conditions.

Financial Leverage

Financial leverage exhibited a consistent declining trend throughout the period. Starting at 3.35 times in the first quarter of 2021, it steadily decreased to approximately 2.15 times by the third quarter of 2025. This reduction suggests a move toward a less leveraged capital structure, implying a possible strengthening of the equity base or reduction of debt, which could be aimed at lowering financial risk.

Return on Equity (ROE)

ROE showed a significant recovery and strong growth from a negative position of -22.67% in early 2021 to above 21% by multiple quarters across 2023 and 2024. The metric remained relatively stable around this elevated level but began to decline in 2025, falling to 14.22% by the third quarter. This pattern reflects enhanced shareholder value generation during the middle periods, followed by a moderation in profitability potentially due to changes in operational efficiency or capital structure.

In summary, the company displayed marked improvements in profitability indicators, supported by decreasing financial leverage over the multi-year horizon. Nevertheless, the decline in both ROA and ROE during 2025 signals a need for attention to sustaining asset efficiency and shareholder returns amid evolving conditions.

Net Profit Margin

The net profit margin shows a marked improvement from a negative value of -13.3% at the start of the period to a positive plateau above 12% by December 2022. From March 2023 onward, the margin stabilizes around 12.5%, with a gradual decline observed starting in March 2025, falling to approximately 10.34%. This trend indicates initial recovery followed by a period of consistent profitability with slight weakening toward the end of the timeframe.

Asset Turnover

The asset turnover ratio exhibits a steady upward trend from 0.51 in March 2021 to a peak of 0.74 in December 2024. This rise suggests improved efficiency in using assets to generate revenue. However, there is a noticeable decline to 0.64 by September 2025, indicating a possible reduction in efficiency during the final quarters analyzed.

Financial Leverage

Financial leverage decreases consistently from 3.35 in March 2021 to around 2.31-2.38 from the end of 2022 through 2024, reflecting a strategic reduction in reliance on debt financing. Notably, there is a minor uptick to 2.51 in March 2025 followed by a slight decrease toward 2.15 in September 2025, suggesting some variability in capital structure but overall lower leverage relative to the initial period.

Return on Equity (ROE)

ROE demonstrates a strong recovery from a negative value of -22.67% in March 2021 to over 21% during 2023 and early 2024. The metric remains relatively stable around this high level, reflecting improved profitability and efficient use of equity. However, a decline is observed in mid to late 2025, with ROE dropping to approximately 14.22%, indicating a weakening in equity returns toward the end of the period.

The analysis of the financial ratios over the observed quarters reveals several key trends in the company's operational efficiency, profitability, and financial structure.

Tax Burden

The tax burden ratio has remained relatively stable over the periods, hovering around 0.80 to 0.82. This consistency suggests minimal fluctuations in the effective tax rate impacting net income.

Interest Burden

The interest burden ratio shows a gradual improvement, increasing from 0.70 to approximately 0.92 over the period. This indicates a strengthening ability to cover interest expenses from operating earnings, reflecting decreasing interest costs or improved earnings before interest.

EBIT Margin

The EBIT margin demonstrates a pronounced positive trend, starting from a negative margin of -10.75% and progressively improving to peaks around 17%, before experiencing a slight decline to approximately 14.68%. This trend indicates enhanced operational profitability over time, although recent quarters suggest some normalization or margin pressure.

Asset Turnover

Asset turnover steadily increases from 0.51 to a high of around 0.74, before declining to 0.64 in the latest quarter. This generally reflects improved efficiency in utilizing assets to generate revenue, with a recent decline potentially indicating slower asset utilization or revenue generation challenges.

Financial Leverage

Financial leverage shows a clear downward trajectory, dropping from 3.35 to approximately 2.15 by the end of the period. This suggests a reduction in reliance on debt or other liabilities relative to equity, which can indicate a more conservative capital structure and potentially lower financial risk.

Return on Equity (ROE)

ROE trends upward markedly from a negative -22.67% to above 21%, illustrating significant improvement in generating returns on shareholders' equity. Despite a decline toward the later period ending at 14.22%, the ROE remains substantially higher than at the start, signaling increased profitability and efficiency in equity utilization.

Overall, the company has shown substantial progress in profitability and operational efficiency, evidenced by rising EBIT margins and ROE. Improved interest burden and lower financial leverage indicate strengthened financial health and reduced debt-related risk. However, slight downturns in asset turnover and profitability ratios in recent quarters may warrant further attention to sustain the positive momentum.

Net Profit Margin

The net profit margin shows a notable improvement over the observed periods. Starting from a negative margin of -13.3% in March 2021, it quickly transitions to positive territory by June 2021 and continues to increase steadily through 2022 and into early 2023. Margins peak around the range of approximately 12.9% in the first quarter of 2023, then maintain a relatively stable level with slight fluctuations, gradually declining to about 10.3% by the third quarter of 2025. This trend indicates an overall strengthening of profitability but with some softening in later periods.

Asset Turnover

Asset turnover exhibits a consistent upward trend from 0.51 in March 2021 to a peak of about 0.74 by the end of 2024 and mid-2025. This increase reflects improved efficiency in utilizing assets to generate revenue. However, a slight decline is observed toward the last reported period in September 2025, where the ratio dips to 0.64. Overall, there is evidence of enhanced operational effectiveness over the medium term, with a minor reduction at the end.

Return on Assets (ROA)

The return on assets moves from a negative -6.76% in March 2021 to positive and progressively higher values, reaching close to 9% in late 2023 through 2024. The upward trajectory signifies increasing effectiveness in generating profits relative to the total assets employed. After this peak, a subtle downward adjustment is observed with ROA reaching around 6.6% by the third quarter of 2025. The pattern suggests improved asset utilization profitability that stabilizes before a slight decrease toward the final periods.

The financial data reveals several notable trends in key performance ratios over the analyzed periods.

Tax Burden

The tax burden ratio remained relatively stable throughout the periods, fluctuating narrowly around 0.80 to 0.82, with a slight gradual decline towards 0.79 noted in the latest period. This suggests consistency in the company's effective tax rate without significant alterations in tax policy or tax efficiency.

Interest Burden

A clear upward trend is observed in the interest burden ratio, beginning at 0.70 and steadily increasing to a peak of approximately 0.92 between 2023 and 2024. Towards the latest reported periods, a mild decrease occurs, lowering the ratio slightly to around 0.89. This improvement indicates a reduced impact of interest expenses on earnings before taxes, reflecting better interest coverage or improved financing conditions over time.

EBIT Margin

The EBIT margin improved markedly from a negative starting point of -10.75% to positive double-digit percentages, peaking near 17.5% around early 2023. After that peak, the margin shows a minor declining trend, tapering to approximately 14.7% by the end of the analysis. This pattern indicates a recovery followed by a consolidation phase in operational profitability.

Asset Turnover

Asset turnover exhibited gradual growth from 0.51 initially to a high near 0.74 in mid-2025, although it experiences a slight dip towards the final periods, dropping to 0.64. This trajectory suggests improving efficiency in utilizing assets to generate revenue, albeit with some recent softness.

Return on Assets (ROA)

The ROA transitioned from a negative level (-6.76%) to strong positive values, reaching approximately 9.12% mid-period, signaling enhanced overall profitability relative to asset base. Following this peak, a moderate decline ensues, bringing ROA down to around 6.62% in the last reported period. This pattern mirrors the trends in EBIT margin and asset turnover, reflecting both operational improvements and recent reductions in efficiency or profitability.

In summary, the company demonstrates significant improvement in profitability and operational efficiency during the analyzed timeframe, with EBIT margin, ROA, and asset turnover showing notable growth. The interest burden ratio's increase supports better management of financing costs. However, recent periods reveal slight declines in profitability margins and asset utilization efficiency, suggesting potential challenges in maintaining peak operational performance levels.

Tax Burden

The tax burden ratio remained relatively stable over the periods analyzed, fluctuating slightly around the range of 0.78 to 0.82. This indicates a consistent proportion of earnings retained after taxation, suggesting steady tax expense management over time without significant volatility or sudden changes.

Interest Burden

The interest burden demonstrated a clear upward trend, increasing steadily from approximately 0.70 to around 0.92 over the periods. This improvement suggests a reduction in interest expenses relative to earnings before interest and taxes, reflecting better interest cost management or decreased debt-related burdens, contributing positively to profitability.

EBIT Margin

The EBIT margin showed a marked recovery and growth throughout the periods. Beginning at a negative margin (-10.75%) in the earliest period available, it rose sharply and consistently to peak near 17% before exhibiting a slight declining trend toward the latest period, where it remained above 14%. This overall positive trend indicates improving operational efficiency and profitability at the earnings before interest and tax level, albeit with some recent softening.

Net Profit Margin

The net profit margin followed a similar trajectory to the EBIT margin, starting from a negative figure (-13.3%) and advancing steadily to around 12-13% during the middle to later periods. In the most recent quarters, a subtle decline is observable, with margins easing to just above 10%. This pattern reflects enhanced bottom-line profitability driven by operational improvements and interest cost reductions; however, the recent moderation suggests emerging pressures or normalization effects impacting net profitability.