Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR)

The Return on Assets (ROA) exhibits notable fluctuations across the reported quarters. Starting from a modest 0.19% in the first quarter of 2018, the ROA increased sharply, reaching a peak of 18.81% in the second quarter of 2019. After this peak, the indicator generally declined, turning negative in the second quarter of 2020 and remaining negative through most of 2020 and the latter part of 2021. There is some recovery observed in early 2022, though the ROA remains volatile and close to zero or negative.

Financial Leverage shows a gradual upward trend over the observed periods. Starting at 1.45 in early 2018, financial leverage increases steadily with minor fluctuations, reaching a value of 2.29 by mid-2022. This rising leverage level suggests a growing use of debt relative to equity in the company’s capital structure over time.

Return on Equity (ROE) mirrors the trend observed in ROA but with more pronounced variations. ROE started at 0.28% in the first quarter of 2018 and rose significantly to a peak of 28.22% by mid-2019. Subsequently, a steep decline occurred, with ROE turning sharply negative from the second quarter of 2020 through the end of 2021. Similar to ROA, there is a partial rebound in 2022, though values remain low and intermittently negative.

Return on Assets (ROA)

Demonstrates strong growth until mid-2019, followed by a sharp decline and sustained negative returns through much of 2020 and part of 2021, with slight recovery signs in 2022.

Financial Leverage

Exhibits a consistent increasing trend from 2018 to 2022, reflecting rising debt usage relative to shareholder equity.

Return on Equity (ROE)

Shows peak profitability in mid-2019, followed by a dramatic decline into negative territory during 2020 and 2021, with minor rebounds in early 2022.

Overall, the financial performance indicators reveal a period of strong profitability until mid-2019 succeeded by a phase of declining returns and negative profitability during 2020 and 2021. The increase in financial leverage may have contributed to the volatility and downturn in profitability ratios. The recent data suggests tentative improvement but continued instability in financial returns.

Net Profit Margin

The net profit margin exhibited significant fluctuations over the observed period. Initially, it showed an upward trend, rising from 0.57% at the beginning to a peak near 71.46% mid-2019. This was followed by a gradual decrease towards the end of 2019 and a sharp decline starting in 2020, turning negative and reaching its lowest points between -37.06% and -30.56%. In 2021 and early 2022, the margin showed some recovery but remained volatile, oscillating between slightly positive and slightly negative values.

Asset Turnover

Asset turnover demonstrated a relatively stable performance with minor fluctuations throughout the timeline. Starting at 0.34, the ratio slightly declined during 2018 and 2019, maintaining around 0.26 to 0.3 for most quarters. From late 2021, a gradual improvement was noted, reaching 0.39 by mid-2022, reflecting a modest increase in efficiency in utilizing assets to generate revenue.

Financial Leverage

Financial leverage showed an increasing trend over the analyzed quarters. Beginning at 1.45, it experienced moderate variation before rising consistently since early 2021, peaking at 2.29 towards mid-2022. This indicates a growing reliance on debt or borrowed funds relative to equity.

Return on Equity (ROE)

Return on equity closely mirrored the net profit margin pattern, with positive growth initially, achieving peaks above 28% in mid-2019. Following this peak, ROE steadily declined, becoming negative throughout most of 2020 to early 2022. A slight recovery was observed in mid-2021 and early 2022, although values remained low and occasionally negative, suggesting ongoing challenges in generating shareholder returns during this period.

Tax Burden

The tax burden ratio exhibited considerable volatility throughout the reported periods. Initially, the ratio fluctuated moderately, with values generally between 0.54 and 4.93 from early 2018 to mid-2019. From late 2019 through 2020, data becomes sparse with significant negative values appearing by early 2021, indicating unusual tax situations or adjustments. The ratio then stabilizes near a low positive level by mid-2022. These fluctuations suggest irregular tax impacts affecting net profitability in various quarters.

Interest Burden

The interest burden showed a gradual decrease from 0.2 in early 2018 to about 0.67 by the first quarter of 2020, suggesting improved operational earnings before interest expenses. However, from mid-2020 onward, the ratio presented significant negative values, indicative of either negative operating income or financial anomalies. With brief recoveries and further declines, the trend reflects increased volatility in earning capacity relative to interest obligations during this period.

EBIT Margin

Operating profitability as measured by EBIT margin revealed an improving trend during 2018 and early 2019, reaching a peak around 19.1%. Subsequently, the margin gradually declined, hitting a low during late 2020 and early 2021, including a notable negative margin of -7.09% in Q3 2021. The margin regained slightly positive but minimal levels towards mid-2022. This pattern highlights a deterioration in core operational profitability during 2020 and 2021, with limited recovery thereafter.

Asset Turnover

Asset turnover ratios remained relatively stable with minor fluctuations, generally ranging between 0.26 and 0.39. Notably, a gradual improvement was observable from late 2021 into mid-2022, reaching the highest values in the series at 0.39. This suggests a slight enhancement in asset utilization efficiency over time, particularly in the most recent quarters.

Financial Leverage

Financial leverage steadily increased over the observed periods, starting from about 1.38 in late 2019 and reaching approximately 2.29 by mid-2022. This upward trend indicates a growing reliance on debt or borrowed funds relative to equity, implying heightened financial risk and potential pressure on the capital structure.

Return on Equity (ROE)

The return on equity exhibited strong growth during 2018 and early 2019, peaking at over 28% in mid-2019. However, from early 2020, ROE sharply declined into negative territory, suggesting that net losses eroded shareholder value in this period. Despite brief returns to positive ROE in 2021 and 2022, the values remained relatively low and volatile, reflecting ongoing operational and financial challenges impacting profitability for equity holders.

Net Profit Margin

The net profit margin exhibited a strong upward trajectory from March 2018 to March 2019, increasing from 0.57% to a peak of 71.46% in June 2019. Following this peak, the margin showed a general decline, albeit with minor fluctuations, falling sharply into negative territory in June 2020 at -37.06%. This negative trend persisted through late 2020 and early 2021. Thereafter, the margin oscillated around low positive and negative values, suggesting volatility and an unstable profitability position during 2021 and the first half of 2022.

Asset Turnover

Asset turnover demonstrated relatively modest variation across the observed periods. It started at 0.34 in March 2018, slightly declined to around 0.26 by mid-2019 and mid-2020, and then showed a gradual increase beginning late 2020. By June 2022, the ratio reached 0.39, indicating a moderate improvement in the efficiency with which assets are generating revenue. Overall, asset turnover remained within a narrow range, signalling stable but limited changes in operational efficiency.

Return on Assets (ROA)

ROA trends echoed those of the net profit margin, with marked growth from March 2018 through June 2019, reaching a maximum of 18.81%. This was followed by a steady decline that turned negative in June 2020, indicating asset usage was yielding losses. The negative ROA persisted until early 2021, after which it experienced some recovery to low positive levels. However, the ROA remained volatile and generally subdued through mid-2022, reflecting ongoing challenges in asset profitability and overall return generation.

The analysis of the quarterly financial performance reveals several key trends and fluctuations across the presented periods.

Tax Burden

The Tax Burden ratio exhibited significant volatility. Initially, it fluctuated moderately around values between 0.54 and 4.93 from early 2018 through mid-2019. However, there is a notable sharp decline in late 2020 with a highly negative value (-72.55), indicating an exceptional event or tax adjustment during that period. Post this outlier, the ratio appears to normalize but remains somewhat unstable, with values such as 1 and 0.61, reflecting inconsistent tax impacts on earnings.

Interest Burden

The Interest Burden ratio started low in early 2018 (0.2), showing improvement and stabilization around 0.7 to 0.76 through most of 2018 and 2019. From early 2020 onwards, the ratio shows unusual negative values, such as -2.68 and -5.26, again suggesting extraordinary financial charges or accounting events. Attempts at stabilization are seen in mid to late 2021 with a positive ratio around 0.1 to 0.87, but this is interrupted by another negative spike (-3.76) in mid-2022, pointing to fluctuations in interest expense management or financing activities.

EBIT Margin

The EBIT Margin percentage saw a growth trajectory from early 2018, increasing from approximately 5.22% to peaks near 19.1% during mid-2019. Thereafter, a downward trend is observed starting in early 2020, where margin levels sharply dropped to single digits, reaching as low as 0.65% and even turning negative in late 2021 (-6.07% and -7.09%). This indicates deteriorating operational profitability, with some recovery attempts toward early 2022 but still remaining weak at approximately 0.25%.

Asset Turnover

The Asset Turnover ratio reflects a relatively steady performance with minor fluctuations. Starting at 0.34 in early 2018, a slight decline is noted through 2019 with values mostly around 0.26 to 0.30. From late 2020 onwards, there is a gradual increase up to 0.39 in mid-2022, which may suggest improved efficiency in asset utilization toward the latter periods.

Return on Assets (ROA)

The Return on Assets shows a pattern closely related to EBIT results. It improved from near zero (0.19%) in early 2018 to strong positive levels peaking around 18.81% in mid-2019. However, starting in 2020, ROA experienced a steep decline into negative territory (-9.81% to -8.49%), indicating losses relative to asset base. Minor improvements occur intermittently but remain below positive territory in several quarters through mid-2022, illustrating ongoing challenges in generating returns from assets.

Overall, the financial data reflects a period of growth and relative profitability through 2018 and early 2019 followed by significant operational and financial difficulties beginning in 2020. Negative impacts on margins, return metrics, and irregularities in tax and interest burdens suggest the company faced considerable challenges during the latest quarters, with partial signs of recovery in select operational efficiency metrics such as asset turnover.

The analysis of key financial ratios over the observed periods reveals significant fluctuations in profitability and operational efficiency. The tax burden ratio exhibits considerable variability, with a notable negative value observed in the fourth quarter of 2020, which suggests unusual tax circumstances or possibly tax credits impacting the results in that period. Subsequently, this ratio stabilizes to positive values again by 2022, indicating a return to typical tax expense recognition.

The interest burden ratio generally remains below 1.0, indicating manageable interest expenses relative to operating income, but with stark negative values appearing intermittently in 2020 and mid-2022. These negative values may reflect accounting anomalies, interest income recognition, or extraordinary financial activities affecting interest costs or coverage.

Operating profitability, as measured by the EBIT margin, shows a clear upward trend from early 2018 to around 2019, peaking near 19%, which implies improving core earnings performance. However, the margin declines sharply from 2020 onward, even entering negative territory in late 2021, signifying operational challenges or increased costs that eroded earnings before interest and taxes. A modest recovery appears in early 2022, although margins remain low.

Net profit margin demonstrates a highly volatile pattern, with strong positive values through 2019 indicating robust net earnings relative to revenue. The margin peaks substantially in mid-2019 but suffers severe declines starting in 2020, turning deeply negative across multiple quarters. This deterioration points to significant net losses possibly due to extraordinary charges, impairments, or other non-operational factors. Although some recovery occurs in 2021 and early 2022, the margins stay near zero or negative, reflecting continued profitability challenges.

Overall, the period from 2018 to early 2020 shows improving earnings performance and stable financial burdens. From 2020 onwards, the financial health appears stressed, with volatility in tax and interest burdens and weakening profitability metrics. These trends imply operational and financial pressures likely impacting the company's sustained earnings capacity.

Tax Burden

Highly variable with occasional negative extremes, indicating irregular tax impacts.

Interest Burden

Generally manageable but includes negative anomalies suggesting non-standard interest expense recognition.

EBIT Margin

Strong growth through 2019 followed by marked decline and operating losses in 2021.

Net Profit Margin

Robust positive margins until 2019, then substantial negative swings reflecting net losses and operational difficulties.