Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS)

The analysis of the intangible and goodwill assets over the examined periods reveals a consistent downward trend in several key areas, reflecting changes in asset valuations and amortization impacts.

Character/franchise intangibles, copyrights, and trademarks

This category remained stable at 10,572 million US dollars from 2020 through 2023, followed by a notable reduction to 9,507 million US dollars in the last two periods. This indicates a revaluation or impairment event leading to a decrease in these assets.

MVPD agreements

Values showed minor fluctuations from 8,098 million US dollars in 2020 to a slight decline to 8,056 million by 2023, then a more pronounced decrease to 7,213 million from 2024 onward, suggesting a phased reduction or amortization of these agreements.

Other amortizable intangible assets

This asset category exhibits a steady decrease from 4,309 million US dollars in 2020 to 3,493 million US dollars by 2024 and 2025, highlighting ongoing amortization or impairment processes over time.

Intangible assets subject to amortization, gross

There is a gradual decrement from 22,979 million US dollars in 2020 to 20,213 million US dollars in the last two periods, consistent with asset amortization.

Accumulated amortization

Accumulated amortization consistently increased in magnitude, from -5,598 million US dollars in 2020 to -12,733 million US dollars in 2025, reflecting the systematic expensing of intangible assets over time and contributing significantly to the reduction of net intangible assets.

Intangible assets subject to amortization, net

The net value of amortizable intangibles has declined sharply from 17,381 million US dollars in 2020 to 7,480 million US dollars in 2025, underscoring the combined effects of asset amortization and reductions in gross intangible asset balances.

Indefinite lived intangible assets

This category remained constant at 1,792 million US dollars throughout the entire period, indicating stability in assets that are not subject to amortization.

Intangible assets total

The aggregate intangible assets decreased steadily from 19,173 million US dollars in 2020 to 9,272 million US dollars in 2025, highlighting an overall decline driven mainly by amortizable intangibles.

Goodwill

Goodwill values were relatively stable between 2020 and 2023, fluctuating slightly between 77,689 and 77,067 million US dollars, followed by a more discernible decline to approximately 73,294 million US dollars in 2025, suggesting some impairment or divestiture events.

Goodwill and other intangible assets total

The combined total of goodwill and intangible assets showed a steady downward trend, moving from 96,862 million US dollars in 2020 to 82,566 million US dollars in 2025, reflecting the aggregate effect of the decreases seen in both goodwill and intangible assets.

In summary, the data indicates a consistent decrease in amortizable intangible assets and goodwill over the indicated periods, driven by amortization, asset revaluations, and possibly impairments or disposals. Indefinite lived intangible assets remain stable, providing some balance to the overall decline in total intangible-related valuations. This pattern reflects ongoing adjustments to the company's asset base, with significant implications for future amortization expenses and balance sheet composition.

Total Assets

The reported total assets exhibit relative stability from 2020 through 2025, fluctuating slightly within a narrow range. Starting at approximately $201.5 billion in 2020, the figure modestly rose to around $205.6 billion by 2023 before experiencing a slight decline to $196.2 billion in 2024, followed by a modest increase to $197.5 billion in 2025.

The adjusted total assets, which presumably exclude goodwill or related intangibles, also follow a broadly stable pattern but with lower absolute values compared to reported total assets. These adjusted figures began near $123.9 billion in 2020, increased marginally to about $128.5 billion in 2023, then declined to approximately $122.9 billion in 2024 and slightly recovered to $124.2 billion in 2025. Overall, the adjusted total assets maintain a consistent level with small fluctuations.

Shareholder’s Equity

The reported total Disney shareholder’s equity demonstrates a steady upward trend over the six-year span. Beginning at roughly $83.6 billion in 2020, it increased consistently each year to reach nearly $109.9 billion by 2025. This suggests sustained growth in the company’s net asset base as reported under conventional accounting.

Conversely, the adjusted total shareholder’s equity, which likely removes goodwill or intangible asset effects, shows a markedly different pattern characterized by continuous and substantial growth from a base near $5.9 billion in 2020 to $36.6 billion by 2025. The adjusted equity grows at a significantly faster rate compared to the reported equity, indicating a rising net asset value after goodwill adjustments. The consistent year-over-year increases imply effective retention or accretion of tangible or adjusted net assets over time.

Insight and Trends

The difference between reported and adjusted figures highlights the considerable impact of goodwill and intangible assets on the company’s balance sheet. While reported totals show moderate growth or stability, adjusted totals present a clearer picture of the growth in underlying tangible assets and equity.

The stable nature of total assets combined with the rising adjusted equity suggests that the company may be improving asset quality or operational efficiency, reducing reliance on or impairment of goodwill elements. The steady increase in adjusted equity, in particular, reflects positively on the company’s core financial strength and capital base evolution over the period analyzed.

The financial data indicates several evolving trends over the periods analyzed, showcasing developments in efficiency, leverage, and profitability metrics.

Total Asset Turnover

Both reported and adjusted total asset turnover ratios demonstrate a consistent upward trajectory. The reported total asset turnover ratio increases steadily from 0.32 to 0.48, reflecting improved asset utilization. The adjusted total asset turnover, which excludes goodwill effects, is notably higher and follows a similar positive trend from 0.53 to 0.76, indicating enhanced operational efficiency when goodwill distortions are removed.

Financial Leverage

Financial leverage ratios, both reported and adjusted, exhibit a declining trend over the period. Reported financial leverage decreases moderately from 2.41 to 1.80, suggesting a gradual reduction in reliance on debt or other liabilities. The adjusted financial leverage shows a more pronounced decrease from 21.01 to 3.40, implying that the adjustment for goodwill significantly impacts the leverage assessment, revealing a substantial deleveraging effect or asset base normalization.

Return on Equity (ROE)

The reported ROE starts with a negative value at -3.43% and gradually improves to a positive 11.29%, revealing a recovery and strengthening in profitability attributable to shareholders over time. The adjusted ROE shows a more volatile but generally upward pattern, starting deeply negative at -48.59% but rising sharply to 33.91%, indicating that when goodwill-related adjustments are accounted for, returns on equity appear more volatile but ultimately demonstrate stronger profitability growth.

Return on Assets (ROA)

The reported ROA mirrors the positive recovery pattern seen in ROE, improving from -1.42% to 6.28%, which suggests enhanced asset efficiency in generating net income. The adjusted ROA also follows a similar trend, increasing from -2.31% to 9.99%. The gap between reported and adjusted figures highlights the impact of goodwill on perceived asset returns, with adjusted figures consistently better than reported ones.

Overall, the data reflects a company progressing towards greater operational efficiency, reduced financial leverage, and improving profitability metrics over time. The adjusted figures, accounting for goodwill, provide a clearer view of underlying performance, which tends to be more favorable and demonstrates stronger upward momentum compared to the reported figures. This underscores the significance of goodwill adjustments in analyzing financial health and performance trends.

Total Assets (Reported vs. Adjusted)

The reported total assets exhibited relative stability from 2020 to 2023, with values fluctuating slightly around 201,000 to 205,500 million US dollars. However, a notable decline is observed in 2024, dropping to approximately 196,200 million US dollars, followed by a marginal increase in 2025 to around 197,500 million US dollars.

The adjusted total assets, which exclude goodwill, follow a somewhat similar pattern but on a lower scale, starting from 123,860 million US dollars in 2020 and increasing gradually to a peak of 128,512 million US dollars in 2023. Subsequently, adjusted assets decrease to 122,893 million US dollars in 2024 but rebound to 124,220 million US dollars in 2025.

Total Asset Turnover (Reported vs. Adjusted)

The reported total asset turnover ratio shows a consistent upward trend, beginning at 0.32 in 2020 and increasing steadily to 0.48 by 2025. This indicates improved efficiency in utilizing total assets to generate revenue over the period analyzed.

The adjusted total asset turnover ratio, which considers assets excluding goodwill, also rises consistently from 0.53 in 2020 to 0.76 in 2025. This higher turnover ratio relative to the reported figures suggests that assets excluding goodwill are generating revenue more efficiently, and this efficiency has improved over time.

Insights and Patterns

The stability in reported total assets in the initial years followed by a decline in 2024 may reflect changes in asset composition or divestitures. The adjusted asset figures’ similar trend reinforces this observation, albeit on a different scale due to the exclusion of goodwill.

The continuous improvement in both reported and adjusted total asset turnover ratios demonstrates enhanced asset utilization efficiency. The growing gap between reported and adjusted turnover ratios points to the impact of goodwill on total assets, with adjusted assets being more directly linked to revenue generation.

Overall, the data suggests a strategic focus on asset optimization, with an emphasis on improving the productivity of operational assets excluding goodwill, which could be indicative of management’s efforts to streamline asset base and boost operational performance.

The analysis of the financial data over the six-year period reveals several notable trends and patterns in both reported and goodwill-adjusted figures related to total assets, shareholder’s equity, and financial leverage ratios.

Total Assets

Reported total assets show a relatively stable trend with minor fluctuations, increasing slightly from approximately 201.5 billion to 197.5 billion US dollars by the end of the period. The peak was observed in the 2023 fiscal year at around 205.6 billion before a decline in subsequent years. Adjusted total assets, which exclude goodwill, also exhibit stability but at significantly lower absolute values, starting at about 123.9 billion and ending at 124.2 billion US dollars. A slight dip is visible in the last two years, reflecting a decrement in underlying asset value after goodwill adjustment.

Shareholder’s Equity

Reported Disney shareholder’s equity has demonstrated consistent growth throughout the period, rising from roughly 83.6 billion to nearly 110 billion US dollars. The increase appears steady, reflecting strengthening equity levels. However, the goodwill-adjusted shareholder’s equity started at a much lower base of approximately 5.9 billion and showed a rapid and significant increase each year, reaching 36.6 billion. This suggests a substantial adjustment impact from goodwill, with the adjusted equity growing at a faster relative rate than the reported equity.

Financial Leverage

The reported financial leverage ratio, defined as total assets divided by shareholder’s equity, exhibits a decreasing trend from 2.41 to 1.80. This decline indicates a reduction in leverage, suggesting the company is using less debt relative to equity over time. On the other hand, the goodwill-adjusted financial leverage ratio starts much higher at 21.01 and decreases sharply to 3.40. This steep reduction reflects the combined effect of increasing adjusted equity and relatively stable adjusted assets, indicating enhanced financial strength and lower reliance on debt when goodwill is excluded.

Overall, the company’s financial position appears to improve when considering both reported and goodwill-adjusted measures. The decline in leverage ratios points to a healthier capital structure with less dependency on external financing. The consistent rise in shareholder’s equity, particularly after adjusting for goodwill, indicates an enhancement in the net tangible asset base, which can be interpreted as strengthening financial resilience. The stability in total assets combined with expanding equity underscores an improving balance sheet quality throughout the examined period.

The analysis of the financial data reveals distinct trends in both reported and goodwill-adjusted metrics over the observed periods.

Shareholder’s Equity

Reported total Disney Shareholder’s equity demonstrates a consistent upward trajectory from US$83,583 million in 2020 to US$109,869 million in 2025, indicating steady growth in the company’s net assets attributable to shareholders. This increment suggests sustained accumulation of retained earnings and potential capital infusions over the years.

Adjusted total Disney Shareholder’s equity, which likely excludes goodwill effects, shows a more pronounced relative increase, rising from US$5,894 million in 2020 to US$36,575 million in 2025. This substantial rise implies enhanced actual underlying equity value growth when adjustments for intangible assets such as goodwill are accounted for, revealing strengthening of tangible equity base and potentially improved asset quality.

Return on Equity (ROE)

The reported ROE exhibits initial volatility with a negative -3.43% in 2020, transitioning to positive territory thereafter, reaching 11.29% by 2025. This progression reflects a recovery from losses or lower profitability in 2020 to improved earnings generation relative to shareholder equity over time.

Adjusted ROE presents a similar but more extreme pattern, with an initially significant negative figure of -48.59% in 2020, followed by a substantial rebound to 33.91% by 2025. The high volatility and sharp recovery suggest that once goodwill effects are removed, profitability relative to tangible equity was deeply negative during the initial period but subsequently improved markedly. This aligns with the growth in adjusted equity and may indicate operational strengthening and improved asset utilization.

General Insights

The divergence between reported and adjusted figures highlights the impact of goodwill and intangible assets on the company’s financial structure. The adjusted metrics suggest a stronger and more consistent improvement in underlying equity and profitability. Both sets of data reflect a positive long-term trend in financial health, with increasing shareholder value and enhanced returns on equity as the company recovers from earlier setbacks.

Total Assets

The reported total assets demonstrated a relatively stable trend over the analyzed periods, starting at 201,549 million US dollars and peaking slightly at 205,579 million in 2023 before decreasing to 197,514 million in 2025. The adjusted total assets followed a similar pattern, albeit at a lower base, ranging from 123,860 million to a peak of 128,512 million in 2023, and then declining to 124,220 million by 2025. Overall, both reported and adjusted total assets show minor fluctuations but maintain a generally stable asset base.

Return on Assets (ROA)

The reported ROA displayed considerable improvement over time. Initially negative at -1.42% in 2020, it became positive in 2021 at 0.98% and continued to increase, reaching 6.28% by 2025. This indicates a progressive enhancement in the company's efficiency in generating profits from its assets.

The adjusted ROA, which accounts for goodwill adjustments, started lower than the reported ROA at -2.31% in 2020 but mirrored the same upward trajectory, increasing to 9.99% by 2025. This higher adjusted ROA relative to the reported one suggests that after removing the impact of goodwill, asset profitability has improved markedly and more substantially, highlighting better operational performance.

Summary of Key Insights

The asset base, both reported and adjusted for goodwill, remained mostly stable with minor declines towards the end of the period. Notably, the return on assets experienced a significant positive trend, shifting from negative returns in 2020 to strongly positive by 2025. This improvement was more pronounced when considering adjusted assets, underscoring enhanced asset utilization and profitability excluding intangible assets like goodwill. Such trends may indicate stronger core operational performance and improved asset management over time.