Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK)

Goodwill

Goodwill has shown a consistent upward trend from 2019 to 2024, increasing from $2,451 million to $3,653 million. The most notable rise occurred between 2020 and 2022, where goodwill increased by approximately $1,159 million. The growth rate tapered off slightly afterward but remained positive.

Customer relationships

Data for customer relationships begins in 2021 at $437 million, with a significant increase to $667 million in 2022. This value then slightly decreased to $659 million in 2023 and stabilized at $664 million in 2024, indicating a plateau in this intangible asset category after initial rapid growth.

Developed technologies

Developed technologies experienced modest fluctuations but generally increased over the period. Starting at $670 million in 2019, the value dipped slightly in 2020 to $647 million but then steadily climbed to $933 million by 2024, suggesting ongoing investment or capitalization in this area.

Trade names and patents

Recorded only from 2021 onwards, trade names and patents stood at $112 million and showed minimal change, remaining stable at $116 million from 2022 to 2024. This indicates limited recent activity or valuation adjustments in this category.

Other intangible assets

The "Other" category shows inconsistent and generally low values, ranging from $0 to $8 million during the observed years with some missing data points, which suggests minimal impact on overall intangible assets from this segment.

Intangible assets, gross carrying amount

The gross carrying amount of intangible assets remained relatively stable between 2019 and 2021, rising slightly from $1,203 million to $1,247 million. A substantial increase was observed in 2022 to $1,630 million, sustaining marginal growth through 2024, indicating capital additions or revaluations primarily post-2021.

Accumulated amortization

Accumulated amortization consistently increased in absolute terms over the years, reflecting ongoing expense recognition. It rose from -$923 million in 2019 to -$1,315 million in 2024, indicating a systematic amortization process aligned with the growth of intangible assets.

Intangible assets, net

Net intangible assets declined from $281 million in 2019 to $199 million in 2021, but then sharply increased to $494 million in 2022. Following this peak, it declined to roughly $406 million by 2024. The fluctuations suggest changes in asset valuations, amortization patterns, or additions in specific years.

Goodwill and intangible assets, net

The combined net value of goodwill and intangible assets rose steadily from $2,732 million in 2019 to a peak of $4,098 million in 2022. Thereafter, a slight decrease occurred, settling around $4,059 million in 2024. This overall increase highlights substantial growth in intangible asset base primarily driven by goodwill.

The financial data reveals several notable trends regarding the assets and equity positions over the six-year period.

Total Assets

The reported total assets demonstrate a consistent and steady increase from US$ 4,729 million in 2019 to US$ 9,912 million in 2024. This represents a growth of over 109% across the six years, indicating an ongoing expansion or accumulation of resources.

When adjusted for goodwill, total assets also show a marked increase, rising from US$ 2,278 million in 2019 to US$ 6,259 million in 2024. The adjusted figures are consistently lower than reported totals, reflecting significant goodwill adjustments; however, the upward trajectory remains consistent, highlighting stable asset growth even after excluding goodwill.

Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit)

The reported stockholders’ equity starts from a negative position of US$ (211) million in 2019 but improves significantly over time, reaching a positive US$ 1,855 million by 2024. Notably, there is a substantial increase from 2020 to 2021, where equity moves from a negative US$ (139) million to a positive US$ 966 million, suggesting a recovery or strong capital infusion.

In contrast, the adjusted stockholders’ equity figures remain consistently negative across all years, showing a deficit ranging from US$ (2,662) million in 2019 to US$ (1,798) million in 2024. Although the adjusted equity deficit decreases in magnitude over time, the persistent negative values indicate ongoing challenges with net assets when goodwill is excluded, implying potential underlying financial risks or impairments.

Overall, the company exhibits substantial asset growth both in reported and goodwill-adjusted terms, reflecting expansion or acquisition activity. While reported equity improves to a positive position by 2021, adjusted equity remains negative, highlighting the significant impact of goodwill on the balance sheet and pointing to possible underlying weaknesses in net tangible equity.

The data reveals several notable trends in the financial performance and efficiency ratios over the six-year period from January 31, 2019, to January 31, 2024.

Total Asset Turnover

The reported total asset turnover ratio exhibits a gradual decline from 0.54 in 2019 to 0.51 in 2022, followed by a mild recovery to 0.55 by 2024. This suggests a slight decrease and then a slight improvement in the company's ability to generate revenue from its assets. The adjusted total asset turnover, which presumably excludes goodwill, shows a more pronounced downward trend from 1.13 in 2019 to 0.83 in 2021, and then stabilizes around 0.86-0.88 through to 2024. This indicates a decrease in asset efficiency when goodwill is excluded, leveling off in the later years.

Financial Leverage

Only reported financial leverage data are available starting from 2021, showing an increasing trend from 7.54 in 2021 to a peak of 10.14 in 2022, followed by a significant decline to 5.34 by 2024. The initial increase suggests greater reliance on debt or other liabilities, while the subsequent decrease implies a reduction in leverage, potentially reflecting efforts to strengthen the balance sheet or reduce financial risk. Adjusted financial leverage data are not provided, limiting further analysis on leverage excluding goodwill.

Return on Equity (ROE)

Reported ROE data start from 2021, with an extremely high value of 125.14% in that year, which then decreases substantially to 48.84% by 2024. This sharp decline suggests a significant normalization from an exceptional return level, possibly influenced by the previously high financial leverage. The sustained high ROE levels nonetheless indicate a relatively strong return to equity holders despite the decreasing trend. There is no adjusted ROE data for comparison.

Return on Assets (ROA)

Reported ROA turned positive after 2019, increasing from -1.71% in 2019 to 16.6% in 2021, followed by a drop to 5.77% in 2022, and then recovering moderately to 9.14% by 2024. This pattern highlights an initial strong improvement in asset profitability, a subsequent dip, and a partial recovery in recent years. The adjusted ROA shows a similar overall trend but at higher levels, rising from -3.55% in 2019 to 26.42% in 2021, then decreasing to 9.93% in 2022, and increasing to 14.48% in 2024. This elevated adjusted ROA indicates a stronger asset efficiency when goodwill is excluded, with greater fluctuations but generally higher returns on operational assets.

Overall, the company demonstrates moderate improvement in asset utilization based on reported figures, with a clearer downward trend in asset efficiency after eliminating goodwill effects. Leverage metrics suggest an initial increase in financial risk followed by deleveraging. Profitability indicators reflect an initial surge, then correction and stabilization at lower but still robust levels. The adjusted measures, where available, imply stronger operational returns when excluding intangible assets, along with more pronounced volatility in efficiency and profitability metrics.

Total Assets

There is a consistent upward trend in both reported and goodwill adjusted total assets over the period analyzed. Reported total assets increased steadily from US$4,729 million in 2019 to US$9,912 million in 2024, showing a more than doubling of asset size. Similarly, adjusted total assets rose from US$2,278 million in 2019 to US$6,259 million in 2024, revealing substantial growth even after adjusting for goodwill.

Total Asset Turnover

The reported total asset turnover ratio remained relatively stable, fluctuating slightly but overall showing a minor decline from 0.54 in 2019 to 0.55 in 2024 with a low point of 0.51 in 2022. This indicates that the efficiency of the company in generating revenues from its reported asset base was mostly consistent, with marginal improvement toward the end of the period.

By contrast, the adjusted total asset turnover ratio displayed a declining trend from 1.13 in 2019 to 0.88 in 2024. This suggests a reduction in the efficiency of generating revenue from assets when goodwill is excluded. After a notable decrease between 2019 and 2021, the ratio stabilized around the 0.86 to 0.88 range in the last three years, indicating consistent but lower asset utilization efficiency on a goodwill-adjusted basis.

Insights

The growth in reported total assets significantly outpaces the change in reported total asset turnover, implying increasing asset investment that is not directly complemented by proportional revenue growth relative to asset size. The difference between reported and adjusted metrics indicates substantial goodwill on the balance sheet, and when removed, asset turnover ratios are higher but declining over time, pointing to potential challenges in maintaining effective asset use beyond intangible asset contributions.

The analysis of the provided financial data over the six-year period reveals notable trends in the company's asset base, equity position, and financial leverage.

Total Assets

Reported total assets increased steadily from US$4,729 million in 2019 to US$9,912 million in 2024, showing consistent growth. The adjusted total assets, which exclude goodwill, also rose over the years from US$2,278 million in 2019 to US$6,259 million in 2024. Both metrics indicate expansion of the company's asset base, though the adjusted figures are significantly lower, highlighting the impact of goodwill on the balance sheet.

Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit)

The reported stockholders’ equity fluctuated initially, with a negative value of US$-211 million in 2019 improving to a positive US$966 million by 2021. After a slight decline in 2022 to US$849 million, equity increased further to US$1,855 million in 2024. This improvement demonstrates increased net worth from the reported perspective. Conversely, the adjusted stockholders’ equity, which removes goodwill, remained negative throughout the period but showed a trend of gradual reduction in the deficit from US$-2,662 million in 2019 to US$-1,798 million in 2024. This suggests ongoing challenges related to intangible asset adjustments affecting the equity base.

Financial Leverage

Reported financial leverage, available from 2021 onward, showed a peak at 10.14 in 2022, indicating increased reliance on debt or liabilities relative to equity at that time. Subsequently, leverage decreased to 5.34 in 2024, reflecting a reduction in financial risk and an improvement in equity financing. Adjusted financial leverage data was not available for analysis.

Overall, the data shows a pattern of growing asset size accompanied by improving reported equity and a reduction in financial leverage after peaking in 2022. However, the persistent negative adjusted equity highlights the significant influence of goodwill and intangible assets on the company's financial structure. The decrease in leverage post-2022 may indicate strategic efforts to strengthen the balance sheet and reduce dependency on external financing.

The financial data reveals distinct trends in both reported and goodwill-adjusted equity metrics over the six-year period ending January 31, 2024.

Reported Stockholders’ Equity

The reported stockholders’ equity transitioned from negative figures in 2019 and 2020 to positive values beginning in 2021. Specifically, equity improved from -$211 million in 2019 and -$139 million in 2020 to $966 million in 2021, evidencing a significant reversal. This positive trend, albeit with some fluctuations, continued through 2024, reaching $1,855 million. This indicates a considerable strengthening of the company’s reported net asset position over the analyzed timeframe.

Adjusted Stockholders’ Equity

When adjusted for goodwill, the stockholders’ equity consistently remained negative throughout the period. The magnitude of the deficit decreased from -$2,662 million in 2019 to -$1,741 million in 2021, marking a notable improvement in adjusted equity. However, the deficit increased again in 2022 to -$2,755 million and remained elevated at -$2,480 million in 2023 before improving slightly to -$1,798 million in 2024. This suggests ongoing challenges in generating net assets free of goodwill, reflecting potential impairment or other adjustments related to intangible assets.

Reported Return on Equity (ROE)

Reported ROE data is available only from 2021 onward. The company exhibited an exceptionally high ROE of 125.14% in 2021, followed by a significant decline to 58.53% in 2022. Subsequently, ROE increased to 71.88% in 2023 before falling to 48.84% in 2024. These fluctuations denote substantial volatility in profitability relative to equity, possibly influenced by the changes in reported equity levels and income figures during these years.

Adjusted ROE

No data for adjusted ROE is presented, limiting the analysis of profitability based on goodwill-adjusted equity. The absence of this metric prevents a comprehensive evaluation of returns when excluding goodwill-related effects.

In summary, the company’s reported equity strengthened markedly from a negative to a strongly positive position over the six years, accompanied by volatile but generally high reported ROE figures from 2021 onward. In contrast, the adjusted equity (excluding goodwill) remained negative throughout, with significant fluctuations that may indicate underlying intangible asset challenges. The lack of adjusted ROE data precludes assessment of profitability on an adjusted equity basis.

Total Assets

There is a consistent increase in both reported and adjusted total assets over the six-year period. Reported total assets rose from US$4,729 million in 2019 to US$9,912 million in 2024, representing more than a doubling of asset size. Adjusted total assets, which exclude goodwill, also showed steady growth from US$2,278 million to US$6,259 million during the same period.

The difference between reported and adjusted assets narrows over time, indicating either a relative decrease in goodwill or better asset quality, as adjusted assets exclude goodwill and provide a more conservative view.

Return on Assets (ROA)

Reported ROA exhibited significant improvement throughout the years. It started with a negative value of -1.71% in 2019, turned positive to 3.47% in 2020, peaked at 16.6% in 2021, then declined somewhat to stabilize between 5.77% and 9.14% from 2022 onwards.

Adjusted ROA, which excludes goodwill impacts, followed a similar trend but at consistently higher levels: from -3.55% in 2019 to a peak of 26.42% in 2021, before settling in the range of 9.93% to 14.48% in recent years.

This suggests that the company’s operating performance, excluding intangible asset effects, improved significantly, with particularly strong profitability in 2021. Although performance moderated afterwards, the return remained substantially positive and above earlier years.

Overall Insights

The data reflects robust growth in asset base alongside improved efficiency in asset utilization as indicated by rising ROA metrics. The stronger adjusted ROA values imply that excluding goodwill adjustments highlights even better underlying profitability trends.

The peak in ROA in 2021 followed by a decline suggests a possible normalization after an exceptional performance year. However, the company managed to maintain improved profitability levels relative to the initial years, signifying sustained operational improvements and asset management effectiveness over time.