Balance Sheet: Assets
Quarterly Data
The balance sheet provides creditors, investors, and analysts with information on company resources (assets) and its sources of capital (its equity and liabilities). It normally also provides information about the future earnings capacity of a company assets as well as an indication of cash flows that may come from receivables and inventories.
Assets are resources controlled by the company as a result of past events and from which future economic benefits are expected to flow to the entity.
Based on: 10-Q (reporting date: 2023-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2022-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2021-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2020-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-03-31).
The total asset base expanded from 22.0 billion US dollars in March 2020 to 26.4 billion US dollars by March 2023. This growth is characterized by a significant increase in current assets and strategic fluctuations in long-term asset compositions, reflecting shifts in liquidity management and capital allocation.
- Liquidity and Working Capital Trends
- A substantial increase in cash and cash equivalents is observed starting in mid-2020, rising from 768 million US dollars in March 2020 to a peak of 3.8 billion US dollars in September 2020, before stabilizing between 2.6 billion and 3.6 billion US dollars through March 2023. This indicates a prioritized strengthening of the liquidity position during the early stages of the analyzed period.
- Inventories exhibit a consistent upward trajectory, growing from 1.56 billion US dollars in March 2020 to 2.8 billion US dollars by March 2023. This steady increase suggests an expansion in operational scale or a strategic decision to increase safety stock to mitigate supply chain volatility.
- Current assets experienced a notable spike in the second half of 2021, peaking at 11.4 billion US dollars in December 2021. This trend was driven by the temporary recognition of assets held for sale, valued at approximately 3.1 billion US dollars during September and December 2021, which subsequently exited the balance sheet.
- Long-term Asset Analysis
- Goodwill represents the most significant component of long-term assets, maintaining a relatively stable range between 9.0 billion and 10.2 billion US dollars. The stability of this figure suggests a lack of significant impairment charges during the period.
- A sharp contraction in pension and post-retirement assets occurred in the third quarter of 2021, dropping from 635 million US dollars in June 2021 to 25 million US dollars in September 2021. These levels remained low through March 2023, indicating a fundamental change in the funding status or structure of retirement obligations.
- Intangible assets showed volatility, decreasing to a low of 458 million US dollars in June 2022 before rising sharply to 1.3 billion US dollars by September 2022. This pattern indicates potential acquisitions or the recognition of new intangible assets in the latter half of 2022.
- Fixed assets grew moderately from 1.6 billion US dollars in March 2020 to 2.28 billion US dollars in March 2023, reflecting a gradual increase in investment in property, plant, and equipment.
- Investment and Other Asset Shifts
- Equity method investments showed a gradual decline, decreasing from 1.66 billion US dollars in March 2020 to 1.1 billion US dollars by March 2023, suggesting a reduction in the scale of strategic investments in affiliated entities.
- Future income tax benefits demonstrated a steady increase over the period, rising from 454 million US dollars in March 2020 to 639 million US dollars in March 2023, indicating an accumulation of deferred tax assets.
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