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-K (reporting date: 2019-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2019-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2019-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2019-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2018-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2018-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2018-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2018-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2017-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2017-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2017-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2017-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2016-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2016-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2016-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2016-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2015-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2015-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2015-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2015-03-31).
- Cash and Cash Equivalents
- Cash and cash equivalents exhibited significant volatility over the analyzed period. Initial values ranged around US$6.2 to US$8.6 billion for 2015, with a notable increase in late 2017 reaching peaks above US$13 billion. However, there was a sharp decline in 2019, falling below US$2.2 billion by year-end.
- Marketable Securities
- Data is intermittently reported, with values emerging from late 2017, starting at US$1.8 billion. A steep decline followed, dropping to near negligible levels by 2019, indicating a substantial reduction or reclassification of these assets.
- Accounts and Notes Receivable, Net
- Receivables demonstrated a growing trend from approximately US$8.7 billion at the start of 2015, peaking at over US$20 billion in early 2018. However, a marked decrease occurred through 2019, plummeting to approximately US$3.8 billion by December.
- Inventories
- Inventories remained relatively stable through 2015 and 2016, fluctuating between US$6.8 billion and US$8.2 billion. From 2017 onward, a significant jump occurred, doubling in size by late 2017 and maintaining elevated levels before a dramatic decline in 2019 back to around US$4.3 billion.
- Deferred Income Tax Assets, Current
- Current deferred income tax assets were reported only until 2015, with values around US$0.8 to 1 billion, after which data is absent.
- Other Current Assets
- Other current assets increased considerably from under US$400 million in early 2015 to above US$2.2 billion by mid-2018, followed by a steep reduction to approximately US$300 million by 2019 quarter-end.
- Assets of Discontinued Operations
- Only reported once in 2017 with a value of about US$3.2 billion, suggesting divestiture or significant restructuring representing discontinued segments.
- Current Assets
- Current assets grew moderately from nearly US$24.4 billion in early 2015 to peaks above US$54 billion in late 2017. After this peak, a decline followed, with end-2019 values stabilizing around US$10 billion, indicating possible major disposals or reclassification of current assets.
- Investment in Nonconsolidated Affiliates
- Investments in affiliates showed modest fluctuation, generally maintaining levels around US$3.5 to 5.2 billion between 2015 and 2019, with a decline evident toward the end of the period.
- Other Investments
- Values remained stable near US$2.4 to 3 billion until 2018, after which reported amounts sharply decreased to negligible figures below US$30 million, implying possible divestiture or asset reclassification.
- Noncurrent Receivables
- Amounts ranged around US$500 million to near US$1 billion over 2015–2017 but declined markedly to below US$40 million by 2019, showing a significant reduction in long-term receivables.
- Investments (Total)
- Total investments fluctuated between approximately US$6.8 billion and US$8.5 billion through 2015 to 2018, with a pronounced decrease in 2019 to roughly US$1.2 billion.
- Property, Plant and Equipment, Net
- Fixed assets increased steadily from about US$18 billion in 2015 to over US$36 billion in late 2017, followed by a sharp decline in 2019, falling below US$10 billion.
- Goodwill
- Goodwill stayed relatively constant, hovering around US$12 to 15 billion through 2015–2016. Subsequently, it surged dramatically in 2017 to exceed US$60 billion, before declining to around US$33 billion in 2019.
- Other Intangible Assets
- Other intangibles followed a similar pattern to goodwill, increasing notably from around US$3.5 billion in 2015 to over US$33 billion in 2017, then decreasing steadily to approximately US$13.5 billion by the end of 2019.
- Deferred Income Tax Assets, Total
- These assets fluctuated between around US$1.7 billion and US$3.1 billion until 2017, then sharply declined to under US$250 million by 2019.
- Asbestos-related Insurance Receivables, Noncurrent
- Reported values showed a gradual decrease from US$54 million to US$36 million, ceasing to be reported after mid-2016.
- Deferred Charges and Other Assets
- This item remained roughly stable around US$500 to 650 million through 2015-2016, surged to nearly US$5.8 billion in 2018, and then tapered down in 2019 to just over US$1 billion.
- Other Assets
- Other assets grew from approximately US$18.5 billion in 2015 to exceed US$98 billion in 2017, with a subsequent decline to around US$48 billion by 2019.
- Noncurrent Assets
- Noncurrent assets generally rose from about US$43 billion in 2015 to a peak exceeding US$143 billion in late 2017, before falling substantially to near US$59 billion in 2019.
- Total Assets
- Total assets followed a corresponding trend, increasing moderately from around US$67.8 billion in early 2015 to a peak near US$198.5 billion by late 2017. Afterwards, assets contracted to roughly US$69.4 billion by the end of 2019.