As such, it is important to use this ratio in conjunction with other financial ratios and indicators, to get a comprehensive picture of the company’s financial health. There are a few steps involved in calculating the return on assets ratio. And finally, the return on assets formula should be applied by dividing the total net income by the value of the total assets to get the return on assets ratio. The formula for the return on assets is computed by dividing the net income of a company by its total assets. The numerator of the ROA formula can be found at the bottom of a company’s income statement while the denominator of the return on assets ratio formula can be found on the company’s balance sheet. An ROA of 5% or better is considered pretty good, while 20% or better is considered outstanding.

• Investors can judge about the ability of the business to generate profits from investments in assets.
• This would lead us to the conclusion that the second business is able to utilize assets more efficiently and earn more profits comparing to the first business.
• However, ROAs should always be compared amongst firms in the same sector.
• It can be used to assess an individual company’s performance over time or to evaluate it relative to similar companies in the same industry.
• Also, the most basic ROA formula is limited in its applications and is most suitable for banks and other financial institutions.
• Calculating return on assets is done by using a company’s net income and its total or average assets.

Additional information about Synapse Brokerage can be found on FINRA’s BrokerCheck. Alternative investments should only be part of your overall investment best free accounting software for businesses portfolio. Further, the alternative investment portion of your portfolio should include a balanced portfolio of different alternative investments.

When looking at financial ratios, it is important to compare them across companies. It is also important to compare the ratios to companies within the same industry. Although the ROA for this company may appear to be very high compared to its peers, the company could actually be inefficient in generating income through its assets. You calculate the ROOA by subtracting the value of the assets not in use from the value of the total assets, and then dividing the net income by the result.

Additional Resources

Note that we have two absolutely different situations and you probably wonder which is better for the company. What is the return on assets and, what’s more, what is a good return on assets? Like ROA, Return on Equity (ROE) and Return on Investment (ROI) are ratios used to measure the performance of businesses.

As noted above, one of the biggest issues with ROA is that it can’t be used across industries. That’s because companies in one industry have different asset bases than those in another. So the asset bases of companies within the oil and gas industry aren’t the same as those in the retail industry. ROA for public companies can vary substantially and are highly dependent on the industry in which they function so the ROA for a tech company won’t necessarily correspond to that of a food and beverage company. This is why when using ROA as a comparative measure, it is best to compare it against a company’s previous ROA numbers or a similar company’s ROA. Average value of assets is used since it varies through the periods and there might be quite a significant difference in value at the start of the accounting period and at its end.

Return on Assets Calculation Example (ROA)

But besides comparisons to industry competitors, another use case of tracking ROA is for tracking changes in performance year-over-year.

What is return on assets (ROA)?

It reveals how effectively a company generates profits solely from the investments of its shareholders. This metric is especially important for stockholders and equity investors. ROE shows the return on the owners’ investments while accounting for any financial leveraging. It makes use of “net income” derived from the income statement and “total assets” obtained from the balance sheet. Return on assets (ROA) is a profitability ratio that measures the rate of return on resources owned by a business. ROE is calculated by dividing a company’s net profits over a given period by shareholders’ equity—it measures how effectively the company is leveraging the capital it has generated by selling shares of stock.

Return on Assets (ROA) vs. Return on Equity (ROE)

By calculating a firm’s ROA, you can measure its net earnings against its total assets to determine just how successfully it’s using its resources to profit from its regular business operations. Additionally, the most basic ROA formula does not take into account the company’s leverage or the amount of debt it has relative to its equity. This can make ROA a less reliable metric when comparing companies with different capital structures. Finally, one-time items such as asset write-downs can make it difficult to compare companies on a year-over-year basis, which can affect ROA. It is important to note that the return on assets ratio only tells how much profit a company is making from its assets.

What is Return on Assets (ROA) ratio

This, in turn, suggests that the company is well-managed and has a competitive advantage in its industry which boosts investor confidence. Since a high return on assets, ratio figure means more asset efficiency, the figure is one of the main factors that inform investors’ decision to invest in a particular company. The return on assets ratio is a key metric for evaluating a company’s financial performance, because it measures a company’s ability to generate profits from its assets. The return on assets ratio is a crucial metric for investors to consider when evaluating a company. A high ratio indicates that a company is generating a lot of profit from its assets, while a low ratio indicates that a company is not using its assets efficiently. There are a few different ways to calculate a company’s return on assets (ROA).

When demand is rising, companies will increase the number of assets they use to produce their goods and services. ROA is an indicator of performance that incorporates the company’s asset base. Expressed as a percentage, a higher ROA indicates a more efficient use of company resources. With two decades of business and finance journalism experience, Ben has covered breaking market news, written on equity markets for Investopedia, and edited personal finance content for Bankrate and LendingTree. Emily Guy Birken is a former educator, lifelong money nerd, and a Plutus Award-winning freelance writer who specializes in the scientific research behind irrational money behaviors.

ROA shows how well a company is currently utilizing its assets but does not take into consideration the conditions under which the assets are being used. If ROA is calculated for companies in different industries, it will not be very meaningful since ROAs vary widely among industries and groups of companies within the same industry. This shows that Company B is able to use its assets more effectively to generate profit, and so is likely the better investment. However, if you compared the manufacturing company to its closest competitors, and they all had ROAs below 4%, you might find that it’s doing far better than its peers. Conversely, if you looked at the dating app in comparison to similar tech firms, you could discover that most of them have ROAs closer to 20%, meaning it’s actually underperforming more similar companies.