Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT) Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) - Discounting Cash Flows
AMAT
Applied Materials, Inc.
AMAT (NASDAQ)

Return on Invested Capital

%

* Values are not guaranteed, please do your own
research before making investment decisions.

Return on Invested Capital (ROIC)

The return on capital or invested capital in a business attempts to measure the return earned on capital invested in an investment.

Read more on Aswath Damodaran - Return Measures PDF

ROIC Formula

Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) = Net Operating Profit After Tax (NOPAT) / Invested Capital

The Net Operating Profit After Tax (NOPAT) is calculated using the reported Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT) or Operating Income on the income statement adjusted for the tax liability.

Net Operating Profit After Tax (NOPAT) = Operating Income * (1 - Income Tax Rate)

There are two ways to calculate invested capital: One looks at the company's assets, and another looks at its financing from debt and equity. In this model, we are using the financing based approach.

Invested Capital = Total Stockholders Equity + Total Debt - Cash and Short Term Investments

We then adjust Invested Capital and Net Operating Profit After Tax (NOPAT) for capitalized R&D expenses.

Monetary values in USD

amounts except #

LTM
Mar 09
2025
Oct 26
2024
Oct 27
2023
Oct 29
2022
Oct 30
2021
Oct 31
Income Tax Rate 17.31% 24.52% 11.96% 11.15% 14.13% 13.04%
Operating Income 8,210 8,289 7,867 7,654 7,788 6,889
Net Operating Profit After Tax (NOPAT) 6,789 6,257 6,926 6,801 6,687 5,991
Total Stockholders Equity 21,717 20,415 19,001 16,349 12,194 12,247
+ Total Debt 7,190 7,050 6,605 5,999 5,829 5,753
- Cash and Short Term Investments 8,511 8,573 9,471 6,869 2,581 5,459
= Invested Capital 20,396 18,892 16,135 15,479 15,442 12,541
Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) 33.29% 33.12% 42.93% 43.94% 43.31% 47.77%
R&D Amortization Years

R&D Amortization Years

Represents the assumed useful life (in years) over which R&D spending is capitalized and amortized to form a “research asset.”

A longer period increases the capitalized R&D asset (raising invested capital) and typically lowers adjusted ROIC; a shorter period does the opposite.

Monetary values in USD

amounts except #

2025
Oct 26
2024
Oct 27
2023
Oct 29
2022
Oct 30
2021
Oct 31
2020
Oct 25
Research and Development Expenses 3,570 3,233 3,102 2,771 2,485 2,234
Unamortized R&D Ratio 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.0
Unamortized R&D Value 3,570 2,586 1,861 1,108 497 0
R&D Amortization Ratio 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2
R&D Amortization This Year 0 646.6 620.4 554.2 497 446.8

Capitalizing R&D Expenses

As per prof. Aswath Damodaran's paper:

"Research expenses, notwithstanding the uncertainty about future benefits, should be capitalized."

Capitalizing R&D expenses treats R&D as an intangible investment. We estimate a “research asset” as the sum of unamortized R&D based on the selected amortization period.

Value of the Research Asset = Sum of Unamortized R&D Value

We also record annual amortization of that asset.

Amortization of Research Asset = Sum of R&D Amortization This Year

We then adjust profitability and capital to reflect this treatment:

ROIC Adjusted for Capitalized R&D = Adjusted NOPAT / Adjusted Invested Capital

Adjusted ROIC Calculation

Net Operating Profit After Tax (NOPAT) 6.79 Bil. USD
+ Research and Development Expenses 3.64 Bil. USD
- Amortization of Research Asset 2.77 Bil. USD
= Adjusted NOPAT 7.66 Bil. USD
Total Stockholders Equity 21.72 Bil. USD
+ Value of the Research Asset 9.62 Bil. USD
= Adjusted Stockholders Equity 31.34 Bil. USD
+ Total Debt 7.19 Bil. USD
- Cash and Short Term Investments 8.51 Bil. USD
= Adjusted Invested Capital 30.02 Bil. USD
ROIC Adjusted for Capitalized R&D 25.53%
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