Inventory going up while revenue goes down
39 companies have increased inventory in each of the last three years while revenue fell across the same period.
Goods accumulating faster than they sell is the classic signal of demand that management has not yet accepted. It matters because inventory is carried at cost until someone admits it is worth less, so the write-down arrives later, all at once, and by surprise.
The honest caveats are substantial. Inflation raises the carrying value of the same physical quantity of goods. A company restocking after a shortage is deliberately rebuilding. And for commodity processors, both inventory value and revenue track the same price, so this screen catches the price cycle rather than a business turning.
What makes the signal credible is duration. One year is noise; three consecutive years of divergence in the same direction is a pattern that usually resolves into either a write-down or a recovery in demand.
What this is usually called
The textbook name for this is an inventory build or inventory overhang, and the ratio usually quoted alongside it is inventory turnover -- cost of revenue divided by average inventory -- or its inverse, days inventory outstanding. A build that ends in a write-down is reported as an inventory impairment or a lower-of-cost-or-market adjustment, and it lands in cost of revenue when it comes.
The question, as a query
This is the whole of the question. Nothing is filtered by hand afterwards, and the same text typed into the screener reproduces the table below exactly.
INCREASED(inventory,3,3) AND DECLINED(revenue,3)| Company | Revenue | Net income | Gross margin | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVXCHEVRON CORP | $189.03B | $12.30B | 42.8% | Unavailable |
| MPCMarathon Petroleum Corp | $132.70B | $4.05B | 10.0% | $4.77B |
| PSXPhillips 66 | $132.38B | $4.40B | 12.3% | Unavailable |
| ETEnergy Transfer LP | $85.54B | $4.43B | 25.8% | Unavailable |
| COPCONOCOPHILLIPS | $58.94B | $7.99B | 62.1% | Unavailable |
| SUNSunoco LP | $25.20B | $527.00M | 11.1% | Unavailable |
| MUSAMurphy USA Inc. | $19.38B | $470.60M | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| TXNTEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC | $17.68B | $5.00B | 57.0% | $2.60B |
| DVNDEVON ENERGY CORP/DE | $17.19B | $2.64B | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| SRESEMPRA | $13.70B | $1.84B | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| NXPINXP Semiconductors N.V. | $12.27B | $2.02B | 54.7% | $2.42B |
| APDAir Products & Chemicals, Inc. | $12.04B | -$394.50M | 31.4% | Unavailable |
| JBLUJETBLUE AIRWAYS CORP | $9.06B | -$602.00M | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| MLMMARTIN MARIETTA MATERIALS INC | $6.15B | $1.14B | 30.7% | $978.00M |
| KEYSKeysight Technologies, Inc. | $5.38B | $850.00M | 62.1% | $1.28B |
| KALUKAISER ALUMINUM CORP | $3.37B | $112.50M | 13.1% | Unavailable |
| VSHVISHAY INTERTECHNOLOGY INC | $3.07B | -$8.98M | 19.4% | Unavailable |
| WMSADVANCED DRAINAGE SYSTEMS, INC. | $3.05B | $426.46M | 38.3% | $569.29M |
| TROXTronox Holdings plc | $2.90B | -$470.00M | 9.3% | Unavailable |
| TXNMTXNM ENERGY INC | $2.17B | Unavailable | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| KOPKoppers Holdings Inc. | $1.88B | $56.00M | 23.8% | $67.50M |
| HCCWARRIOR MET COAL, INC. | $1.31B | $57.00M | 25.0% | Unavailable |
| KOSKosmos Energy Ltd. | $1.29B | -$699.79M | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| EMBCEmbecta Corp. | $1.08B | $95.40M | 62.6% | $182.40M |
| DKLDelek Logistics Partners, LP | $1.01B | $176.46M | 21.2% | -$30.64M |
| GTEGRAN TIERRA ENERGY INC. | $596.71M | -$193.12M | 55.5% | Unavailable |
| JILLJ.Jill, Inc. | $596.55M | $27.89M | 68.7% | $25.21M |
| POWIPOWER INTEGRATIONS INC | $443.50M | $22.09M | 54.5% | $87.12M |
| CHPTChargePoint Holdings, Inc. | $411.22M | -$220.20M | 30.5% | -$67.00M |
| MPMP Materials Corp. / DE | $224.44M | -$85.87M | Unavailable | -$328.13M |
| VNDAVanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. | $216.10M | -$220.47M | Unavailable | -$110.44M |
| CWGLCrimson Wine Group, Ltd | $65.08M | $613.00K | 47.2% | -$2.50M |
| MRAMEVERSPIN TECHNOLOGIES INC. | $55.20M | -$586.00K | 51.2% | $3.12M |
| GNSSGenasys Inc. | $40.76M | -$18.11M | 41.6% | -$9.02M |
| UECURANIUM ENERGY CORP | $37.25M | -$137.31M | 45.4% | -$107.34M |
| BIAFbioAffinity Technologies, Inc. | $6.16M | -$14.91M | Unavailable | -$9.39M |
| ADMQADM ENDEAVORS, INC. | $5.62M | $486.26K | 33.6% | -$3.18M |
| PESIPERMA FIX ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES INC | $642.00K | -$13.78M | 930.4% | -$15.46M |
| QSJCTANCHENG GROUP CO., LTD. | $217.02K | -$371.19K | 25.2% | Unavailable |
What this does not show
Inventory accounting differs between FIFO and LIFO filers, which changes how quickly cost inflation appears in the balance-sheet figure.
The measures behind this
Inventory Revenue Cost of revenue
Related findings
Citing this
SequelSEC, “Inventory going up while revenue goes down”, 8 October 2026. https://sequelsec.com/findings/inventory-rising-as-revenue-falls
Figures are recomputed on every view from SEC filings, so a number quoted from this page should carry the date it was read.