In trying to determine how profitable a company is per asset dollar, we can take a look at the firm's Return on Assets. Return on assets is calculated by dividing a company's net income (usually annual income) by its total assets, and is displayed as a percentage. At the time of writing, CenturyLink, Inc. has 0.029543 ROA. The measure is commonly used to compare the performance of businesses within the same industry, since it is very difficult for someone to obfuscate the cash flow figure. Thus, the ratio is quite a reliable and comparable measure of asset performance across an industry.
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