Ranking the determinants of financial performance using machine learning methods: an application to BIST energy companies

Energy has been a key driver of change globally. As a developing country, Türkiye's increasing energy demand and consumption highlight the growing importance of efficient and sustainable energy management for its future. This study aims to determine the variables of the financial performance of 12 energy companies. Three different models are created with the return on assets, return on equity, and net profit margin as financial performance indicators of 12 firms. 12 financial ratios are used as input variables as determinants of financial performance. In the analysis, 37 quarterly data between 2014Q4-2023Q4 are used as the sample period. In machine learning, 17 different algorithms are considered in the selection of the appropriate model. The findings indicate that the Bagged Tree algorithm achieved successful outcomes for the ROA target variable, the Boosted Tree model demonstrated effective performance for the ROE model, and the Linear SVM algorithm yielded favorable results for the NPM model. According to the result obtained by the LIME method, Liquidity Ratio and Cash Ratio affect the ROA, ROE, and NPM models positively, while inventory turnover affects the models negatively.