<![CDATA[The post-pandemic deterioration in profitability observed within food and beverage enterprises underscores the urgency to assess key drivers of financial performance, notably revenue expansion and funding strategies. The primary objective of this research is to examine the impact exerted by sales growth and capital structure, measured through the debt to equity ratio, on profitability as proxied by return on assets. Adopting a quantitative methodology, this study gathers secondary data derived from the official financial statements of 21 food and beverage corporations officially registered on the Indonesia Stock Exchange covering the 2020 to 2023 timeframe, resulting in a total of 84 observational units chosen via purposive sampling. Analytical procedures involve multiple linear regression processed through the SPSS application. Partial testing outcomes reveal that sales growth fails to exert a substantial impact on profitability, primarily because swelling operational expenses diminish profit margins. On the other hand, capital structure demonstrates a substantial negative consequence on financial returns, signifying that elevated external liabilities drive up interest burdens and reduce net income. Furthermore, both independent variables collectively show a significant simultaneous influence on profitability, accounting for an adjusted R square of 40.5%. These empirical insights suggest that corporate management should concentrate on enhancing operational cost containment and refining capital composition to secure ongoing financial stability.]]>
