<![CDATA[This study examines whether leverage moderates the relationship between financial performance and profit growth among food and beverage firms listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange during 2021–2025. Using purposive sampling, 34 firms were retained from an initial population of 64, producing 170 firm-year observations. The study applies panel-data regression and moderated regression analysis in EViews 13. Model-selection tests support the common effect specification. The results show that NPM is positively associated with profit growth, ROA is negatively associated with profit growth, and ROE is statistically insignificant. In the interaction specification reported in the underlying analysis, NPM×DER and ROE×DER are positive and significant, whereas ROA×DER is negative and significant. These findings indicate that financing structure is relevant when interpreting profitability signals, although the baseline model explains only a modest share of profit-growth variation. The novelty of this study lies in examining DER not merely as a direct financial determinant, but as a moderating factor that alters the relationship between NPM, ROA, and ROE and profit growth in Indonesian food and beverage firms using recent 2021–2025 panel data. The findings should be interpreted cautiously because extreme observations may affect coefficient stability, while the interaction-only moderation specification limits inference about DER’s moderating role. Future research should use robust outlier treatment and fully specified moderation models including both main and interaction effects.]]>
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