Cash Flow

What is free cash flow?

Cash left after paying to maintain and expand the business. The money available for dividends, buybacks, debt repayment or acquisitions.

How it is calculated

Operating cash flow minus capital expenditure.

How to read it

Many investors treat this as the truest measure of earnings. Compare it with net income: cash that keeps up with profit is a good sign.

Keep in mind

Not meaningful for banks and insurers, whose cash flows are dominated by customer balances rather than capital spending. A company’s own published free cash flow may differ, since some subtract extra items such as finance lease payments.

Where the numbers come from

Scrutar computes free cash flow from the figures each company reports to the SEC in its annual and quarterly filings, using the XBRL data attached to those filings.

More Cash Flow metrics

Operating Cash FlowCash actually generated by day-to-day operations, before investment in the business.How to read it →Investing Cash FlowCash spent on or received from investments: capital expenditure, acquisitions, and buying or selling securities.How to read it →Financing Cash FlowCash exchanged with lenders and shareholders: debt raised or repaid, shares issued or bought back, dividends paid.How to read it →Capital ExpendituresCash spent on property, plant, equipment and other long-lived assets.How to read it →

See it for a real company

Ten years of free cash flow and every other metric on this page, for every company Scrutar covers, computed from SEC filings.

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