free cash flow
Spendable business surplus
Free cash flow is a financial metric showing how much cash a company generates after accounting for capital expenditures—money available for dividends, debt repayment, or reinvestment.
It reveals whether a business actually produces cash, not just accounting profits: The company reported strong earnings but negative free cash flow.
Often abbreviated FCF.
Spending on lasting assets
- debt repaymentSatisfying financial obligations
- share buybacksCompany reacquiring its equity
- dividendsProfits paid to shareholders
- acquisitionsThings newly gained
reinvestment · working capital · leveraged buyouts · corporate finance · shareholder returns · capital allocation
Earnings from core operations
- net incomeProfit after all deductions
- profit marginRevenue exceeding costs ratio
- earningsMoney gained from work
- EBITDAProfit before major deductions
Easily convertible wealth
- credit linesPreapproved borrowing limits
- financial healthState of monetary stability
- solvencyCapacity to pay debts
- runwayPaved path for planes
Discounted sum of cash flows
- financial modelingMathematical business performance representation
- market capitalizationAggregate equity value outstanding
- intrinsic valueWorth independent of circumstance
Planned financial commitment for future gain
- research and developmentSystematic innovation work
- infrastructure spendingFunding for essential systems
- private equityCapital for unlisted companies
- venture capitalStartup growth financing
capital expenditures
Spending on lasting assets
- debt repaymentSatisfying financial obligations
- share buybacksCompany reacquiring its equity
- dividendsProfits paid to shareholders
acquisitions · reinvestment · working capital · leveraged buyouts · corporate finance · shareholder returns · capital allocation
operating income
Earnings from core operations
- net incomeProfit after all deductions
- profit marginRevenue exceeding costs ratio
- earningsMoney gained from work
liquid assets
Easily convertible wealth
- credit linesPreapproved borrowing limits
- financial healthState of monetary stability
- solvencyCapacity to pay debts
net present value
Discounted sum of cash flows
- financial modelingMathematical business performance representation
- market capitalizationAggregate equity value outstanding
- intrinsic valueWorth independent of circumstance
strategic investment
Planned financial commitment for future gain
- research and developmentSystematic innovation work
- infrastructure spendingFunding for essential systems
- private equityCapital for unlisted companies
- financial metricsROI, ROE, EPS, P/E ratio, PE ratio
- investingstocks, stock, bonds, investing, investor
- cash flowinflows, outflows, opening balance, closing balance, burn rate
- investment analysistechnical analysis, valuation, financial modeling, investment research, stock valuation
- liquidityliquidity, liquid assets, working capital, current assets, acid test
- corporate financecost of capital, investment, capital markets, NPV, debt financing
free cash flowcash burn
Outflow exceeding income
capital expenditure · operating losses · debt service · funding gap
free cash flowgross revenue
Total earnings before expenses
net income · paper profits · EBITDA · book value · revenue
free cash flowoperating loss
Negative operational income
net loss · financial distress · insolvency · liquidity crisis · debt burden
free, cash, flow, freely, freedom, freed, freeing, freer, freest