Free Cash Flow (FCF)
Also called: FCF, free cash flow yield
The cash a business generates after capital spending — the money truly available to pay down debt, buy back stock or reinvest.
Free cash flow is operating cash flow minus capital expenditures: the cash left over after a company funds its operations and maintains its asset base. Unlike accounting earnings, it's hard to fake — a company can report profits while burning cash. FCF yield (FCF ÷ market cap) expresses it as a return, comparable to an earnings yield.
Consistent, growing free cash flow signals a healthy, self-funding business with the flexibility to reward shareholders. Negative FCF isn't always bad (a young company investing for growth), but it means the business depends on outside capital.
On StockSetups
FCF yield is a screener field on StockSetups, letting you screen for genuinely cash-generative companies rather than ones that only look profitable on paper.
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