Free Cash Flow (FCF) Calculator

About this calculator

Free cash flow is operating cash flow − capital expenditures — the cash a business actually generates after paying for the equipment, property, and other investments needed just to keep its existing operations running, before any dividends, debt repayment, buybacks, or expansion spending.

Investors and analysts favor FCF over reported net income because it's much harder to manipulate with non-cash accounting choices like depreciation schedules — it's the number that shows whether a company is genuinely generating cash it can return to shareholders or reinvest for growth, versus one that only looks profitable on paper.