Free cash flow remains structurally negative, evidenced by a peak quarterly outflow of $65.8M in 2024Q1 and a sharp liquidity contraction that saw cash reserves drop by approximately 50% between 2025Q4 and 2026Q1.
| Cash from Operations | -153.26M | -131.29M | -108.56M | -43.88M | 277.36M | 244.58M | 22.69M | 2.69M | 3.56M |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | -174.76% | -376.5% | -115.39% | 57.14% | 65.19% | 9.73% | 23.2% | 40.37% |
| Operating CF Growth % | -615.8% | -20.95% | -147.41% | -115.82% | 13.4% | 977.94% | 742.24% | -24.43% | - |
| Net Income | -143.96M | -146.41M | -162.86M | -146.4M | 158.52M | 153.46M | 118.92M | -2.21M | 309K |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 31.94M | 22.17M | 97M | 30.89M | 33.1M | 17.25M | 5.27M | 1.85M | 918K |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 41.01M | 55.79M | 67.58M | 64.18M | 49.48M | 30.65M | 8.4M | 890K | 615K |
| Deferred Taxes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.96M | -2.11M | -2.02M | 2.1M | 0 | 0 |
| Other Non-Cash Items | 12.08M | 7.85M | -84.44M | -7.74M | 8.55M | 3.57M | 4.71M | 194K | -188K |
| Working Capital Changes | -94.33M | -70.69M | -25.84M | 13.22M | 29.82M | 41.67M | -116.7M | 1.97M | 1.91M |
| Change in Receivables | -41.26M | -55.62M | -75.12M | -45.93M | -22.71M | 22.48M | -203.02M | -1.8M | -477K |
| Change in Inventory | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.25M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -897.77K |
| Change in Payables | -2.5M | 3.46M | 10.63M | -15.1M | 1.07M | 1.4M | 6.6M | 150K | 180K |
| Cash from Investing | 54.73M | 87.75M | 121.41M | -221.11M | -352.63M | -332.25M | -119.78M | -5.78M | -5.31M |
| Capital Expenditures | -35.97M | -42.77M | -78.4M | -77.51M | -72.66M | -58.45M | -9.67M | -4M | -5.31M |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 45.41% | 56.93% | 271.9% | 203.83% | 14.97% | 15.58% | 4.15% | 34.42% | 60.1% |
| Acquisitions | -7.55M | 0 | -19.63M | -13.69M | -25.68M | -11.46M | -106.89M | 0 | 0 |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | 101.35M | 566.57M | 35.71M | 25.31M | 16.43M | 32.62M | -3.22M | -1.78M | 0 |
| Cash from Financing | 15.3M | 14.08M | 12.77M | 10.36M | -1.63M | -3.89M | 683.65M | 195K | 12.19M |
| Debt Issued (Net) | 5.5M | 0 | 13.5M | 11.59M | 2.75M | -951K | 85.15M | 181K | 1.98M |
| Equity Issued (Net) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.62M | 597.5M | 14.16K | 10.17M |
| Dividends Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Share Repurchases | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Financing | 9.8M | 14.08M | -729K | -1.23M | -4.38M | -7.55M | 1M | 25K | 37K |
| Net Change in Cash | -84.26M | -28.37M | 23M | -254.04M | -86.49M | -92.97M | 586.56M | -2.89M | 10.44M |
| Free Cash Flow | -189.23M | -174.07M | -186.95M | -121.38M | 204.7M | 186.13M | 8.02M | -1.3M | -1.74M |
| FCF Margin % | -238.91% | -231.69% | -648.4% | -319.22% | 42.17% | 49.61% | 3.44% | -11.22% | -19.73% |
| FCF Growth % | -32.65% | 6.89% | -54.02% | -159.3% | 9.98% | 2221.72% | 715.27% | 25.2% | - |
| FCF per Share | -0.62 | -0.58 | -0.64 | -0.42 | 0.65 | 0.58 | 0.03 | -0.01 | -0.01 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | 1.31x | 0.90x | 0.67x | 0.30x | 1.75x | 1.59x | 0.19x | -1.22x | 11.54x |
| Interest Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Taxes Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Persistent operational cash burn
As reported in financial statements, AbCellera's operating cash flow consistently trails net income, with the OCF/NI ratio fluctuating significantly, reaching a high of 3.88 in 2025Q4, which suggests that accounting accruals and non-cash adjustments are masking the underlying difficulty of converting discovery-based revenue into actual liquidity.
The recurring gap between net income and operating cash flow indicates that the company's reported earnings are heavily influenced by non-cash items rather than realized cash inflows. Investors should monitor this divergence, as it implies that the business model requires substantial cash outlays to support its discovery pipeline that are not captured by traditional profitability metrics.
Based on AbCellera's reported figures, free cash flow remains deeply negative across all observed periods, with a peak quarterly outflow of $65.8M in 2024Q1, highlighting a structural inability to fund operations through internal cash generation despite the company's ongoing investment in its proprietary discovery platform.
The consistent negative free cash flow trajectory suggests that the company is currently in a capital-intensive phase where cash burn is a prerequisite for maintaining its competitive position. This trend warrants further investigation into how long the current cash reserves can sustain such outflows before external financing becomes a necessity.
According to recent SEC filings, AbCellera's capital expenditure relative to revenue has been highly volatile, reaching an extreme of 157.2% in 2023Q4, which indicates that the company is aggressively reinvesting in infrastructure and lab capabilities that have yet to yield a commensurate increase in recurring cash inflows.
The high capital intensity suggests that the company is building out significant physical and computational infrastructure to support its long-term discovery goals. However, the lack of a clear correlation between these capital outlays and revenue growth suggests that the platform's scalability remains unproven in the current market environment.
As detailed in historical cash flow statements, working capital changes have frequently acted as a significant drag on cash, including a $46.0M outflow in 2025Q4, which suggests that the timing of milestone payments and operational expenses creates unpredictable liquidity pressure on the company's balance sheet.
The erratic nature of working capital movements appears to be a byproduct of the company's reliance on lumpy, milestone-driven revenue streams. This volatility complicates cash flow forecasting and may indicate that the company lacks the operational efficiency to smooth out its cash conversion cycle effectively.
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying ABCL stock.
AbCellera Biologics Inc. (ABCL) generated $-131.3M in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
AbCellera Biologics Inc. (ABCL) reported negative free cash flow of $174.1M in 2025, indicating capital requirements exceeded cash from operations.
AbCellera Biologics Inc. (ABCL) spent $42.8M on capital expenditures in 2025. CapEx represents the cash invested in physical assets like property, plant, and equipment to maintain or grow the business.