Operating cash flow was -$9.6M in 2026Q3 with free cash flow margin at -22.5%, and no dividends or buybacks were paid, while acquisition outflows of $229.0M in 2025Q4 represent the largest capital deployment in the window.
BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. (BBAI) cash flow statement — 7-year operating, investing & financing cash flows
| Metric | TTM | Dec'25 | Dec'24 | Dec'23 | Dec'22 | Dec'21 | Dec'20 | Dec'19 |
|---|
| Cash from Operations | -71.59M | -41.95M | -38.12M | -18.31M | -48.92M | -19.78M | 1.2M | 4.12M |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | -32.86% | -24.09% | -11.8% | -31.56% | -13.59% | 1.31% | 5.6% |
| Operating CF Growth % | -691.35% | -10.05% | -108.22% | 62.58% | -147.29% | -1751.25% | -70.93% | - |
| Net Income | -180.2M | -293.91M | -295.55M | -70.66M | -111.37M | -123.55M | -2.55M | 6.25M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 24.75M | 15.28M | 11.87M | 7.9M | 7.76M | 7.26M | 1.1M | 50K |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 19.08M | 23.33M | 21.13M | 18.67M | 10.87M | 60.62M | 80K | 104K |
| Deferred Taxes | -21.66M | -21.66M | -328K | -235K | -1.92M | 1.04M | 0 | -2K |
| Other Non-Cash Items | 113.7M | 230.05M | 238.31M | 22.4M | 45.24M | 36.93M | -1.4M | 0 |
| Working Capital Changes | -27.27M | 4.96M | -13.55M | 3.61M | 505K | -2.08M | 3.97M | -2.28M |
| Change in Receivables | -13.19M | 17.91M | -7.83M | 2.89M | -1.08M | -5.23M | 2.39M | -2.62M |
| Change in Inventory | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Change in Payables | -805K | -5.7M | -4.03M | -4.38M | 9.94M | 2.74M | 0 | -349K |
| Cash from Investing | -303.62M | -606.68M | 2.82M | -3.83M | -5.23M | -863K | -184.99M | -18K |
| Capital Expenditures | -1.13M | -525K | -484K | -2K | -769K | -645K | -276K | -18K |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 0.8% | 0.41% | 0.31% | 0% | 0.5% | 0.44% | 0.3% | 0.02% |
| Acquisitions | -239.21M | -229.03M | 13.94M | 0 | -4.46M | -224K | -184.71M | 0 |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | 112.17M | -3.84M | -10.63M | -3.83M | 0 | 6K | 0 | 0 |
| Cash from Financing | -3.22M | 691.31M | 52.46M | 42.06M | -103.14M | 180.86M | 192.22M | -2.84M |
| Debt Issued (Net) | 0 | -818K | -412K | -830K | -2.17M | 94.23M | 107.25M | -2M |
| Equity Issued (Net) | 3.04M | 707.24M | 55.6M | 45.45M | -100.9M | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dividends Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -9.77M | -839K |
| Share Repurchases | 0 | -551K | 0 | -5.72M | -100.9M | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Financing | -6.26M | -15.11M | -2.73M | -2.56M | -67K | 86.63M | 94.74M | 0 |
| Net Change in Cash | -377.78M | 42.51M | 17.58M | 19.93M | -157.29M | 160.22M | 8.42M | 1.26M |
| Free Cash Flow | -72.72M | -46.32M | -49.23M | -22.14M | -49.69M | -20.43M | 922K | 4.1M |
| FCF Margin % | -51.19% | -36.28% | -31.11% | -14.27% | -32.05% | -14.03% | 1.01% | 5.57% |
| FCF Growth % | -71.31% | 5.92% | -122.4% | 55.45% | -143.24% | -2315.51% | -77.53% | - |
| FCF per Share | -0.15 | -0.13 | -0.21 | -0.15 | -0.39 | -0.19 | 0.01 | 0.04 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | 0.40x | 0.14x | 0.13x | 0.26x | 0.44x | 0.16x | -0.47x | 0.66x |
| Interest Paid | 0 | 8.94M | 12.55M | 12.19M | 12.41M | 6.24M | 384K | 127K |
| Taxes Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9K | 68K | 0 | 5K |
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying BBAI stock.
BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. (BBAI) generated $-42.0M in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. (BBAI) reported negative free cash flow of $46.3M in 2025, indicating capital requirements exceeded cash from operations.
BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. (BBAI) spent $0.5M on capital expenditures in 2025. CapEx represents the cash invested in physical assets like property, plant, and equipment to maintain or grow the business.
In 2025, BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. (BBAI) spent $0.6M on share repurchases. This shows the company's commitment to returning capital to its equity investors.
Key Metrics
Top Statement Risk
Persistent operating cash burn
Metrics are mathematically derived from official filings.
Net Income Diverges Sharply From Operating Cash
According to the reported quarterly figures, BBAI's operating cash flow has been negative in nine of ten quarters, while net income swings between large losses and small profits, pointing to a weak link between reported earnings and cash generation.
The gap between net income and operating cash flow is the central signal here: large quarterly net losses such as -$228.6M in 2025Q2 and -$146.5M in 2024Q4 were accompanied by modest operating cash outflows, indicating that most of the reported loss is non-cash or non-operating in nature. The OCF/NI ratios are erratic, ranging from negative values to above 3.7x, which suggests earnings are not a reliable proxy for cash economics and that accruals and fair-value adjustments are dominating the net figure. Investors should monitor whether the operating cash burn persists independently of these non-cash swings, as that would indicate a structural problem rather than an accounting artifact.
Free Cash Flow Remains Persistently Negative
As reported in the quarterly cash flow statements, BBAI's free cash flow margin has been negative in every quarter shown, reaching -80.9% in 2025Q4, with no quarter in the ten-quarter window generating positive FCF.
Capital expenditure is negligible, running below 1% of revenue, so free cash flow is effectively a proxy for operating cash flow and reflects the same burn. The trajectory shows no sustained improvement, with 2026Q3 at -22.5% margin following a deeper -61.3% in 2026Q2, which suggests the magnitude of the burn is volatile rather than trending clearly toward break-even. The absence of any positive FCF quarter implies the company remains dependent on its existing balance sheet resources to fund operations.
Minimal Capital Intensity Reflects Services Model
Based on the reported figures, BBAI's capital expenditure has remained below 1% of revenue across the window, with the largest quarterly outlay of $319K, consistent with a labor-driven services cost structure.
Such low capital intensity is characteristic of a business whose cost base is dominated by personnel rather than fixed assets, which aligns with the services-weighted gross margin noted in prior analysis. D&A of roughly $3M to $7M per quarter exceeds CapEx by a wide multiple, suggesting that amortization of previously acquired intangibles, rather than ongoing reinvestment in physical assets, accounts for much of the non-cash charge. Investors should recognize that the low CapEx does not necessarily indicate efficiency, since minimal reinvestment may also reflect constrained capacity to invest in the Analytics platform.
No Shareholder Returns Amid Acquisition Outflows
According to the reported filings, BBAI paid no dividends and executed no buybacks across the period, while acquisition outflows of $229.0M in 2025Q4 and $10.2M in 2026Q1 were the only notable capital deployments.
The absence of dividends and repurchases is consistent with a company in an operating loss position that is preserving liquidity rather than returning capital. The $229.0M acquisition outflow in 2025Q4 is large relative to the company's quarterly operating cash flow, and the reported figures do not disclose its return profile, so its contribution to future cash generation remains unverified. Investors should monitor whether the acquisition was financed from existing cash reserves or through equity, as either path would carry distinct dilution or liquidity implications.
Working Capital Swings Drive Quarterly Volatility
Based on EDBL's reported figures, working capital changes have swung between -$12.4M and +$8.0M per quarter, and these movements appear to account for a meaningful share of the operating cash volatility seen across the window.
Several quarters show working capital outflows, such as -$12.4M in 2024Q4 and -$9.6M in 2025Q4, that coincide with weak operating cash flow, suggesting receivable build-up or payment timing may be contributing to the burn. The reversal to inflows in 2025Q2 and 2025Q3 indicates that collections timing is lumpy, which is consistent with government contract billing cycles. Investors should monitor whether these swings reflect timing rather than a persistent deterioration in collection efficiency.
Cash Burn May Be Overstated by Non-Cash Items
As reported in the filings, BBAI's stock-based compensation of $3.4M to $7.4M per quarter is a non-cash add-back, so the reported operating burn may partly reflect accounting structure rather than the full economic cost of the business.
Adding back SBC and D&A narrows the gap between net income and operating cash flow, which suggests part of the headline loss is non-cash, yet the operating cash outflows still persist after these adjustments, which limits how much of the burn can be dismissed as accounting noise. The reported figures do not disclose the composition of acquisition-related charges or warrant revaluations, so their contribution cannot be verified and should not be assumed to reverse. Investors should consider that equity-based compensation, while non-cash, represents real dilution and a real cost to shareholders over time.