Free cash flow remains deeply negative, with an $18.1 million outflow in 2026Q1 highlighting the ongoing difficulty of funding satellite infrastructure while managing erratic working capital movements.
| Cash from Operations | -57.91M | -28.31M | -6.38M | -17.42M | -44.46M | -53.87M | -31.67M | -286.57K |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | -26.56% | -6.25% | -18.44% | -68.03% | -158.05% | -149.87% | -2.09% |
| Operating CF Growth % | -4813.61% | -343.47% | 63.35% | 60.81% | 17.48% | -70.08% | -10952.64% | - |
| Net Income | -87.11M | -70.26M | -57.22M | -53.86M | -75.05M | -243.99M | -47.72M | -7.21M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 32.81M | 30.95M | 44.12M | 44.31M | 37.3M | 14.31M | 9.8M | 6.9M |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 11.34M | 14.23M | 11.17M | 10.86M | 20.02M | 42.57M | 1.98M | 3.35M |
| Deferred Taxes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -13.75M | 0 | 0 | -1.36K |
| Other Non-Cash Items | 5.05M | -6.9M | 10.72M | 568K | 1.25M | 139M | -14.01M | -3.39M |
| Working Capital Changes | -19.99M | 3.67M | -15.18M | -19.31M | -14.24M | -5.76M | 18.27M | 72.41K |
| Change in Receivables | -2.49M | -20.82M | -12.76M | -20.44M | -461K | 2.33M | -2.37M | -722K |
| Change in Inventory | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3.42M | 0 | 0 | 541.76K |
| Change in Payables | -2.43M | -9.38M | -4.08M | 3.32M | -74K | 2.54M | 2.48M | 180.24K |
| Cash from Investing | -71.78M | -86.59M | -68.33M | -15.21M | -81.58M | -63.61M | -9.77M | -316.25M |
| Capital Expenditures | -27.5M | -16.21M | -15.68M | -43.72M | -11.68M | -1.27M | -18.38M | -481K |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 28.12% | 15.21% | 15.36% | 46.26% | 17.87% | 3.71% | 86.95% | 3.51% |
| Acquisitions | 0 | 0 | 541K | 9.45M | 804K | 302K | 0 | 0 |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | -25.93M | -30.35M | -34.56M | -9.43M | -33.36M | -62.65M | 8.61M | 481K |
| Cash from Financing | 149.21M | 144.08M | 55.66M | 29.05M | -5.05M | 275.02M | 3.44M | 317.58M |
| Debt Issued (Net) | -6.63M | 93.19M | 10M | 31.36M | 0 | 36.37M | 3.56M | 93.33M |
| Equity Issued (Net) | 14.77M | 53.59M | 308K | -1.41M | 47K | 244.88M | 30K | 317.68M |
| Dividends Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Share Repurchases | 492K | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Financing | 141.07M | -2.71M | 45.35M | -895K | -5.1M | -6.24M | -147K | -93.43M |
| Net Change in Cash | 19.51M | 29.17M | -19.06M | -3.58M | -131.09M | 157.53M | 9.49M | 1.04M |
| Free Cash Flow | -85.41M | -44.52M | -22.06M | -61.14M | -56.13M | -55.15M | -50.05M | -767.57K |
| FCF Margin % | -87.33% | -41.78% | -21.61% | -64.7% | -85.9% | -161.79% | -236.82% | -5.6% |
| FCF Growth % | -956.4% | -101.81% | 63.91% | -8.91% | -1.79% | -10.18% | -6420.67% | - |
| FCF per Share | -2.36 | -1.33 | -1.03 | -3.61 | -3.81 | -6.09 | -10.88 | -0.20 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | 0.98x | 0.40x | 0.11x | 0.32x | 0.60x | 0.22x | 1.62x | 0.00x |
| Interest Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 989K | 0 | 378K | 0 | 0 |
| Taxes Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 460K | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Capital exhaustion and liquidity
As reported in financial statements, BlackSky's operating cash flow frequently diverges from net income, with the OCF/NI ratio exhibiting extreme volatility, including a 10.74x reading in 2025Q4, which suggests that accruals and non-cash adjustments are currently masking the underlying cash-generative capacity of the core imagery business.
The significant gap between net income and operating cash flow indicates that reported earnings are not currently a reliable proxy for cash generation. Investors should monitor whether this disconnect stems from aggressive revenue recognition on long-term contracts or timing differences in working capital that may not normalize in the near term.
Based on recent SEC filings, BlackSky's free cash flow trajectory remains deeply negative, with the company recording an $18.1 million outflow in 2026Q1 alone, highlighting the ongoing challenge of funding constellation maintenance while simultaneously attempting to scale revenue-generating operations in a capital-intensive aerospace environment.
The consistent failure to achieve positive free cash flow suggests that the current business model requires substantial external capital to sustain operations. This trend warrants further investigation into whether the company can reach a self-funding inflection point before its current liquidity position is exhausted.
According to historical data, BlackSky's capital expenditure as a percentage of revenue reached a staggering 75.8% in 2026Q1, underscoring the heavy reliance on continuous investment in satellite hardware to maintain the constellation's competitive revisit cadence and technical relevance in the defense intelligence market.
The elevated capex intensity suggests that the company is in a perpetual state of asset replacement and expansion, which limits the ability to generate free cash flow. This high capital burden appears to be a structural feature of the business rather than a temporary phase, necessitating careful scrutiny of future launch schedules.
As indicated by quarterly cash flow data, BlackSky's working capital movements are highly erratic, swinging from a $29.6 million inflow in 2025Q1 to a $23.1 million outflow in 2025Q4, which suggests that the timing of government contract payments creates significant, unpredictable fluctuations in the company's available cash.
The reliance on large, lumpy government payments makes the company's liquidity position sensitive to administrative delays or milestone completion timelines. This volatility may indicate that the company lacks the working capital efficiency required to smooth out cash flows during periods of lower project activity.
Based on reported figures, stock-based compensation has become a recurring non-cash expense, reaching $4.2 million in 2025Q4, which effectively obscures the true cost of human capital required to maintain the company's proprietary software and satellite tasking algorithms in a competitive aerospace engineering labor market.
While stock-based compensation does not impact immediate cash outflows, it represents a significant dilution risk for shareholders that is not fully captured in traditional cash flow metrics. Analysts should consider this as a form of deferred cash cost that will likely continue to weigh on the company's long-term equity value.
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying BKSY stock.
BlackSky Technology Inc. (BKSY) generated $-28.3M in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
BlackSky Technology Inc. (BKSY) reported negative free cash flow of $44.5M in 2025, indicating capital requirements exceeded cash from operations.
BlackSky Technology Inc. (BKSY) spent $16.2M on capital expenditures in 2025. CapEx represents the cash invested in physical assets like property, plant, and equipment to maintain or grow the business.