Free cash flow remains highly inconsistent, swinging from a negative 37.7% margin in 2023Q2 to a 65.5% margin in 2023Q4, complicating the sustainability of current dividend and buyback programs.
| Metric | TTM | Dec'24 | Dec'23 | Dec'22 | Dec'21 | Dec'20 | Dec'19 | Dec'18 | Dec'17 | Dec'16 | Dec'15 | Dec'14 | Dec'13 | Dec'12 | Dec'11 | Dec'10 | Dec'09 | Dec'08 | Dec'07 | Dec'06 | Dec'05 | Dec'04 | Dec'03 | Dec'02 |
|---|
| Cash from Operations | 42.52B | 15.05B | 13.27B | 13.3B | 14.8B | 10.89B | 13.4B | 14.66B | 15.43B | 10.11B | 14.12B | 14.14B | 13.86B | 13.27B | 12.49B | 9.9B | 9.12B | 6.16B | 5.93B | 4.34B | 2.71B | 1.88B | 1.45B | 1.1B |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | 25.19% | 22.34% | 23.01% | 27.25% | 23.23% | 25.6% | 27.64% | 28.13% | 22.21% | 32.38% | 30.05% | 32.1% | 33.37% | 31.98% | 27.29% | 24.82% | 26.2% | 30.02% | 24.7% | 19.61% | 16.15% | 16.34% | 14.95% |
| Operating CF Growth % | 2742.18% | 13.49% | -0.25% | -10.14% | 35.88% | -18.7% | -8.64% | -4.97% | 52.62% | -28.4% | -0.16% | 2.02% | 4.49% | 6.26% | 26.06% | 8.56% | 48.16% | 3.93% | 36.59% | 60.23% | 44.31% | 29.43% | 32.19% | - |
| Net Income | 12.57B | 5.86B | 6.89B | 7.6B | 6.11B | 1.41B | 9.99B | 5.69B | 9.18B | 2.77B | 9.87B | 11.3B | 16.52B | 9.43B | 7.96B | 5.76B | 5.88B | 3.13B | 4.44B | 2.81B | 1.66B | 974.68M | 636M | 490.05M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 5.42B | 5.54B | 5.41B | 5.08B | 4.77B | 4.83B | 4.66B | 4.26B | 4.28B | 3.48B | 3.15B | 3.35B | 2.98B | 2.75B | 2.78B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.5B | 1.34B | 1.05B | 908.25M | 681.33M | 561.4M |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 2.1B | 0 | 570M | 448M | 510M | 169M | 340M | 337M | 351M | 231M | 221M | 249M | 240M | 201M | 203M | 156M | 208M | 63M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Deferred Taxes | -307.05M | -311M | 2.23B | 1.93B | 2.35B | 1.93B | 2.79B | 2.84B | 1.92B | 1.61B | 2.59B | 2.5B | 2.02B | 1.72B | -3.84B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Non-Cash Items | 18.99B | 4.15B | -992M | -1.41B | -1.69B | 6.04B | -4.37B | 1.02B | -519M | 1.85B | -3.5B | -4.07B | -8.76B | -1.93B | 4.68B | 4.28B | 2.25B | 2.17B | 115.18M | 374.82M | 67.51M | -23.05M | 284.62M | 204.62M |
| Working Capital Changes | 1.35B | -182M | -849M | -346M | 2.46B | 592M | -5M | 512M | 219M | 173M | 1.79B | 815M | 866M | 1.1B | 699M | -293M | 787M | 802M | -135.59M | -178.17M | -72.25M | 16.27M | -152.39M | -159.5M |
| Change in Receivables | -439.55M | 341M | -1.15B | -48M | 164M | 516M | -258M | -105M | 67M | -714M | -138M | -371M | -25M | -102M | 174M | -190M | 149M | 201M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Change in Inventory | 1.5B | -149M | 717M | -1.55B | -1.23B | -427M | -426M | -603M | -213M | -364M | -424M | -354M | -129M | -130M | -157M | -134M | 301M | -388M | -100.6M | 1.32M | 21.32M | -85.4M | -31.48M | -31.48M |
| Change in Payables | 1.4B | 0 | 0 | 48M | -164M | -516M | 258M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.39B | 550M | 337M | 989M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cash from Investing | -9.95B | -3.26B | -4.35B | -4.62B | -5.88B | 6.34B | -5.07B | -3.96B | 7.85B | -60.08B | -4.93B | -11.15B | -10.28B | -11.34B | -2.73B | -2.55B | 5.27B | -55.5B | -3.44B | -4.59B | -3.06B | -681.87M | -1.18B | -1.01B |
| Capital Expenditures | -10.37B | -3.86B | -4.64B | -5.16B | -5.64B | -4.07B | -5.17B | -5.09B | -4.74B | -4.98B | -4.75B | -4.39B | -3.87B | -3.26B | -3.38B | -2.34B | -1.71B | -2.65B | -2.31B | -1.82B | -1.4B | -1.17B | -857.65M | -636.96M |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 8.65% | 6.46% | 7.81% | 8.93% | 10.39% | 8.69% | 9.89% | 9.59% | 8.64% | 10.94% | 10.89% | 9.34% | 8.96% | 8.21% | 8.65% | 6.46% | 4.66% | 11.28% | 11.68% | 10.37% | 10.13% | 10.04% | 9.67% | 8.68% |
| Acquisitions | -398.1M | -46M | 9M | -70M | -444M | 10.33B | -252M | -185M | 11.14B | -49.62B | -918M | -6.86B | -17.5B | -1.52B | -25M | -37M | 6.4B | -53.04B | 338.26M | -2.02B | -74.62M | -1.21B | -482.35M | -476.41M |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | 817.47M | 650M | 275M | 610M | 206M | -211M | 353M | 1.31B | 1.45B | -5.48B | 737M | 100M | 11.08B | -6.55B | 117M | 318M | -1.13B | 193M | 148.72M | 220.41M | 156.34M | 143.69M | 109.57M | 122.77M |
| Cash from Financing | -27.89B | -9.85B | -8.6B | -10.62B | -11.6B | -8.47B | -8.51B | -13.95B | -21B | 50.73B | -9.28B | -3.85B | 341M | 162M | -9B | -6.76B | -13.1B | 49.88B | -1.41B | 274.52M | -76.99M | -489.37M | 91.94M | -346.29M |
| Debt Issued (Net) | -9.87B | -4.62B | -3.68B | -7.78B | -9.04B | -8.76B | -8.45B | -5.13B | -10.35B | 62.67B | 457M | 3.22B | 4.46B | 3.65B | -4.56B | -4.29B | -11.8B | 44.47B | 491M | 1.16B | 613.52M | -109.8M | 294.7M | -200.43M |
| Equity Issued (Net) | -4M | -1000K | -1000K | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1000K | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | -1000K | 1000K | -1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K |
| Dividends Paid | -8.02B | -2.67B | -3.01B | -2.44B | -2.36B | -1.8B | -5.01B | -7.76B | -9.28B | -8.45B | -7.97B | -7.4B | -6.25B | -3.63B | -3.09B | -1.92B | -1.31B | -2.92B | -1.12B | -814.32M | -672.74M | -310.43M | -211.58M | -149.01M |
| Share Repurchases | -3.58B | -937M | -362M | 0 | 0 | -8.03B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -797M | -821M | -77.87M | -129.1M | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Financing | -6.42B | -1.63B | -1.54B | -394M | -192M | 2.08B | -866M | -1.46B | -1.38B | -3.49B | -772M | 147M | 2.06B | 43M | -1.5B | -758M | -62M | -632M | 9.2M | -98.99M | -95.94M | -8.13M | 0 | 0 |
| Net Change in Cash | 319M | 860M | 424M | -2.15B | -3.2B | 8.08B | 209M | -3.4B | 1.96B | 1.49B | -1.41B | -1.52B | 2.78B | 1.74B | 815M | 836M | 1.49B | 340M | 1.03B | -21.12M | -383.75M | 699.49M | 336.26M | -268.63M |
| Free Cash Flow | 32.18B | 11.19B | 8.63B | 8.14B | 9.16B | 7.11B | 8.22B | 9.58B | 10.69B | 5.13B | 9.37B | 9.75B | 9.99B | 10B | 9.11B | 7.56B | 7.41B | 3.51B | 3.62B | 2.52B | 1.31B | 710.34M | 591.92M | 459.62M |
| FCF Margin % | 26.86% | 18.73% | 14.53% | 14.08% | 16.87% | 15.17% | 15.71% | 18.06% | 19.48% | 11.27% | 21.49% | 20.71% | 23.14% | 25.16% | 23.33% | 20.83% | 20.16% | 14.91% | 18.34% | 14.33% | 9.48% | 6.12% | 6.67% | 6.26% |
| FCF Growth % | 701.56% | 29.73% | 6.01% | -11.15% | 28.82% | -13.52% | -14.15% | -10.4% | 108.32% | -45.25% | -3.87% | -2.46% | -0.09% | 9.81% | 20.49% | 2.02% | 111.38% | -3.16% | 43.84% | 92.31% | 84.25% | 20.01% | 28.79% | - |
| FCF per Share | 16.14 | 5.48 | 4.20 | 3.97 | 4.48 | 3.56 | 4.06 | 4.76 | 5.32 | 2.92 | 5.71 | 5.86 | 6.06 | 6.14 | 5.64 | 4.69 | 4.68 | 3.51 | 3.69 | 2.57 | 1.36 | 0.92 | 0.85 | 0.66 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | 2.56x | 2.57x | 2.48x | 2.23x | 3.17x | 7.75x | 1.46x | 3.36x | 1.93x | 8.15x | 1.71x | 1.53x | 0.96x | 1.85x | 2.16x | 2.46x | 1.98x | 3.20x | 1.97x | 1.55x | 1.63x | 1.54x | 2.28x | 2.24x |
| Interest Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Taxes Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Volatile working capital cycles
As reported in recent financial statements, BUD's operating cash flow to net income ratio has exhibited extreme volatility, ranging from a negative 5.81 in 2023Q2 to a high of 7.36 in 2023Q4, suggesting that reported net income is a poor proxy for the company's actual cash-generating capacity.
The wide variance between accounting profits and cash inflows indicates that non-cash adjustments and working capital swings are significantly distorting the quality of earnings. Investors should monitor whether this disconnect stems from structural shifts in revenue recognition or aggressive accrual management that may not be sustainable in future periods.
Based on the provided quarterly data, free cash flow margins have fluctuated wildly from a negative 37.7% in 2023Q2 to a peak of 65.5% in 2023Q4, highlighting a highly inconsistent trajectory that complicates long-term valuation and dividend sustainability assessments for the company's shareholders.
This erratic FCF performance suggests that the company's ability to convert revenue into cash is highly sensitive to seasonal working capital requirements and irregular capital expenditure cycles. The lack of a stable FCF trend warrants further investigation into whether the business model is becoming increasingly capital-intensive or if operational efficiency is deteriorating.
According to the cash flow statements, working capital changes have swung from a negative $6.6 billion in 2023Q2 to a positive $5.7 billion in 2023Q4, indicating that the company's cash position is heavily dependent on the timing of inventory management and payables settlement cycles.
These massive swings suggest that the company may be utilizing aggressive working capital management to smooth out cash flow gaps between quarters. Such volatility may indicate underlying stress in the supply chain or a reliance on short-term financing tactics that could mask deeper operational inefficiencies.
As evidenced by the 2025Q2 data, the company continues to prioritize significant cash outflows for dividends and share repurchases totaling $5.1 billion, despite generating only $1.3 billion in free cash flow, which appears to be an unsustainable approach to capital return in the current environment.
The decision to return capital to shareholders at levels exceeding free cash flow generation suggests a potential reliance on debt or cash reserves to fund these distributions. This strategy warrants caution, as it may limit the company's flexibility to address brand erosion or invest in the BEES platform during periods of market volatility.
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying BUD stock.
Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (BUD) generated $15.05B in net cash from operating activities in 2024. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (BUD) generated $11.19B in free cash flow in 2024. Free cash flow is the cash left over after capital expenditures, which can be used to pay dividends, repurchase shares, or pay down debt.
Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (BUD) spent $3.86B on capital expenditures in 2024. CapEx represents the cash invested in physical assets like property, plant, and equipment to maintain or grow the business.
In 2024, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (BUD) returned $2.67B to shareholders via cash dividends and spent $937.0M on share repurchases. This shows the company's commitment to returning capital to its equity investors.