Cash flow conversion remains highly erratic, as demonstrated by an OCF/NI ratio of 13.26 in 2025Q4, reflecting significant decoupling between reported earnings and actual cash generation.
| Metric | TTM | Dec'25 | 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 | Dec'01 |
|---|
| Cash from Operations | 1.19B | 1.15B | 966M | 1.9B | 1.82B | 1.76B | 1.34B | 1.45B | 1.56B | 803M | 893M | 862M | 962M | 762M | 722M | 638M | 452M | 596M | 586M | 566M | 751M | 714M | -63M | 401M | 363M | 462M |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | 12.01% | 9.4% | 17.36% | 18.8% | 20.58% | 23.75% | 23.09% | 21.77% | 13.08% | 16.57% | 15.19% | 14.14% | 11.71% | 11.25% | 9.43% | 7.64% | 11.73% | 8.59% | 8.78% | 11.28% | 11.76% | -1.65% | 8.71% | 9.8% | 12.04% |
| Operating CF Growth % | 562.65% | 18.63% | -49.13% | 4.4% | 3.53% | 30.83% | -7.63% | -6.68% | 94.02% | -10.08% | 3.6% | -10.39% | 26.25% | 5.54% | 13.17% | 41.15% | -24.16% | 1.71% | 3.53% | -24.63% | 5.18% | 1233.33% | -115.71% | 10.47% | -21.43% | - |
| Net Income | -1.02B | -1.14B | -1.51B | 1.96B | 1.9B | 1.89B | 2B | 858M | 1.21B | 849M | 906M | 285M | 620M | 1.1B | 605M | 607M | 377M | 488M | 282M | 426M | 406M | 277M | -253M | 148M | 168M | -365M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 578M | 777M | 823M | 711M | 478M | 378M | 356M | 356M | 349M | 310M | 295M | 363M | 298M | 319M | 320M | 62M | 61M | 77M | 360M | 311M | 296M | 327M | 282M | 294M | 240M | 326M |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 14M | 0 | 32M | 40M | 60M | 95M | 28M | 48M | 71M | 47M | 31M | 40M | 46M | 24M | 20M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Deferred Taxes | -298M | -278M | 216M | -967M | -835M | 13M | 77M | -31M | 137M | -152M | 83M | 42M | 124M | 344M | -73M | 93M | 15M | -402M | -69M | 23M | 125M | -85M | 19M | 79M | 0 | 0 |
| Other Non-Cash Items | 1.54B | 1.56B | 1.61B | -365M | -66M | -131M | -1.4B | 72M | 36M | -424M | -304M | 143M | -135M | -11M | 44M | 44M | 14M | 93M | 3M | 256M | 60M | 235M | 7M | 75M | -45M | 501M |
| Working Capital Changes | 432M | 235M | -204M | 516M | 280M | -488M | 280M | 151M | -248M | 173M | -118M | -11M | 9M | -94M | -179M | -418M | -262M | 138M | -137M | -321M | -130M | -40M | -166M | -195M | 0 | 0 |
| Change in Receivables | 312M | 213M | 92M | 105M | 218M | -396M | 141M | 165M | -48M | -110M | -59M | 61M | 23M | -23M | 50M | -83M | -90M | 0 | 339M | -69M | 0 | 30M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Change in Inventory | 140M | 154M | 11M | 398M | -253M | -367M | 124M | 6M | -158M | -97M | 8M | 62M | -15M | -81M | 6M | -112M | -98M | 30M | 21M | -27M | 16M | 21M | -18M | -11M | 0 | 0 |
| Change in Payables | -67M | 26M | -234M | 20M | -84M | 353M | -6M | -59M | 15M | 126M | 7M | -111M | -13M | 108M | 5M | 22M | 19M | 0 | -265M | -11M | 0 | -657M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cash from Investing | 174M | -349M | -470M | -134M | -11.14B | -1.12B | 592M | -493M | -507M | -549M | -439M | -558M | -705M | -422M | -500M | -441M | -560M | 31M | -201M | 143M | -268M | -920M | -1.81B | -275M | -139M | -105M |
| Capital Expenditures | -241M | -343M | -435M | -568M | -543M | -467M | -364M | -370M | -337M | -267M | -246M | -520M | -678M | -377M | -410M | -204M | -312M | -351M | -274M | -288M | -295M | -212M | -166M | -211M | -203M | -191M |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 2.54% | 3.59% | 4.23% | 5.19% | 5.61% | 5.47% | 6.44% | 5.88% | 4.71% | 4.35% | 4.56% | 9.16% | 9.97% | 5.79% | 6.39% | 3.02% | 5.27% | 6.91% | 4.02% | 4.47% | 4.43% | 3.49% | 4.34% | 4.58% | 5.48% | 4.98% |
| Acquisitions | 15M | 21M | 0 | 532M | -10.54B | -1.11B | 1.5B | -90M | -131M | -268M | -166M | -2M | -10M | 13M | -22M | 157M | -20M | 574M | 9M | 425M | 23M | -916M | -1.56B | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | 400M | -27M | -52M | -98M | -57M | -520M | -1.61B | -387M | -39M | -14M | -27M | -36M | -17M | -58M | -68M | -394M | -228M | -558M | -47M | -4M | -26M | 128M | -39M | -1M | 64M | 86M |
| Cash from Financing | -561M | -513M | -1.31B | -1.46B | 10.29B | -1.04B | -1.47B | -935M | -1.17B | -351M | -759M | -66M | -415M | -326M | 49M | -253M | -388M | -112M | -499M | -714M | -108M | -144M | 2.69B | -108M | -150M | -337M |
| Debt Issued (Net) | -449M | -323M | -948M | -1.09B | 10.78B | 404M | -472M | 412M | -40M | 443M | -7M | 323M | -239M | -81M | 63M | -196M | -337M | -92M | -98M | -119M | -74M | -307M | 2.71B | -68M | 0 | 0 |
| Equity Issued (Net) | 0 | 0 | 1M | 0 | -17M | -1B | -650M | -996M | -805M | -500M | -500M | -420M | -250M | -164M | -45M | -11M | -48M | 0 | -360M | -334M | 2M | 997M | 23M | -15M | 0 | 0 |
| Dividends Paid | -10M | -13M | -307M | -305M | -297M | -304M | -293M | -300M | -280M | -241M | -201M | -174M | -144M | -83M | -43M | -34M | -31M | -33M | -34M | -35M | -36M | -825M | -501M | -25M | 0 | 0 |
| Share Repurchases | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -17M | -1B | -650M | -996M | -805M | -500M | -500M | -420M | -250M | -164M | -45M | -31M | -48M | 0 | -378M | -403M | 0 | 0 | -221M | -15M | 0 | 0 |
| Other Financing | -102M | -177M | -59M | -63M | -175M | -142M | -56M | -51M | -40M | -53M | -51M | 205M | 218M | 2M | 74M | -12M | 28M | 16M | -7M | -226M | 0 | -9M | -43M | 0 | -150M | -337M |
| Net Change in Cash | 810M | 301M | -843M | 297M | 972M | -419M | 492M | 24M | -137M | -62M | -329M | 187M | -204M | 25M | 277M | -58M | -514M | 578M | -149M | 34M | 401M | -448M | 838M | 24M | 74M | 20M |
| Free Cash Flow | 944M | 803M | 531M | 1.33B | 1.28B | 1.29B | 979M | 1.08B | 1.22B | 536M | 647M | 342M | 284M | 385M | 312M | 434M | 140M | 245M | 312M | 278M | 456M | 502M | -229M | 190M | 160M | 271M |
| FCF Margin % | 9.95% | 8.41% | 5.17% | 12.17% | 13.19% | 15.11% | 17.31% | 17.21% | 17.07% | 8.73% | 12.01% | 6.03% | 4.18% | 5.91% | 4.86% | 6.42% | 2.37% | 4.82% | 4.57% | 4.31% | 6.85% | 8.27% | -5.99% | 4.13% | 4.32% | 7.06% |
| FCF Growth % | 88.05% | 51.22% | -60.11% | 4.31% | -1.09% | 31.77% | -9.69% | -11.22% | 127.8% | -17.16% | 89.18% | 20.42% | -26.23% | 23.4% | -28.11% | 210% | -42.86% | -21.47% | 12.23% | -39.04% | -9.16% | 319.21% | -220.53% | 18.75% | -40.96% | - |
| FCF per Share | 8.58 | 7.33 | 4.86 | 12.17 | 11.68 | 11.51 | 8.26 | 8.70 | 9.02 | 3.88 | 4.44 | 2.25 | 1.82 | 2.42 | 1.95 | 2.73 | 0.88 | 1.56 | 1.91 | 1.62 | 2.65 | 3.02 | -2.63 | 3.30 | 2.32 | 5.38 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | -0.92x | -0.98x | -0.63x | 0.97x | 0.96x | 0.93x | 0.68x | 1.71x | 1.29x | 0.95x | 0.99x | 2.84x | 1.54x | 0.69x | 1.19x | 1.05x | 1.21x | 1.22x | 2.08x | 1.33x | 1.85x | 2.58x | 0.25x | 2.71x | 2.16x | -1.27x |
| Interest Paid | 0 | 0 | 701M | 780M | 122M | 105M | 120M | 118M | 133M | 130M | 130M | 120M | 146M | 166M | 189M | 226M | 186M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Taxes Paid | 0 | 0 | 701M | 780M | 122M | 215M | 167M | 157M | 100M | 123M | 129M | 151M | 199M | 129M | 64M | 94M | 135M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
High leverage and cyclicality
As reported in financial statements, the relationship between net income and operating cash flow is highly erratic, with OCF/NI ratios swinging from -1.76 in 2025Q1 to 13.26 in 2025Q4, indicating that headline earnings are frequently decoupled from the company's actual ability to generate cash.
The extreme volatility in the OCF/NI ratio suggests that significant non-cash charges, such as impairments or acquisition-related adjustments, are heavily distorting the bottom line. Investors should monitor this divergence closely, as it implies that reported net income is an unreliable proxy for the underlying cash-generating capacity of the business.
Based on recent SEC filings, FCF margins have demonstrated significant instability, ranging from a negative 2.7% in 2025Q1 to a peak of 27.3% in 2023Q4, reflecting the company's sensitivity to cyclical demand and the heavy burden of integration-related costs following recent large-scale acquisitions.
The inconsistency in free cash flow generation suggests that the company's cash profile is highly susceptible to shifts in industrial production and feedstock costs. This erratic trajectory complicates the assessment of long-term value creation, as the firm struggles to maintain a consistent FCF yield amidst its current deleveraging efforts.
According to the provided quarterly data, working capital changes have been a major source of cash flow volatility, with swings as large as $509 million in 2023Q4 and -$274 million in 2024Q3, highlighting the operational challenges of managing inventory and receivables in a cyclical chemical environment.
These substantial fluctuations in working capital suggest that the company is experiencing difficulty in aligning its inventory levels with volatile end-market demand. The reliance on working capital shifts to bolster operating cash flow in certain periods warrants further investigation into the sustainability of these cash inflows.
As indicated by financial disclosures, the company's capital expenditure as a percentage of revenue has remained relatively consistent, hovering between 2.6% and 5.2% over the last ten quarters, suggesting a baseline level of investment required to maintain its integrated global production footprint.
While these levels appear stable, the lack of significant growth-oriented capex in recent periods may indicate a strategic pivot toward preserving cash for debt service. Analysts should monitor whether this level of investment is sufficient to maintain the competitive advantage of the Acetyl Chain without compromising long-term asset integrity.
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying CE stock.
Celanese Corporation (CE) generated $1.15B in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
Celanese Corporation (CE) generated $803.0M in free cash flow in 2025. Free cash flow is the cash left over after capital expenditures, which can be used to pay dividends, repurchase shares, or pay down debt.
Celanese Corporation (CE) spent $343.0M 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, Celanese Corporation (CE) returned $13.0M to shareholders via cash dividends. This shows the company's commitment to returning capital to its equity investors.