Cash conversion has deteriorated, with operating cash flow falling to 77% of net income in 2026Q2, and free cash flow has been highly volatile, swinging from $924.5M in 2024Q2 to negative $235.8M in 2025Q4.
Chagee Holdings Limited American Depositary Shares (CHA) cash flow statement — 4-year operating, investing & financing cash flows
| Metric | TTM | Dec'25 | Dec'24 | Dec'23 | Dec'22 |
|---|
| Cash from Operations | 1.61B | 1.64B | 2.84B | 1.93B | 43.03M |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | 12.74% | 22.87% | 41.67% | 8.75% |
| Operating CF Growth % | -186.79% | -42.06% | 46.75% | 4393.21% | - |
| Net Income | 958.24M | 1.19B | 2.51B | 802.57M | -90.72M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 0 | 146.38M | 60.9M | 10.37M | 4.91M |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 128.82M | 723.54M | 603K | 10.52M | 3.94M |
| Deferred Taxes | 0 | -149.61M | -126.87M | -95.77M | -21.71M |
| Other Non-Cash Items | 522.11M | 30.23M | 6.39M | 109.69M | 2.85M |
| Working Capital Changes | 0 | -292.77M | 382.04M | 1.1B | 143.75M |
| Change in Receivables | 0 | -36.28M | -32.84M | -75.47M | -5.16M |
| Change in Inventory | 0 | -119.01M | -69.42M | -9.18M | -6.32M |
| Change in Payables | 0 | 47.2M | 127.8M | 384.02M | 31.86M |
| Cash from Investing | -1.61B | -825.02M | -229.48M | -146.71M | -10.98M |
| Capital Expenditures | -33.75M | -417.1M | -225.5M | -31.86M | -10.73M |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 0.26% | 3.23% | 1.82% | 0.69% | 2.18% |
| Acquisitions | 10.54K | -123.4M | -10.81M | -2M | 0 |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | -1.58B | -35.22M | 6.84M | -15.42M | -700K |
| Cash from Financing | 1.93B | 2.05B | -173.93M | 344.2M | -33K |
| Debt Issued (Net) | 0 | 0 | -2.15M | 0 | 0 |
| Equity Issued (Net) | 0 | 3.18B | -210.08M | 331.42M | 0 |
| Dividends Paid | 0 | -1.23B | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Share Repurchases | 0 | 0 | -210.08M | 0 | 0 |
| Other Financing | 1.93B | 97.96M | 38.3M | 12.78M | -33K |
| Net Change in Cash | 2.08B | 2.86B | 2.45B | 2.12B | 32.02M |
| Free Cash Flow | 1.19B | 1.19B | 2.6B | 1.9B | 32.3M |
| FCF Margin % | 9.21% | 9.23% | 20.93% | 40.98% | 6.57% |
| FCF Growth % | -51.74% | -54.1% | 36.53% | 5787.76% | - |
| FCF per Share | 6.17 | 7.24 | 14.15 | 10.36 | 0.18 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | 1.24x | 1.40x | 1.13x | 2.41x | -0.47x |
| Interest Paid | 0 | 1.06M | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Taxes Paid | 0 | 630.24M | 644.27M | 206.97M | 72K |
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying CHA stock.
Chagee Holdings Limited American Depositary Shares (CHA) generated $1.64B in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
Chagee Holdings Limited American Depositary Shares (CHA) generated $1.19B 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.
Chagee Holdings Limited American Depositary Shares (CHA) spent $417.1M 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, Chagee Holdings Limited American Depositary Shares (CHA) returned $1.23B to shareholders via cash dividends. This shows the company's commitment to returning capital to its equity investors.
Key Metrics
Top Statement Risk
Margin compression eroding cash conversion
Earnings Quality Deteriorates with Margin Pressure
The quality of earnings has weakened significantly, as operating cash flow fell to just 77% of net income in 2026Q2, a stark reversal from the 8.79x multiple seen in 2025Q2, suggesting the recent profitability is less cash-generative.
The sharp decline in the OCF/NI ratio from 8.79 in 2025Q2 to 0.77 in 2026Q2 indicates that the company's reported net income is increasingly backed by non-cash accruals rather than actual cash generation. This deterioration aligns with the prior finding of margin compression, as lower gross margins reduce the cash conversion efficiency of each dollar of revenue. Investors should monitor whether this trend persists, as it could signal underlying operational stress beyond the headline profitability metrics.
FCF Volatility Undermines Growth Narrative
Free cash flow has been highly erratic, swinging from a robust $924.5M in 2024Q2 to a negative $235.8M in 2025Q4, indicating that the company's cash generation is not yet on a stable, predictable trajectory despite its scale.
The FCF margin has collapsed from a peak of 33.7% in 2023Q4 to a negative 7.9% in 2025Q4, demonstrating that the business model's cash generation is highly sensitive to working capital swings and investment timing. This volatility makes it difficult to assess the sustainable free cash flow power of the business, especially as revenue growth decelerates. The recent return to positive FCF in 2026Q2 ($358.5M) is encouraging, but the historical inconsistency warrants caution.
Working Capital Swings Drive Cash Flow Volatility
Working capital changes have been a major driver of cash flow volatility, with a $371.0M positive swing in 2024Q2 and a $337.7M swing in 2023Q4, suggesting the company's cash position is heavily influenced by the timing of collections and inventory management.
The large, inconsistent working capital adjustments indicate that the company's cash flow is not purely a function of operational profitability but is significantly impacted by the management of receivables, inventory, and payables. This introduces a layer of unpredictability into the cash flow statement that complicates fundamental analysis. The absence of reported working capital changes in recent quarters (2025Q3-2026Q2) may indicate a change in reporting or a period of stability, but the historical pattern suggests this remains a key area of cash flow risk.
Cash Flow Statement Obscures Key Realities
The cash flow statement obscures the true economic cost of stock-based compensation, which reached $104.9M in 2025Q3, and the impact of minimal reported depreciation and amortization, which may understate the true capital intensity of the business.
Stock-based compensation is a significant non-cash expense that reduces net income but is added back to operating cash flow, potentially inflating the perceived cash generation quality. Furthermore, the minimal D&A figures reported (e.g., $9.2M in 2024Q2) relative to the company's scale and reported CapEx suggest that either the asset base is very light or the accounting treatment warrants scrutiny. These factors mean the headline operating cash flow figure may not fully reflect the true economic costs of running and growing the business.