Capital expenditures of $4.1 billion in 2026Q1 consistently outpace operating cash flow, necessitating ongoing debt issuance to bridge the company's structural free cash flow deficit.
| 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 | Dec'00 | Dec'99 | Dec'98 | Dec'97 | Dec'96 |
|---|
| Cash from Operations | 11.69B | 12.35B | 12.33B | 9.88B | 5.93B | 8.29B | 8.86B | 8.21B | 7.19B | 6.62B | 6.8B | 6.68B | 6.59B | 6.38B | 5.24B | 3.67B | 4.51B | 3.46B | 3.33B | 3.21B | 3.73B | 2.82B | 4.21B | 3.34B | 4.53B | 4.36B | 2.23B | 2.73B | 2.37B | 2.14B | 1.48B |
| Operating CF Growth % | -21.56% | 0.19% | 24.8% | 66.66% | -28.5% | -6.39% | 7.88% | 14.24% | 8.48% | -2.56% | 1.83% | 1.37% | 3.2% | 21.7% | 42.81% | -18.6% | 30.26% | 4.06% | 3.74% | -13.9% | 32.08% | -32.95% | 25.92% | -26.25% | 3.97% | 95.82% | -18.59% | 15.37% | 10.7% | 44.34% | 13.04% |
| Operating CF / Revenue % | 35.1% | 38.32% | 40.61% | 33.99% | 20.6% | 33.67% | 37.9% | 32.73% | 29.31% | 28.11% | 29.89% | 29.84% | 29.26% | 28.05% | 29.28% | 25.27% | 31.43% | 27.2% | 25.2% | 25.22% | 24.54% | 17.31% | 20.47% | 15.13% | 28.56% | 23.66% | 14.5% | 12.56% | 13.41% | 13.12% | 12.05% |
| Net Income | 5.14B | 4.97B | 4.61B | 2.87B | 2.59B | 3.58B | 1.08B | 3.57B | 2.64B | 3.06B | 2.17B | 2.83B | 1.88B | 2.68B | 1.73B | 1.71B | 1.32B | 1.08B | 1.36B | 1.5B | 1.86B | 1.82B | 1.49B | -1.32B | 1.03B | 1.9B | 1.78B | 847M | 1.26B | 974.4M | 1.09B |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 1.8B | 6.32B | 6.42B | 6.08B | 5.84B | 5.66B | 5.49B | 5.18B | 4.7B | 4.05B | 3.88B | 3.61B | 3.51B | 3.23B | 2.65B | 2.03B | 1.99B | 1.85B | 1.83B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.45B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Deferred Taxes | 484M | 1.2B | 987M | 3M | -200M | 191M | 54M | 806M | 1.08B | 1.43B | 900M | 1.24B | 1.15B | 1.26B | 584M | 602M | 741M | 941M | 485M | 669M | 250M | 282M | 867M | -534M | 495M | 129M | 152M | -210M | -35M | 105.7M | 74.7M |
| Other Non-Cash Items | 5.64B | 473M | -870M | 667M | 944M | -16M | 2.79B | -422M | -27M | -758M | -356M | -705M | 648M | 69M | 279M | -200M | -163M | -396M | 30M | 1.33B | 832M | 770M | 1.67B | 4.98B | 2.33B | 50M | 1.27B | 2.46B | 1.16B | 1.06B | 309.4M |
| Working Capital Changes | -1.45B | -616M | 1.18B | 250M | -3.25B | -1.21B | -637M | -922M | -1.21B | -1.22B | 151M | -307M | -601M | -908M | -3M | -470M | 616M | -13M | -383M | -292M | 781M | -55M | 178M | 215M | 670M | 830M | -974M | -361M | -13M | -500K | 7.6M |
| Capital Expenditures | -5.08B | -14.02B | -12.28B | -12.6B | -11.37B | -9.71B | -9.91B | -11.12B | -9.39B | -8.05B | -7.9B | -6.77B | -5.38B | -5.53B | -5.5B | -4.36B | -4.8B | -4.39B | -4.39B | -3.13B | -3.38B | -2.31B | -2.06B | -2.47B | -4.92B | -5.93B | -5.63B | -5.94B | -2.16B | -1.99B | -1.57B |
| CapEx / Revenue % | 15.27% | 43.5% | 40.45% | 43.37% | 39.51% | 39.46% | 42.4% | 44.35% | 38.29% | 34.17% | 34.74% | 30.24% | 23.92% | 24.28% | 30.71% | 30.09% | 33.56% | 34.47% | 33.21% | 24.57% | 22.27% | 14.39% | 10.52% | 11.19% | 31.05% | 32.2% | 36.72% | 27.27% | 12.22% | 12.22% | 12.75% |
| CapEx / D&A | 2.83x | 2.22x | 1.91x | 2.07x | 1.95x | 1.72x | 1.81x | 2.15x | 2.00x | 1.99x | 2.04x | 1.87x | 1.54x | 1.71x | 2.07x | 2.16x | 2.42x | 2.38x | 2.39x | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.09x | - | - | - | - | - |
| CapEx Coverage (OCF/CapEx) | 2.30x | 0.88x | 1.00x | 0.78x | 0.52x | 0.85x | 0.89x | 0.74x | 0.77x | 0.82x | 0.86x | 0.99x | 1.22x | 1.15x | 0.95x | 0.84x | 0.94x | 0.79x | 0.76x | 1.03x | 1.10x | 1.20x | 1.95x | 1.35x | 0.92x | 0.73x | 0.39x | 0.46x | 1.10x | 1.07x | 0.95x |
| Cash from Investing | -12.91B | -14.36B | -13.12B | -12.47B | -11.97B | -10.94B | -10.6B | -11.96B | -10.06B | -8.44B | -11.53B | -5.28B | -5.37B | -4.98B | -6.17B | -4.43B | -4.42B | -4.49B | -4.61B | -2.15B | -1.33B | -126M | -793M | -931M | -6.81B | -6.04B | -4.93B | -3.8B | -2.48B | -1.99B | -1.57B |
| Acquisitions | 2.5B | 559M | 0 | 0 | -52M | -892M | -237M | -313M | -279M | -13M | -3.36B | -1.33B | -54M | 277M | -380M | -51M | 0 | -124M | -389M | -66M | -137M | -294M | 0 | 0 | -1.71B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Purchase of Investments | -4.85B | -8.89B | 0 | -3.76B | -4.3B | -6.18B | -8.38B | -3.67B | -4.18B | -4.07B | -5.46B | -4.3B | -4.2B | -6.22B | -4.72B | -3.24B | -2.29B | -3.15B | -7.35B | -23.64B | -33.44B | -40.36B | -65.97B | -40.03B | -641M | -1.09B | 0 | 0 | -341M | -704.4M | -25.9M |
| Sale of Investments | 4.79B | 9.01B | 0 | 3.82B | 4.33B | 6.1B | 7.95B | 3.34B | 3.75B | 4.1B | 5.24B | 7.01B | 4.14B | 6.32B | 4.54B | 3.18B | 2.26B | 3.06B | 7.45B | 24.61B | 32.85B | 40.51B | 65.7B | 41.61B | 312M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Investing | -10.26B | -1.01B | -843M | 66M | -586M | -252M | -28M | -193M | 39M | -404M | -48M | 115M | 123M | 179M | -105M | 52M | 426M | 113M | 63M | 66M | 2.78B | 2.36B | 1.64B | -35M | 151M | 980M | 704M | 2.14B | 24M | 33.9M | -895.8M |
| Cash from Financing | 2.94B | 1.95B | 859M | 2.35B | 6.13B | 2.61B | 1.73B | 3.73B | 2.96B | 1.78B | 4.25B | -2.58B | -678M | -1.33B | 267M | 1.2B | 40M | 1.58B | 1.59B | -1.33B | -1.96B | -2.72B | -3.28B | -2.66B | 2.85B | 1.35B | 2.71B | 1.6B | 78M | -203M | -653.2M |
| Dividends Paid | -43M | -3.3B | -3.21B | -3.24B | -3.18B | -3.11B | -2.81B | -2.67B | -2.47B | -2.45B | -2.33B | -2.25B | -2.23B | -2.19B | -1.75B | -1.33B | -1.28B | -1.22B | -1.14B | -1.09B | -1.49B | -1.1B | -1.06B | -1.05B | -938M | -871M | -828M | -822M | -814M | -726.4M | -466.8M |
| Dividend Payout Ratio % | - | 66.43% | 71.24% | 75.51% | 124.67% | 79.68% | 204.21% | 71.18% | 92.69% | 80.09% | 87.47% | 78.78% | 79.45% | 82.1% | 99.09% | 77.9% | 97.27% | 113.67% | 89.3% | 72.36% | 75.61% | 52.34% | 87.15% | - | 90.72% | 45.89% | 46.62% | 54.55% | 65.02% | 74.55% | 42.14% |
| Debt Issuance (Net) | 2M | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | -1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | -1000K | -1000K | -1000K | -1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | -1000K |
| Stock Issued | -7M | 16M | 405M | 8M | 9M | 5M | 2.75B | 384M | 1.84B | 0 | 731M | 17M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 67M | 302M | 519M | 133M | 50M | 127M | 41M | 1.7B | 277M | 1.32B | 1.43B | 230M | 162M | 176M | 14.9M | 11.8M |
| Share Repurchases | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1.5B | 0 | -96M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -512M | -1.07B | -176M | -38M | -88M | -33M | -33M | -20M | -180M | -249M | -159M |
| Other Financing | 4.63B | 114M | -5M | 154M | 1.25B | 1.48B | 293M | 817M | 1.01B | 1M | -16M | 1.25B | -34M | 15M | 69M | 172M | -14M | -40M | 10M | -370M | 53M | 52M | -181M | -53M | 339M | -303M | -154M | 506M | 587M | 298.6M | -34.3M |
| Net Change in Cash | 1.63B | -58M | 64M | -246M | 83M | -36M | -17M | -18M | 86M | -36M | 60M | -1.18B | 535M | -21M | -686M | 440M | 128M | 556M | 308M | -270M | 437M | -22M | 136M | 286M | 567M | -332M | -91M | 533M | -29M | -56.6M | -9.3M |
| Exchange Rate Effect | -83M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -22M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -100K |
| Cash at Beginning | 363M | 421M | 357M | 603M | 520M | 556M | 573M | 591M | 505M | 392M | 383M | 2.04B | 1.5B | 1.42B | 2.11B | 1.67B | 1.54B | 986M | 678M | 948M | 511M | 533M | 397M | 381M | 290M | 622M | 713M | 80M | 109M | 166M | 45.4M |
| Cash at End | 2.25B | 363M | 421M | 357M | 603M | 520M | 556M | 573M | 591M | 358M | 392M | 383M | 2.04B | 1.5B | 1.42B | 2.11B | 1.67B | 1.54B | 986M | 678M | 948M | 511M | 533M | 1.16B | 857M | 290M | 622M | 613M | 80M | 109.4M | 166M |
| Free Cash Flow | 6.6B | -1.67B | 48M | -2.73B | -5.44B | -1.43B | -1.05B | -2.91B | -2.2B | -1.43B | -1.1B | -90M | 1.2B | 856M | -257M | -691M | -292M | -926M | -1.06B | 83M | 367M | 495M | 2.05B | 1.4B | -394M | -1.33B | -3.41B | -3.2B | 210M | 146.4M | -85.5M |
| FCF Growth % | 3594.18% | -3583.33% | 101.76% | 49.89% | -281.75% | -35.59% | 63.92% | -32.23% | -54.27% | -29.47% | -1125.56% | -107.49% | 40.42% | 433.07% | 62.81% | -136.64% | 68.47% | 12.48% | -1374.7% | -77.38% | -25.86% | -75.81% | 45.83% | 456.09% | 70.49% | 60.84% | -6.43% | -1625.24% | 43.44% | 271.23% | -114.29% |
| FCF Margin % | 19.84% | -5.19% | 0.16% | -9.38% | -18.91% | -5.79% | -4.5% | -11.62% | -8.98% | -6.06% | -4.85% | -0.4% | 5.34% | 3.76% | -1.43% | -4.76% | -2.03% | -7.27% | -8.01% | 0.65% | 2.42% | 3.04% | 9.96% | 6.35% | -2.48% | -7.25% | -22.22% | -14.72% | 1.19% | 0.9% | -0.69% |
| FCF / Net Income % | 128.51% | -33.66% | 1.06% | -63.45% | -213.33% | -36.46% | -76.33% | -77.72% | -82.63% | -46.68% | -41.37% | -3.15% | 42.75% | 32.12% | -14.54% | -40.5% | -22.12% | -86.14% | -82.66% | 5.51% | 18.65% | 23.45% | 167.43% | -106.21% | -38.1% | -70.34% | -191.95% | -212.54% | 16.77% | 15.02% | -7.72% |
Regulatory lag and CAPEX
According to the quarterly cash flow data, Duke Energy generated an average operating cash flow of approximately $2.9 billion per quarter, demonstrating a consistent ability to convert regulated utility revenues into cash despite the inherent volatility of seasonal demand and fuel cost recovery mechanisms across its service territories.
The stability of operating cash flow appears to be a direct result of the company's regulated monopoly status in the Carolinas, which provides a predictable revenue stream. Investors should monitor whether this cash generation remains sufficient to cover fixed obligations as the company continues its transition toward more capital-intensive renewable generation assets.
As reported in recent financial filings, Duke Energy's capital expenditure reached $4.1 billion in 2026Q1, representing a significant investment cycle that consistently outpaces operating cash flow, a trend that is characteristic of a utility aggressively expanding its rate base through grid modernization and decarbonization projects.
The high ratio of CAPEX to operating cash flow suggests that the company is in a heavy growth phase, which is necessary to support long-term earnings expansion. However, this level of spending implies that the company must rely heavily on external capital markets to fund its infrastructure requirements, which may create sensitivity to interest rate fluctuations.
Based on the provided cash flow statements, Duke Energy frequently records a free cash flow deficit, with a $2.6 billion shortfall in 2026Q1 alone, necessitating consistent access to debt markets to bridge the gap between massive infrastructure investment requirements and internal cash generation capabilities.
The recurring need for external financing highlights the company's dependence on favorable credit market conditions to maintain its capital deployment schedule. Analysts should evaluate whether the current regulatory environment in the Carolinas will continue to support the timely recovery of these investments to ensure long-term debt sustainability.
Data from the last ten quarters indicates that Duke Energy maintains an OCF-to-dividend coverage ratio that has fluctuated between 1.1x and 4.3x, suggesting that while the dividend is generally supported by operating cash, the payout remains sensitive to the timing of large-scale capital project completions.
The dividend appears to be a priority for management, yet the significant variance in coverage ratios warrants caution regarding the sustainability of future increases. Investors should consider whether the regulatory lag in recovering capital investments might pressure cash availability for dividends during periods of accelerated infrastructure spending.
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying DUK stock.
Duke Energy Corporation (DUK) generated $12.35B in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
Duke Energy Corporation (DUK) reported negative free cash flow of $1.67B in 2025, indicating capital requirements exceeded cash from operations.
Duke Energy Corporation (DUK) spent $14.02B 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, Duke Energy Corporation (DUK) returned $3.30B to shareholders via cash dividends. This shows the company's commitment to returning capital to its equity investors.