New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. (EDU) Cash Flow Statement

The gap between net income and operating cash flow is the most important signal in this dataset, and it is erratic rather than consistently positive. Quarters with ratios far above 1.0, such as 2025Q4 where net income was only $7.1M against $399.1M of operating cash flow, suggest that reported profit is a poor proxy for cash generation in any individual period. Investors should monitor whether the ratio normalizes over a full seasonal cycle before treating operating cash flow as a reliable anchor.

Positive free cash flow concentrates in quarters aligned with tuition collection, while the negative readings in 2025Q3 and 2026Q3 reflect seasonal troughs when operating cash flow nearly disappears. This pattern suggests the business generates most of its annual cash in a few concentrated windows, which makes trailing-twelve-month figures more meaningful than any single quarter. The data does not yet establish whether the average free cash flow margin is expanding or merely cycling.

The shift from heavy capex in 2024 to modest outlays in 2026 and 2027 is consistent with a company that has curtailed learning center expansion and reallocated capital toward the e-commerce and non-academic segments. Depreciation has not been separately disclosed in the reported quarters, so it is not possible to assess whether current capex is sufficient to replace the asset base. Analysts should treat the low recent capex as a potential source of near-term cash flattery that may need to be reconciled against future maintenance requirements.

The reported capital allocation pattern shows no recurring dividend or buyback cadence, with large outflows appearing in only one or two quarters. The $474.8M acquisition outflow in 2025Q4 coincides with a quarter of minimal net income and may reflect the consolidation or restructuring activity described in the company's e-commerce transition. Investors should monitor whether future deployment becomes more predictable and whether acquired assets generate returns sufficient to justify the outlay.