Cash flow generation is erratic and insufficient to cover shareholder distributions, evidenced by a dividend payout that was 2.05 times FFO in Q2 2026 and volatile operating cash flow swings, such as the negative $54.0 million in Q1 2026.
Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (FBRT) cash flow statement — 14-year operating, investing & financing cash flows
| 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 |
|---|
| Cash from Operations | 158.15M | 291.94M | 57.23M | 197.39M | 152.51M | 146.5M | 115.33M | 45.37M | 7.1M | 8.35M | 35.02M | 25.43M | 2.69M | 776K | 0 |
| Operating CF Growth % | 576.33% | 410.09% | -71% | 29.42% | 4.11% | 27.02% | 154.21% | 539.18% | -15.03% | -76.15% | 37.71% | 847.23% | 246.01% | - | - |
| Operating CF / Revenue % | 37.2% | 52.51% | 10.43% | 34.66% | 41.52% | 66.09% | 62.62% | 22.86% | 4.66% | 9.33% | 44.11% | 42.82% | 21.14% | 104.44% | - |
| Net Income | 64.12M | 84.08M | 92.4M | 145.22M | 14.21M | 25.7M | 54.75M | 83.92M | 52.83M | 33.78M | 29.99M | 24.93M | 5.42M | 102K | -96K |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 8.19M | 9.59M | 5.63M | 7.13M | 5.33M | 2.11M | 2.23M | 3.44M | 8.11M | 2.1M | 1.71M | 1.26M | 80K | 0 | 0 |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 9.42M | 9.12M | 8.17M | 4.76M | 2.52M | 211K | 193K | 156K | 157K | 97K | 44K | 30K | 28.16K | 15.88K | 0 |
| Other Non-Cash Items | 74.03M | 178.26M | -51.61M | 42.56M | 124.95M | 2.79M | 41.75M | -43.85M | -41.82M | -23.53M | 424K | 190K | 311.84K | 1.01M | 96K |
| Working Capital Changes | 1.95M | 10.89M | 2.63M | -2.27M | 5.5M | 102.56M | -2.92M | 5.14M | -8.92M | -1.29M | 1.06M | -38K | -3.07M | -355K | 0 |
| Cash from Investing | -133.35M | 380.81M | -155.47M | 380.81M | 3.1B | 1.07B | 240.69M | -969.24M | -855.81M | -332.76M | 139.41M | -749.85M | -471.64M | -35.76M | 0 |
| Acquisitions (Net) | -297.31M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 174.08M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Purchase of Investments | -886.99M | -143.88M | -79.5M | -223.77M | -221.79M | -2.88B | -149.39M | -368.58M | -40.31M | -592K | 1.21B | -85.46M | -45.6M | -5.01B | 0 |
| Sale of Investments | 46.37M | 245.86M | 154.48M | 419M | 3.73B | 2.06B | 346.2M | 9.37M | 12.46M | 49.89M | 81.3M | 3.01M | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Investing | 1B | 279.19M | -230.45M | 604.58M | -411.99M | -1.17B | 43.88M | -610.03M | -827.96M | -382.05M | -1.15B | -667.39M | -471.64M | -35.76M | 0 |
| Cash from Financing | -256.47M | -684.43M | -48.58M | -424.99M | -3.23B | -1.14B | -373M | 828.58M | 961.43M | 290.07M | -71.54M | 738.84M | 469.16M | 35.16M | 6K |
| Dividends Paid | -144.81M | -145.58M | -144.91M | -144.35M | -139.41M | -67.95M | -49.79M | -60.61M | -36.95M | -38.83M | -40.25M | -26.95M | -7.59M | -286K | 0 |
| Common Dividends | -108.86M | -145.58M | -144.91M | -144.35M | -139.41M | -67.95M | -49.79M | -60.61M | -36.95M | -38.83M | -40.25M | -26.95M | -7.59M | -286.58K | 0 |
| Debt Issuance (Net) | -1000K | -1000K | 1000K | -1000K | -1000K | -1000K | -1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | -1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 0 |
| Share Repurchases | -70.19M | -14.37M | -4.87M | -12.51M | -16.58M | -11.42M | -10.26M | -13.81M | -15.09M | -20.55M | -18.96M | -2.56M | -464K | -35K | 0 |
| Other Financing | -237.81M | -9.68M | -17.63M | -3.07M | 64.63M | -9.52M | 0 | 0 | 0 | -11.96M | 793K | -50.66M | -67K | 956.26K | 6K |
| Net Change in Cash | -286.33M | -11.68M | -146.82M | 153.2M | 22.29M | 76.06M | -16.98M | -95.3M | 112.71M | -34.34M | 102.9M | 14.42M | 208K | -395K | 6K |
| Exchange Rate Effect | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 469.23M | 0 | 0 |
| Cash at Beginning | 136.44M | 196.86M | 343.69M | 190.49M | 168.2M | 92.14M | 109.12M | 204.42M | 91.71M | 118.05M | 20.17M | 386K | 178K | 573K | 0 |
| Cash at End | 0 | 185.18M | 196.86M | 343.69M | 190.49M | 168.2M | 92.14M | 109.12M | 204.42M | 83.71M | 123.07M | 14.81M | 386K | 178K | 6K |
| Free Cash Flow | 157.78M | 291.94M | 57.23M | 197.39M | 151.85M | 3.03B | 115.33M | 45.37M | 7.1M | 8.35M | 35.02M | 25.43M | 2.69M | 776K | 0 |
| FCF Growth % | -7.41% | 410.09% | -71% | 29.99% | -94.98% | 2525.35% | 154.21% | 539.18% | -15.03% | -76.15% | 37.71% | 847.23% | 246.01% | - | - |
| FCF / Revenue % | 37.12% | 52.51% | 10.43% | 34.66% | 41.34% | 1366.09% | 62.62% | 22.86% | 4.66% | 9.33% | 44.11% | 42.82% | 21.14% | 104.44% | - |
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying FBRT stock.
Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (FBRT) generated $291.9M in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (FBRT) generated $291.9M 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.
Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (FBRT) spent $0.4M 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, Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (FBRT) returned $145.6M to shareholders via cash dividends and spent $14.4M on share repurchases. This shows the company's commitment to returning capital to its equity investors.
Key Metrics
Top Statement Risk
Dividend coverage by FFO is unsustainable
Metrics are mathematically derived from official filings.
FFO Decouples From GAAP and Operating Cash Flow
FFO and GAAP operating cash flow have diverged significantly, with Q1 2026 showing OCF of -$54.0 million against FFO of $15.4 million, suggesting heavy non-cash distortions in GAAP cash flows from mark-to-market adjustments or loan modifications.
The relationship between FFO and GAAP operating cash flow is highly unstable, with FFO/OCF ratios swinging from 3.10 in Q2 2026 to -4.51 in Q1 2026. This extreme volatility indicates that GAAP operating cash flow is a unreliable metric for assessing core liquidity at FBRT, as it appears heavily influenced by non-recurring investment portfolio revaluations. For a mortgage REIT, this decoupling means investors must rely exclusively on FFO and AFFO to gauge operational cash generation.
Dividend Payout Relies on FFO, Not Sustainable AFFO
The quarterly dividend of approximately $36 million consistently exceeds available FFO, with FFO covering only 49% of the dividend in Q2 2026 and AFFO data being largely unavailable to confirm true payout sustainability.
FBRT's dividend payout relative to FFO is problematic, as the dividend/AFFO ratio has exceeded 1.0 in several periods (1.61 in Q4 2025, 1.76 in Q3 2025), indicating the payout is consuming more than the adjusted cash flow available for distribution. The lack of consistent AFFO reporting obscures the true cash buffer, but the available data points to a payout structure that may be dependent on realized capital gains or asset sales to maintain distributions.
Extreme GAAP Distortion Undermines Earnings Quality
GAAP net income has been negative or minimal in recent quarters, while FFO has remained positive, indicating that depreciation and non-cash fair value adjustments are overwhelmingly masking the true economic performance of the mortgage portfolio.
The FFO/Net Income ratio has swung from 3.10 in Q2 2026 to -4.51 in Q1 2026, demonstrating that GAAP earnings are an extremely poor proxy for cash earnings. For a mortgage REIT, this distortion typically arises from unrealized gains/losses on the loan portfolio and the impact of credit reserve changes. The magnitude of this distortion suggests that reported net income is not a meaningful indicator of the company's ability to service its dividend.
Operating Cash Flow Volatility Signals Collection Risks
Operating cash flow has been highly erratic, with negative quarters like Q1 2026 (-$54.0M) and Q3 2025 (-$148.1M), suggesting potential disruptions in cash collections from interest or principal payments on the loan portfolio.
The wild swings in OCF from positive to deeply negative quarters may indicate cash collection challenges, such as delayed interest payments, loan modifications, or paydowns being classified as investing activities. In a mortgage REIT, this volatility is a direct reflection of the performance and liquidity of the underlying loan assets. The pattern warrants investigation into whether borrower distress is causing uneven cash inflows that are not captured in the FFO metric.
Dividend Funding Appears Reliant on Capital Markets
With dividends paid consistently exceeding FFO in multiple periods and negative OCF in several quarters, FBRT appears dependent on external funding sources, such as credit facilities or equity issuances, to bridge the cash gap.
The persistent gap between dividends paid (~$36M quarterly) and FFO suggests the company may be drawing on credit facilities or accessing capital markets to fund the distribution, especially in quarters where OCF is negative. The absence of detailed financing activity data prevents confirmation of the exact source, but the cash flow patterns imply that the dividend is not fully covered by core operating earnings. This dependency exposes the company to refinancing risk and market access conditions.
What the Cash Flow Statement Obscures
The cash flow statement likely hides the true economic cost of loan originations and modifications, as well as the impact of credit reserve builds that are non-cash but erode the portfolio's underlying value and future cash flows.
For a mortgage REIT like FBRT, key cash flow statement limitations include the capitalization of certain origination costs and the non-cash treatment of credit loss provisions, which do not appear as cash outflows but directly impact future cash flow potential. The extreme FFO/NI and OCF volatility suggests that significant non-cash adjustments are being made, potentially masking deterioration in the loan book's collectibility. Investors should be cautious in interpreting positive FFO as indicative of sustainable cash generation, as it may not reflect the full economic reality of credit losses.