Free cash flow worsened to -$106.3M in Q2 2026 with FCF margin at -90.3%, while cumulative operating cash outflows of -$349M over six quarters highlight persistent cash burn despite revenue growth.
Firefly Aerospace Inc. (FLY) cash flow statement — 3-year operating, investing & financing cash flows
| Metric | TTM | Dec'25 | Dec'24 | Dec'23 |
|---|
| Cash from Operations | -264.42M | -204.92M | -157.65M | -93.43M |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | -128.19% | -259.33% | -169.16% |
| Operating CF Growth % | -201.08% | -29.99% | -68.73% | - |
| Net Income | -363.46M | -298.34M | -231.13M | -135.46M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 45.13M | 23.16M | 12.54M | 4.71M |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 46.19M | 17.84M | 1.84M | 1.61M |
| Deferred Taxes | -37.19M | -37.19M | 0 | 0 |
| Other Non-Cash Items | 79.1M | 85.95M | 13.47M | 2.3M |
| Working Capital Changes | -34.17M | 3.67M | 45.63M | 33.4M |
| Change in Receivables | -6.56M | 644K | 1.7M | -1.04M |
| Change in Inventory | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Change in Payables | 6.88M | -17.2M | 6.99M | 10.77M |
| Cash from Investing | -509.5M | -401.56M | -32.7M | -69.99M |
| Capital Expenditures | -62.08M | -32.83M | -32.7M | -77.25M |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 21.63% | 20.53% | 53.79% | 139.85% |
| Acquisitions | -281.12M | -277.42M | 0 | 7.25M |
| Investments | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | 280K | 280K | 0 | 0 |
| Cash from Financing | 1.01B | 1.26B | 232.76M | 240.73M |
| Debt Issued (Net) | -158.72M | 99.95M | 45.19M | 120.14M |
| Equity Issued (Net) | 1.18B | 1.17B | 189.04M | 149.83M |
| Dividends Paid | -4.99M | -4.99M | 0 | 0 |
| Share Repurchases | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Financing | -3.23M | 601K | -1.47M | -29.24M |
| Net Change in Cash | 253.7M | 655.41M | 42.41M | 77.3M |
| Free Cash Flow | -326.49M | -237.75M | -190.35M | -170.68M |
| FCF Margin % | -113.76% | -148.73% | -313.11% | -309.01% |
| FCF Growth % | - | -24.9% | -11.52% | - |
| FCF per Share | -2.02 | -1.57 | -1.33 | -1.19 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | 0.90x | 0.69x | 0.68x | 0.69x |
| Interest Paid | 0 | 0 | 21.13M | 12.58M |
| Taxes Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying FLY stock.
Firefly Aerospace Inc. (FLY) generated $-204.9M in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
Firefly Aerospace Inc. (FLY) reported negative free cash flow of $237.8M in 2025, indicating capital requirements exceeded cash from operations.
Firefly Aerospace Inc. (FLY) spent $32.8M 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, Firefly Aerospace Inc. (FLY) returned $5.0M to shareholders via cash dividends. This shows the company's commitment to returning capital to its equity investors.
Key Metrics
Top Statement Risk
Cash burn outpaces revenue scaling
Metrics are mathematically derived from official filings.
Cash Conversion Lags Deepening Losses
Operating cash flow averaged only 0.88x net income in Q2 2026, per reported figures, with cumulative OCF of -$349M against -$487M net losses, indicating persistent cash consumption beyond accounting losses.
The OCF/NI ratio fluctuates wildly, from 0.40 in Q3 2025 to 1.64 in Q4 2025, but the trend shows cash conversion deteriorating as losses widen. In Q2 2026, OCF of -$81.6M was slightly better than the -$92.3M net loss, yet the cumulative gap suggests accruals are not the issue—the business simply burns cash at a scale that outpaces any non-cash add-backs. The $17.0M SBC and $14.0M D&A in Q2 2026 provide only partial offset, implying that working capital outflows and operational losses are the primary drivers of the cash drain.
FCF Deepens Despite Revenue Inflection
Free cash flow worsened to -$106.3M in Q2 2026 from -$37.3M a year earlier, as reported in financial statements, with FCF margin at -90.3% despite revenue crossing $100M quarterly for the first time.
The FCF trajectory is alarming: cumulative FCF over the last six quarters is -$423M, while revenue grew 162.95% YoY. This indicates that revenue scaling is not translating into cash generation—each dollar of revenue requires roughly $0.90 of cash outflow in Q2 2026. The FCF margin of -90.3% is worse than the -2.0% in Q3 2025, suggesting that the company is investing heavily in growth (capex and working capital) faster than gross profit can absorb. Investors should monitor whether the record revenue quarter marks a turning point or simply a milestone payment that masks the underlying cash burn.
Capital Intensity Rising with Launch Cadence
CapEx rose to $24.7M in Q2 2026, representing 21.0% of revenue, up from 4.8% in Q1 2025, based on reported figures, signaling increased investment in launch infrastructure and MLV development.
The CapEx/Revenue ratio has climbed from 4.8% to 21.0% over six quarters, indicating that Firefly is scaling its physical assets to support higher launch cadence and the MLV program. However, the absolute CapEx of $24.7M is modest relative to the $81.6M operating cash outflow, suggesting that the primary cash drain is not capital investment but operational losses and R&D. The depreciation of $14.0M in Q2 2026 is only 57% of CapEx, implying that the asset base is growing faster than it is being depreciated, which may lead to higher future depreciation charges as the fleet expands.
Working Capital Swings Amplify Cash Volatility
Working capital changes swung from +$23.9M in Q2 2025 to -$18.7M in Q2 2026, as reported in financial statements, indicating that milestone-based collections and inventory builds create lumpy cash flows.
The working capital line is highly volatile, with positive contributions in Q2 2025 and Q1 2026 but negative in most other quarters. This suggests that Firefly's cash flow is heavily influenced by the timing of government milestone payments and the build-up of inventory for upcoming launches. The -$18.7M working capital outflow in Q2 2026, despite record revenue, may indicate that the company is investing in inventory and receivables ahead of future launches, which could pressure near-term cash but support revenue growth. Investors should monitor whether the working capital drag persists as the company scales.
No Capital Returns, Only Cash Consumption
Firefly paid no dividends and repurchased no shares in the last six quarters, per reported data, while acquisitions consumed $277.4M in Q4 2025, indicating that all cash is directed toward operations and strategic investments.
The capital deployment strategy is singular: fund growth and survival. The $277.4M acquisition outflow in Q4 2025 likely represents a strategic purchase (possibly related to the MLV program or vertical integration), but it also drained a significant portion of the $792M cash balance. With no shareholder returns and negative FCF, the company is entirely dependent on external capital to fund its operations. The lack of buybacks or dividends is expected for a growth-stage company, but the magnitude of acquisition spending relative to revenue suggests management is prioritizing scale over near-term cash preservation.
Cumulative Losses Exceed Cash Burn
Over the last six quarters, cumulative net losses of -$487M exceeded cumulative operating cash outflows of -$349M, as reported in financial statements, indicating that non-cash charges like SBC and D&A partially offset the cash drain.
The cumulative gap of $138M between net income and operating cash flow suggests that while the company is burning cash, the accounting losses overstate the cash consumption due to significant non-cash items. However, this divergence is not a positive signal—it simply means that the cash burn is slightly less severe than the income statement suggests. The $17.0M quarterly SBC is a real economic cost to shareholders through dilution, even if it does not appear as a cash outflow. The cumulative FCF of -$423M against cumulative net losses of -$487M indicates that the company is consuming cash at a rate that will require substantial external financing or a dramatic improvement in operations to avoid balance sheet strain.
What Could Invalidate the Base Case
The $277.4M acquisition outflow in Q4 2025, per reported data, may obscure the true cash burn rate, as one-time strategic spending could distort the trajectory of ongoing operational cash consumption.
The cash flow statement may obscure the underlying operational burn by lumping one-time acquisition costs with recurring expenses. The Q4 2025 acquisition of $277.4M dwarfs the quarterly operating cash outflows, potentially masking a less severe operational trend if that spending was non-recurring. Additionally, the $17.0M quarterly SBC is a non-cash charge that dilutes shareholders but does not appear in operating cash flow, meaning the true economic cost to existing shareholders is higher than the cash statement suggests. Investors should separate one-time items from recurring burn to assess whether the $792M cash balance provides a longer runway than the headline numbers imply.