Operating cash flow of $60.8M against $29.7M of net income in Q3 2026 (a 2.05x conversion ratio) is encouraging, but free cash flow margin swung from 38.4% in Q4 2025 to 4.3% in Q1 2026 and $54.4M and $47.9M of buybacks in Q2 and Q3 2026 may be absorbing liquidity the business could retain.
Freshpet, Inc. (FRPT) 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 | 200.62M | 160.56M | 154.29M | 75.94M | -43.23M | 647K | 21.19M | 16.32M | 18.58M | 10.27M | 12.8M | 6.74M | -8.03M | -11.24M | -8.72M |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | 14.57% | 15.82% | 9.9% | -7.26% | 0.15% | 6.65% | 6.64% | 9.61% | 6.57% | 9.62% | 5.8% | -9.25% | -17.8% | -20.03% |
| Operating CF Growth % | 770.48% | 4.07% | 103.17% | 275.68% | -6781.14% | -96.95% | 29.88% | -12.16% | 80.86% | -19.76% | 89.94% | 183.96% | 28.6% | -28.97% | - |
| Net Income | 131.52M | 139.14M | 46.92M | -33.61M | -59.49M | -29.7M | -3.19M | -1.38M | -5.36M | -4.26M | -3.16M | -3.71M | -37.34M | -21.69M | -18.66M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 96.67M | 89.72M | 73.61M | 58.52M | 34.55M | 30.47M | 21.13M | 15.92M | 14.07M | 12.69M | 9.89M | 7.57M | 6.42M | 5.95M | 4.73M |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 20.25M | 13.88M | 51.81M | 24.93M | 26.09M | 25M | 10.93M | 7.83M | 6.81M | 4.44M | 4.19M | 3.92M | 1.56M | 978.35K | 1.12M |
| Deferred Taxes | 35M | -68.8M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 126.94K | 455.69K | 233.44K | -397.04K | 654.17K | 706.09K | 490.18K |
| Other Non-Cash Items | -64.7M | 18.86M | -4.38M | 11.82M | 9.73M | 5.46M | 4.14M | 1.56M | 115.1K | 426.53K | 150.27K | 144.82K | 26.85M | 5.48M | 2.03M |
| Working Capital Changes | -18.11M | -32.24M | -13.68M | 14.28M | -54.11M | -30.58M | -11.81M | -7.61M | 2.82M | -3.48M | 1.5M | -795.54K | -6.18M | -2.67M | 1.57M |
| Change in Receivables | -4.26M | -6.88M | -12.23M | 820K | -32.99M | -16.37M | 166K | -8.02M | 410.04K | -3.85M | -1.85M | -1.68M | -1.87M | -921.77K | -1.6M |
| Change in Inventory | -23.67M | 3.82M | -15.48M | -1.21M | -26.17M | -16.8M | -6.81M | -3.34M | 701.87K | -5.01M | 1.57M | 565.73K | -1.69M | -1.84M | -758.43K |
| Change in Payables | 7.31M | 1.31M | 12.48M | 3.54M | -3.06M | 14.96M | -5.92M | 2.78M | 195.24K | 2.68M | 853.85K | 192.58K | -1.61M | 290.77K | 2.75M |
| Cash from Investing | -33.31M | -148.18M | -187.09M | -239.09M | -233.36M | -322.1M | -162.46M | -70.63M | -16.27M | -13M | -26.69M | -35.26M | -16.88M | -24.64M | -26.31M |
| Capital Expenditures | -25.8M | -148.18M | -187.09M | -239.09M | -230.07M | -322.1M | -134.57M | -70.63M | -16.27M | -13M | -29.95M | -32.04M | -17.13M | -24.64M | -26.4M |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 2.14% | 13.45% | 19.19% | 31.18% | 38.65% | 75.7% | 42.21% | 28.73% | 8.42% | 8.32% | 22.51% | 27.58% | 19.74% | 39.02% | 60.65% |
| Acquisitions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3.29M | 0 | -27.89M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.44K | 27.02M | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | -107.51M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -17.12B | -13M | 13.44K | -26.98M | 253.51K | 0 | 89.43K |
| Cash from Financing | -96.04M | -3.04M | 4.57M | 327.29M | 336.54M | 326.99M | 199.04M | 56.23M | 3.07M | 1.01M | 9.77M | 291.75K | 58.72M | 36.7M | 33.76M |
| Debt Issued (Net) | 3.13M | -2.12M | -1.98M | 392.41M | 0 | 0 | -55.07M | 53.79M | 0 | -7M | 7M | 0 | -76.5M | 32M | 33M |
| Equity Issued (Net) | -90.67M | 2.11M | 9.14M | 0 | 337.98M | 332.17M | 252.06M | 0 | 3.07M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 135.96M | 5.03M | 1.1M |
| Dividends Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Share Repurchases | -102.3M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -256.23K | 0 | 0 | 0 | -35M | 0 | 0 |
| Other Financing | -8.5M | -3.02M | -2.6M | -65.12M | -1.44M | -5.18M | 2.05M | 2.44M | 0 | 8.01M | 2.77M | 291.75K | -739.47K | -334.82K | -340.42K |
| Net Change in Cash | 71.27M | 9.34M | -28.24M | 164.14M | 59.95M | 5.54M | 57.77M | 1.92M | 5.37M | -1.72M | -4.12M | -28.23M | 33.81M | 811.5K | -1.23M |
| Free Cash Flow | 174.82M | 12.38M | -32.8M | -163.15M | -273.3M | -321.45M | -113.38M | -54.32M | 2.3M | -2.73M | -17.15M | -25.3M | -25.16M | -35.88M | -35.11M |
| FCF Margin % | 14.49% | 1.12% | -3.36% | -21.27% | -45.91% | -75.55% | -35.56% | -22.09% | 1.19% | -1.75% | -12.89% | -21.78% | -28.99% | -56.82% | -80.68% |
| FCF Growth % | 305.59% | 137.73% | 79.89% | 40.3% | 14.98% | -183.53% | -108.73% | -2460.38% | 184.18% | 84.06% | 32.21% | -0.58% | 29.89% | -2.2% | - |
| FCF per Share | 3.19 | 0.22 | -0.65 | -3.39 | -5.92 | -7.49 | -2.85 | -1.51 | 0.07 | -0.08 | -0.51 | -0.75 | -1.85 | -1.73 | -3.38 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | 1.33x | 1.15x | 3.29x | -2.26x | 0.73x | -0.02x | -6.65x | -11.80x | -3.46x | -2.41x | -4.05x | -1.82x | 0.21x | 0.52x | 0.47x |
| Interest Paid | -5.95M | 11.52M | 10.15M | 10.15M | 3.15M | 1.73M | 1.06M | 522K | 184K | 519.28K | 445.28K | 332.24K | 4.7M | 2.93M | 0 |
| Taxes Paid | 0 | 910K | 193K | 308K | 297K | 182K | 88K | 9K | 69K | 58.88K | 76.94K | 56.35K | 31.36K | 22.27K | 0 |
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying FRPT stock.
Freshpet, Inc. (FRPT) generated $160.6M in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
Freshpet, Inc. (FRPT) generated $12.4M 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.
Freshpet, Inc. (FRPT) spent $148.2M on capital expenditures in 2025. CapEx represents the cash invested in physical assets like property, plant, and equipment to maintain or grow the business.
Key Metrics
Top Statement Risk
Volatile quarterly free cash flow
Metrics are mathematically derived from official filings.
Operating Cash Flow Outpaces Reported Earnings
Based on reported quarterly figures, Freshpet's operating cash flow exceeded net income in most recent quarters, including $60.8M of operating cash flow against $29.7M of net income in Q3 2026, a ratio of 2.05x.
Operating cash flow running at roughly twice net income in several quarters suggests that non-cash charges and working capital movements are inflating cash generation relative to accounting earnings. The Q1 2026 ratio of 0.83x and the Q2 2024 ratio of -25.04x, however, show that conversion is far from stable, so the reported net income figures appear to be heavily affected by discrete items. Investors should monitor whether conversion settles above 1.0x once quarterly noise is smoothed across a full cycle.
Free Cash Flow Turns Volatile Despite Growth
As reported in the quarterly cash flow statements, Freshpet's free cash flow margin swung from 38.4% in Q4 2025 to 4.3% in Q1 2026, a range that reflects heavy dependence on timing rather than a steady run-rate.
The Q4 2025 free cash flow of $109.6M appears to have been driven by a capital expenditure inflow of $54.5M rather than by core operating strength, which makes that quarter an outlier rather than a reliable benchmark. Excluding such items, free cash flow margins cluster in the low-to-mid single digits, suggesting that the business is only beginning to convert top-line growth into durable cash returns. This pattern warrants further investigation into whether capex timing or working capital swings are masking the underlying trajectory.
Kitchen Build-Out Pressures Cash Generation
Based on reported figures, capital expenditure consumed 22.2% of revenue in Q4 2024 and 13.4% in Q3 2024, indicating that expansion spending has been a material and recurring claim on operating cash flow.
Capex intensity well above 10% of revenue in multiple quarters is consistent with the company's ongoing investment in Kitchens and retail refrigerator fleet, which functions as growth spending that also carries maintenance-like characteristics. The recent decline to 7.2% of revenue in Q3 2026 may indicate that the build-out phase is moderating, though this remains a single data point. Investors should monitor whether capex stabilizes at a lower share of revenue, as that would support a meaningful step-up in free cash flow conversion.
Buybacks Absorb Recent Cash Generation
According to the reported cash flow data, Freshpet deployed $54.4M toward buybacks in Q2 2026 and $47.9M in Q3 2026, while paying no dividends across the reported period.
Repurchasing shares with cash that is only modestly positive on a free cash flow basis suggests management is prioritizing per-share metrics over balance sheet accumulation, which may be a reasonable choice given the company's low leverage. However, buybacks at this scale relative to quarterly free cash flow of $14.7M in Q2 2026 imply reliance on the balance sheet or prior cash generation to fund them. This warrants monitoring to determine whether returns on the deployed capital justify the drawdown.
Strong Conversion May Mask Timing Effects
Based on reported figures, the strongest cash conversion quarters coincide with working capital swings and capex timing, which may overstate the durability of Freshpet's operating cash generation.
Quarterly operating cash flow ratios above 2.0x, such as Q3 2026 at 2.05x and Q2 2025 at 2.07x, appear to coincide with large working capital movements and uneven capex, so they may not represent a repeatable run-rate. Net income itself is distorted by discrete items, as seen in Q3 2025 where earnings of $101.7M far exceeded operating income, which weakens the reliability of any conversion benchmark. Investors should treat trailing cash conversion as indicative only until several consecutive quarters confirm a stable relationship between operating cash flow and earnings.