Free cash flow generation has weakened substantially, with margins contracting from 17.6% in 2023Q4 to 1.5% in 2026Q1, reflecting ongoing difficulties in managing capital expenditure and working capital.
| 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 | 2.82B | 2.93B | 3.87B | 3.46B | 2.24B | 1.91B | 1.88B | 2.44B | 3.16B | 2.47B | -1.7B | 2.91B | 4.06B | 4.45B | 3.65B | 3.68B | 2.21B | 2.41B | 2.67B | 2.73B | 3.66B | 701M | 928M | -775M | 1.56B | 2.29B | 769M | 233M | 454.1M | 548.2M | 452M |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | 13.19% | 16.85% | 15.02% | 11.05% | 12.49% | 13.02% | 10.91% | 13.16% | 11.97% | -10.72% | 12.3% | 12.36% | 15.12% | 12.82% | 14.84% | 12.31% | 16.4% | 14.63% | 17.86% | 28.23% | 6.94% | 4.67% | -4.76% | 12.42% | 17.57% | 6.44% | 1.89% | 3.13% | 3.37% | 3.24% |
| Operating CF Growth % | -106.66% | -24.3% | 11.77% | 54.24% | 17.32% | 1.59% | -23.07% | -22.55% | 27.92% | 244.92% | -158.6% | -28.46% | -8.66% | 21.7% | -0.81% | 66.55% | -8.06% | -10.02% | -1.91% | -25.46% | 421.68% | -24.46% | 219.74% | -149.62% | -31.85% | 198.05% | 230.04% | -48.69% | -17.17% | 21.28% | -28.48% |
| Net Income | 1.54B | 1.29B | 2.52B | 2.66B | 1.59B | 1.47B | -2.94B | -1.13B | 1.66B | -468M | -5.77B | -667M | 3.5B | 2.13B | 2.65B | 3.01B | 1.8B | 1.16B | 2.64B | 2.52B | 2.35B | 2.36B | -979M | -820M | -998M | 809M | 501M | 438M | -15M | 772M | 557.9M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 1.15B | 1.14B | 1.08B | 998M | 940M | 904M | 1.06B | 1.63B | 1.61B | 1.56B | 1.5B | 1.83B | 2.13B | 1.9B | 1.63B | 1.36B | 1.12B | 931M | 738M | 583M | 480M | 448M | 509M | 518M | 505M | 531M | 503M | 511M | 500M | 564M | 497.7M |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 298M | 0 | 217M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Deferred Taxes | 0 | 0 | 148M | 196M | 70M | -486M | -444M | -396M | -267M | 734M | -1.5B | -224M | -454M | -132M | 165M | -30M | 124M | 274M | 254M | -140M | 658M | -243M | -176M | -86M | -151M | 26M | -6M | 187M | -297M | 3M | -13.4M |
| Other Non-Cash Items | 723M | 774M | 225M | 113M | 578M | -260M | 3.41B | 2.51B | 545M | 1.27B | 2.83B | 944M | -246M | 773M | 92M | 478M | 70M | -417M | 0 | -21M | 953M | -1.2B | 1.14B | 809M | 1.19B | 976M | 334M | -962M | 730M | 29M | -52.7M |
| Working Capital Changes | -608M | -276M | -103M | -511M | -941M | 285M | 800M | -161M | -384M | -626M | 1.23B | 1.02B | -1.16B | -229M | -1.09B | -1.13B | -903M | 454M | -956M | -220M | -782M | -658M | 430M | -1.2B | 1.01B | -50M | -563M | 2M | -533M | -535M | -125.3M |
| Change in Receivables | 274M | 188M | -312M | -257M | -1.15B | -500M | 1.39B | 636M | -186M | -1.35B | 899M | 1.47B | -1.38B | -449M | -682M | -1.22B | -902M | 869M | -670M | -326M | -494M | -570M | 13M | -1.62B | 855M | -199M | -896M | 616M | -215M | -409M | -363.5M |
| Change in Inventory | 84M | 80M | 147M | -303M | -642M | -10M | 340M | -202M | -681M | -29M | 552M | 153M | -247M | -107M | -611M | -564M | -331M | 232M | -368M | -218M | -308M | -152M | -22M | 7M | 62M | -91M | 8M | 65M | -66.3M | -14.1M | -46M |
| Change in Payables | -8M | -72M | 62M | 49M | 852M | 795M | -934M | -595M | 483M | 753M | -219M | -603M | 489M | 327M | 200M | 649M | 330M | -118M | 161M | 77M | -91M | -317M | 428M | 676M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cash from Investing | -784M | -1.32B | -1.65B | -1.66B | -967M | -534M | -486M | -1.45B | -1.99B | -1.93B | -710M | -2.19B | -3.14B | -2.87B | -3.69B | -3.19B | -1.75B | -3.08B | -1.86B | -3.66B | -426M | 510M | -226M | -196M | -473M | -858M | -411M | -159M | -846.1M | -686.7M | -409.4M |
| Capital Expenditures | -1.14B | -1.25B | -1.44B | -1.38B | -1.01B | -799M | -728M | -1.53B | -2.03B | -1.37B | -798M | -2.18B | -3.28B | -2.93B | -3.57B | -2.95B | -2.07B | -1.86B | -2.48B | -1.58B | -891M | -651M | -575M | -515M | -764M | -797M | -578M | -606M | -954.7M | -577.1M | -395.7M |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 5.16% | 5.65% | 6.28% | 5.99% | 4.98% | 5.22% | 5.04% | 6.83% | 8.44% | 6.66% | 5.02% | 9.24% | 9.99% | 9.98% | 12.51% | 11.89% | 11.51% | 12.7% | 13.55% | 10.37% | 6.88% | 6.45% | 2.89% | 3.17% | 6.08% | 6.11% | 4.84% | 4.92% | 6.58% | 3.55% | 2.84% |
| Acquisitions | 116M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 87M | 0 | 0 | -187M | -628M | -31M | -39M | -231M | -94M | -214M | -880M | -523M | -55M | -652M | -1.39B | -27M | -108M | -25M | -6M | 0 | -220M | -10M | -7M | -40M | 0 | 0 |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | -180M | -70M | 12M | 81M | 119M | 183M | 242M | 85M | 116M | 85M | 115M | 34M | 115M | 131M | 340M | 143M | 194M | 154M | 191M | -373M | 445M | -605M | 263M | 286M | 416M | 155M | 177M | 420M | 91M | 169M | 32.5M |
| Cash from Financing | -1.82B | -1.99B | -1.73B | -1.67B | -1.8B | -838M | -1.01B | -695M | -1.42B | -2.16B | -3.54B | 7.08B | -1.03B | -1.75B | -172M | 833M | -1.11B | 1.67B | -1.52B | -1.57B | -1.28B | -720M | 283M | 1.64B | -248M | -1.35B | -584M | 184M | 253.7M | 151.6M | -65.8M |
| Debt Issued (Net) | -389M | -389M | -100M | -305M | -1.24B | -700M | -660M | -13M | -445M | -1.63B | -3.1B | 7.43B | -4M | 2.97B | 0 | 978M | -790M | 1.94B | -861M | -7M | -337M | -789M | 469M | 1.86B | -17M | -1.12B | 321M | 377M | 508M | 199M | 280.1M |
| Equity Issued (Net) | -857M | -1.01B | -900M | -664M | -21M | 79M | -13M | 18M | -205M | 158M | 186M | 167M | -468M | -4.36B | 0 | 0 | -141M | -17M | -387M | -1.37B | -1.18B | 330M | 56M | 0 | -4M | -7M | -664M | 39M | 29M | 27M | -192.6M |
| Dividends Paid | -574M | -579M | -600M | -576M | -435M | -161M | -278M | -630M | -630M | -626M | -620M | -614M | -533M | -465M | -333M | -330M | -327M | -324M | -319M | -314M | -306M | -254M | -221M | -219M | -219M | -215M | -221M | -221M | -254.2M | -127.3M | -117.5M |
| Share Repurchases | -857M | -1.01B | -1B | -800M | -250M | 0 | -100M | -100M | -400M | 0 | 0 | 0 | -800M | -4.36B | -33M | -43M | -141M | -17M | -507M | -1.37B | -1.34B | -12M | -7M | 0 | -4M | -34M | -769M | -10M | -20M | -44M | -235.2M |
| Other Financing | 2M | -12M | -130M | -126M | -100M | -56M | -56M | -70M | -139M | -62M | -9M | 96M | -25M | 99M | 161M | 185M | 144M | 67M | 44M | 125M | 543M | -7M | -21M | -9M | -8M | -17M | -20M | -6M | -16M | 52.9M | 3.7M |
| Net Change in Cash | 199M | -412M | 354M | -82M | -698M | 481M | 295M | 260M | -329M | -1.67B | -6.07B | 7.79B | -65M | -128M | -214M | 1.3B | -684M | 958M | -723M | -2.53B | 1.99B | 474M | 993M | 708M | 817M | 59M | -235M | 263M | -143.7M | 7.7M | -26M |
| Free Cash Flow | 1.68B | 1.67B | 2.42B | 2.08B | 1.23B | 1.11B | 1.15B | 915M | 1.13B | 1.09B | -2.5B | 722M | 779M | 1.51B | 88M | 731M | 143M | 542M | 198M | 1.14B | 2.77B | 50M | 353M | -1.29B | 798M | 1.5B | 191M | -373M | -500.6M | -28.9M | 56.3M |
| FCF Margin % | 7.57% | 7.54% | 10.56% | 9.03% | 6.06% | 7.27% | 7.98% | 4.08% | 4.71% | 5.31% | -15.74% | 3.06% | 2.37% | 5.15% | 0.31% | 2.94% | 0.8% | 3.69% | 1.08% | 7.49% | 21.35% | 0.5% | 1.78% | -7.93% | 6.35% | 11.46% | 1.6% | -3.03% | -3.45% | -0.18% | 0.4% |
| FCF Growth % | -28.32% | -30.99% | 16.55% | 68.89% | 10.7% | -3.56% | 26.01% | -19.1% | 3.29% | 143.78% | -446.4% | -7.32% | -48.51% | 1619.32% | -87.96% | 411.19% | -73.62% | 173.74% | -82.68% | -58.68% | 5432% | -85.84% | 127.36% | -261.65% | -46.62% | 682.72% | 151.21% | 25.49% | -1632.18% | -151.33% | -83.53% |
| FCF per Share | 2.00 | 1.99 | 2.74 | 2.30 | 1.36 | 1.25 | 1.31 | 1.05 | 1.29 | 1.26 | -2.90 | 0.85 | 0.91 | 1.68 | 0.09 | 0.79 | 0.16 | 0.60 | 0.22 | 1.20 | 2.62 | 0.05 | 0.40 | -1.48 | 0.92 | 1.74 | 0.21 | -0.42 | -0.57 | -0.06 | 0.11 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | 1.09x | 2.28x | 1.55x | 1.31x | 1.43x | 1.31x | -0.64x | -2.16x | 1.91x | -5.33x | 0.30x | -4.33x | 1.16x | 2.09x | 1.39x | 1.30x | 1.21x | 2.10x | 1.20x | 0.78x | 1.56x | 0.30x | -0.95x | 0.95x | -1.57x | 2.83x | 1.53x | 0.53x | -30.27x | 0.71x | 0.81x |
| Interest Paid | 316M | 432M | 441M | 460M | 487M | 517M | 509M | 534M | 556M | 0 | -659M | 380M | 384M | 293M | 294M | 261M | 310M | 251M | 143M | 144M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Taxes Paid | 474M | 639M | 538M | 616M | 354M | 214M | 300M | 363M | 178M | 0 | 20M | 370M | 1.27B | 913M | 1.1B | 1.28B | 804M | 485M | 1.06B | 941M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Cyclical demand and pricing
As reported in financial statements, Halliburton's operating cash flow to net income ratio has fluctuated wildly, reaching an extreme of 27.11 in 2025Q3, which suggests that reported net income is a poor proxy for the company's actual ability to generate cash from its core operations.
The significant divergence between net income and operating cash flow indicates that non-cash charges and working capital swings are heavily distorting the bottom line. Investors should monitor whether this volatility is a structural feature of the company's project-based revenue recognition or a sign of deteriorating earnings quality.
Based on recent SEC filings, Halliburton's free cash flow margin has experienced significant contraction, falling from 17.6% in 2023Q4 to a mere 1.5% in 2026Q1, highlighting the company's struggle to maintain cash generation efficiency amidst a challenging and highly cyclical North American energy market environment.
The sharp decline in free cash flow margins suggests that the company's capital-intensive business model is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain during periods of revenue stagnation. This trend warrants further investigation into whether the current level of capital expenditure is truly necessary for maintenance or if it reflects an inability to scale back spending in response to lower demand.
According to the provided quarterly data, Halliburton's capital expenditure as a percentage of revenue has remained stubbornly high, peaking at 7.6% in 2024Q4, which indicates that the company must continuously reinvest significant capital just to maintain its existing fleet of pressure pumping and drilling equipment.
The persistent capital intensity suggests that the company's assets are subject to rapid wear and tear, necessitating constant reinvestment that limits free cash flow. This high maintenance burden appears to be a structural constraint that prevents the company from achieving meaningful cash flow expansion during cyclical downturns.
As evidenced by the reported figures, Halliburton's working capital dynamics are highly erratic, with a massive $486 million outflow in 2026Q1, which suggests that the company is facing significant challenges in managing its cash conversion cycle and collecting payments from its exploration and production customer base.
These large, periodic working capital outflows appear to be a primary driver of the company's inconsistent cash flow performance. The inability to consistently manage these cycles may indicate that customers are exerting increased bargaining power, forcing Halliburton to absorb the costs of extended payment terms.
Based on the company's reported figures, Halliburton has continued to prioritize shareholder returns through dividends and buybacks despite the significant volatility in free cash flow, as seen in the $1 billion share repurchase executed during the 2025Q4 period when cash generation was temporarily elevated.
The decision to return capital to shareholders during periods of high cash flow volatility may be viewed as aggressive, given the underlying cyclical risks. Investors should monitor whether this capital allocation strategy remains sustainable if the current trend of contracting free cash flow margins continues to persist.
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying HAL stock.
Halliburton Company (HAL) generated $2.93B in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
Halliburton Company (HAL) generated $1.67B 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.
Halliburton Company (HAL) spent $1.25B 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, Halliburton Company (HAL) returned $579.0M to shareholders via cash dividends and spent $1.01B on share repurchases. This shows the company's commitment to returning capital to its equity investors.