The firm remains in a persistent cash-burn phase, with quarterly free cash flow outflows frequently exceeding $6 million, necessitating ongoing reliance on external capital to sustain operations.
AEye, Inc. (LIDR) cash flow statement — 7-year operating, investing & financing cash flows
| Metric | TTM | Dec'25 | Dec'24 | Dec'23 | Dec'22 | Dec'21 | Dec'20 | Dec'19 |
|---|
| Cash from Operations | -29.46M | -27.78M | -26.62M | -50.73M | -71.65M | -55.7M | -19.69M | -25.83M |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | -11921.46% | -13178.22% | -3464.82% | -1964.6% | -1852.44% | -1246.93% | -1761.87% |
| Operating CF Growth % | -61.39% | -4.35% | 47.52% | 29.2% | -28.63% | -182.91% | 23.77% | - |
| Net Income | -35.04M | -33.96M | -35.46M | -87.13M | -98.71M | -65.01M | -26.55M | -28.65M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 175K | -223K | 129K | 1.55M | 1.42M | 1.01M | 922K | 343K |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 5.82M | 5.52M | 9.05M | 18.07M | 23.96M | 10.02M | 1.95M | 766K |
| Deferred Taxes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -29.42M |
| Other Non-Cash Items | 2.63M | 3.44M | 1.16M | 21.24M | 3.66M | 2.34M | -383K | 1.84M |
| Working Capital Changes | -3.05M | -2.55M | -1.5M | -4.46M | -1.98M | -4.06M | 4.37M | -130K |
| Change in Receivables | -189K | -68K | 85K | 451K | 3.6M | -4.07M | -13K | 249K |
| Change in Inventory | -552K | -678K | 245K | 7.71M | -2.63M | -2.63M | -309K | -1.33M |
| Change in Payables | -1.6M | 9K | 156K | 252K | 839K | 557K | 484K | 1.08M |
| Cash from Investing | -43.64M | -30.8M | 7.74M | 55.35M | 68.46M | -151.55M | -4.04M | 4.82M |
| Capital Expenditures | -414K | -109K | -486K | -1.95M | -4.2M | -1.02M | -4.04M | -1.18M |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 92% | 46.78% | 240.59% | 133.26% | 115.16% | 33.95% | 255.6% | 80.35% |
| Acquisitions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | 0 | 0 | 45K | 283K | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6M |
| Cash from Financing | 81.94M | 91.67M | 10.06M | -6.76M | 8.07M | 207.08M | 32.02M | 5.09M |
| Debt Issued (Net) | -239K | 1.3M | 146K | -6.24M | 8.98M | 4.71M | 31.36M | 0 |
| Equity Issued (Net) | 84.2M | 91M | 10.07M | 136K | 2.89M | -1.35M | 663K | 0 |
| Dividends Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Share Repurchases | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Financing | -2.02M | -643K | -161K | -659K | -3.8M | 203.72M | 0 | 5.09M |
| Net Change in Cash | 8.84M | 33.09M | -8.82M | -2.13M | 4.88M | -165K | 15.25M | 16.39M |
| Free Cash Flow | -29.88M | -27.89M | -27.11M | -52.68M | -75.85M | -56.72M | -23.73M | -27.01M |
| FCF Margin % | -6638.89% | -11968.24% | -13418.81% | -3598.09% | -2079.76% | -1886.4% | -1502.53% | -1842.22% |
| FCF Growth % | -11.46% | -2.88% | 48.54% | 30.55% | -33.72% | -139.09% | 12.15% | - |
| FCF per Share | -0.65 | -0.74 | -3.41 | -9.04 | -14.46 | -10.97 | -26.00 | -31.77 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | 0.85x | 0.82x | 0.75x | 0.58x | 0.73x | 0.86x | 0.74x | 47133.21x |
| Interest Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 115K | 133K | 358K | 0 | 0 |
| Taxes Paid | 22K | 0 | 2K | 16K | 20K | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying LIDR stock.
AEye, Inc. (LIDR) generated $-27.8M in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
AEye, Inc. (LIDR) reported negative free cash flow of $27.9M in 2025, indicating capital requirements exceeded cash from operations.
AEye, Inc. (LIDR) spent $0.1M 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
Liquidity and commercialization failure
Metrics are mathematically derived from official filings.
Operating Cash Flow Deficit Persists
As reported in recent financial statements, AEye's operating cash flow consistently tracks net losses, with an OCF/NI ratio often near 1.0, indicating that the company lacks non-cash accruals to bridge the gap between its accounting losses and the actual cash required to sustain its ongoing operations.
The tight correlation between net income and operating cash flow suggests that the company's losses are primarily cash-based rather than driven by non-cash accounting charges. This implies that the firm is consuming liquid capital at a rate nearly identical to its reported net losses, leaving little room for operational efficiency gains to improve the cash position.
Persistent Free Cash Flow Burn
Based on the provided quarterly data, AEye continues to experience a significant free cash flow burn, with quarterly outflows frequently exceeding $6 million, which underscores the company's inability to generate self-sustaining cash flows while it remains in the pre-revenue or early-stage development phase of its business cycle.
The consistent negative free cash flow trajectory indicates that the company is entirely dependent on external financing to fund its R&D and operational overhead. Investors should monitor whether the recent pivot to an asset-light model can meaningfully reduce this burn rate in future quarters, as current levels appear unsustainable.
Working Capital Volatility Impacts Liquidity
According to the company's cash flow filings, working capital changes have been highly erratic, with outflows reaching $2.1 million in 2025Q1, suggesting that the timing of project-based payments and inventory management remains a significant source of cash flow instability for the firm's limited liquidity reserves.
The frequent swings in working capital indicate that the company's cash position is highly sensitive to the timing of milestone payments and supplier obligations. This volatility complicates cash forecasting and suggests that the firm may face liquidity crunches if project milestones are delayed or if collections from partners are slower than anticipated.
Hidden Costs of Capital Dilution
As indicated by the historical cash flow data, the company has utilized stock-based compensation to manage its cash burn, with figures reaching $3.0 million in 2024Q1, which effectively masks the true economic cost of operations by shifting the burden of funding onto existing shareholders through equity dilution.
While stock-based compensation preserves cash in the short term, it represents a significant long-term cost to equity holders that is often obscured in standard cash flow analysis. The reliance on this mechanism suggests that management is prioritizing immediate liquidity over the preservation of shareholder value, warranting further investigation into the long-term impact on share count.