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Free cash flow turned negative at -$141M in 2026Q2 and -$1.3B in 2026Q1, as capex averaged $1.4B per quarter (16.4% of revenue in 2025Q4), while working capital swings ranged from -$2.2B to +$1.7B, driving cash flow volatility.
ArcelorMittal S.A. (MT) cash flow statement — 29-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 | 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 |
|---|
| Cash from Operations | 5.42B | 4.81B | 4.85B | 7.64B | 10.2B | 9.9B | 4.08B | 6.02B | 4.2B | 4.56B | 2.71B | 2.15B | 3.87B | 4.3B | 5.29B | 1.78B | 4.01B | 7.28B | 14.65B | 16.53B | 7.12B | 3.97B | 4.61B | 189M | 168M | 40M | 381M | 599M | 253M | 259M |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | 7.84% | 7.77% | 11.2% | 12.78% | 12.94% | 7.66% | 8.52% | 5.52% | 6.64% | 4.77% | 3.38% | 4.88% | 5.41% | 6.29% | 1.89% | 5.15% | 11.18% | 11.73% | 15.71% | 12.1% | 14.13% | 20.77% | 3.47% | 3.44% | 0.89% | 7.47% | 12.8% | 7.25% | 11.83% |
| Operating CF Growth % | 90.63% | -0.91% | -36.53% | -25.07% | 3.01% | 142.65% | -32.16% | 43.4% | -8.04% | 68.5% | 25.89% | -44.42% | -9.92% | -18.85% | 197.92% | -55.74% | -44.83% | -50.33% | -11.37% | 132.13% | 79.21% | -13.81% | 2339.68% | 12.5% | 320% | -89.5% | -36.39% | 136.76% | -2.32% | - |
| Net Income | 1.81B | 3.24B | 1.38B | 1.02B | 9.54B | 15.56B | -578M | -2.39B | 5.15B | 4.57B | 1.78B | -7.95B | -1.09B | -2.54B | -3.73B | 1.8B | 3.25B | 118M | 10.44B | 11.85B | 6.09B | 3.37B | 4.7B | 66M | 49M | -312M | 99M | 85M | 237M | 289M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 4.6B | 2.94B | 2.63B | 2.67B | 2.58B | 2.52B | 2.96B | 3.07B | 3.61B | 2.97B | 2.93B | 7.96B | 4.2B | 5.14B | 9.72B | 5B | 4.92B | 5.46B | 6.1B | 4.57B | 2.3B | 829M | 553M | 183M | 177M | 216M | 177M | 164M | 91M | 88M |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31M | 31M | 13M | 0 | 0 | 5M | 25M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Deferred Taxes | -309.43M | 359M | 510M | 238M | 1.72B | 2.46B | 1.67B | 459M | -1.28B | -151M | 732M | 571M | -90M | -90M | -2.43B | -136M | -2.3B | -4.87B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 155M | 86M | -30M | -61M | -114M | 3M | 25M | 45M | 3M |
| Other Non-Cash Items | 590.34M | -1.47B | 515M | 2B | -3.02B | -3.56B | -898M | 2.79B | 4.71B | -507M | -1.09B | 1.6B | 475M | 1.03B | -1.1B | -874M | 435M | 6.61B | 7.13B | -681M | -634M | -113M | 444M | -202M | -15M | -66M | -85M | -81M | 21M | -39M |
| Working Capital Changes | -2.29B | -267M | -185M | 1.71B | -615M | -7.08B | 932M | 2.09B | -4.38B | -1.87B | -1.02B | -31M | 368M | 764M | 2.83B | -3.83B | -2.53B | 3.28B | -9.02B | 793M | -626M | -520M | -1.17B | 172M | 18M | 316M | 187M | 406M | -96M | -82M |
| Change in Receivables | 0 | 597M | -192M | 307M | 1.13B | -2.54B | -76M | 964M | -646M | -620M | -373M | 335M | 537M | 115M | 1.15B | -694M | -433M | 1.58B | 2.14B | 548M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Change in Inventory | 0 | 820M | 238M | 1.57B | -2.06B | -8.65B | 1.79B | 2.47B | -4.65B | -2.35B | -2.06B | 925M | -122M | -609M | 2.78B | -3.06B | -5.54B | 5.36B | -7.72B | -690M | -584M | 40M | -1.37B | 106M | -37M | 169M | 27M | 136M | -11M | -81M |
| Change in Payables | 0 | -942M | 56M | -271M | -294M | 4.78B | -214M | -1.24B | 914M | 1.09B | 1.41B | -1.29B | -47M | 1.26B | -1.1B | -74M | 3.44B | -360M | -2.48B | 565M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cash from Investing | -7.49B | -4.55B | -4.99B | -5.85B | -4.48B | -340M | -2.01B | -3.82B | -3.76B | -2.83B | -1.14B | -2.17B | -3.08B | -2.88B | -3.66B | -3.68B | -3.44B | -2.78B | -12.43B | -11.91B | -8.58B | -7.61B | -801M | -124M | -80M | -48M | -195M | -184M | -1.47B | -286M |
| Capital Expenditures | -7.34B | -4.34B | -4.41B | -4.61B | -3.47B | -3.01B | -2.44B | -3.57B | -3.31B | -2.82B | -2.44B | -2.71B | -3.67B | -3.45B | -4.68B | -4.84B | -3.31B | -2.79B | -5.53B | -5.45B | -2.94B | -1.18B | -898M | -164M | -108M | -97M | -184M | -214M | -1.47B | -288M |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 11.68% | 7.07% | 7.05% | 6.76% | 4.34% | 3.93% | 4.58% | 5.06% | 4.35% | 4.1% | 4.3% | 4.26% | 4.62% | 4.35% | 5.56% | 5.15% | 4.24% | 4.29% | 4.43% | 5.18% | 4.99% | 4.2% | 4.05% | 3.01% | 2.21% | 2.16% | 3.61% | 4.57% | 42.21% | 13.15% |
| Acquisitions | -93.49M | -169M | 0 | -2.34B | -939M | -43M | 358M | -487M | 246M | 22M | 1.21B | 0 | -26M | -139M | 501M | -860M | -75M | -120M | -6.2B | -7.25B | -5.84B | -6.22B | -19M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9M | 0 | 0 |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | -537.17M | -45M | -582M | 548M | -44M | 111M | 11M | 39M | -3.76B | -11M | 1.3B | 342M | 588M | 575M | 1.02B | 1.26B | -28M | 8M | -696M | 787M | 201M | 30M | 116M | 40M | 28M | 41M | -9M | 21M | 0 | 2M |
| Cash from Financing | 744.07M | -1.77B | -680M | -3.67B | -477M | -10.9B | -1.5B | 514M | -689M | -1.73B | -2.93B | 395M | -2.75B | 241M | -1.04B | -540M | -7M | -6.35B | -2.13B | -3.42B | 5.45B | 3.35B | -2.33B | -63M | -101M | -123M | -139M | -432M | 987M | 532M |
| Debt Issued (Net) | 2.12B | -874M | 1.03B | -1.93B | 3.12B | -4.96B | -1.42B | 936M | 262M | -1.53B | -4.8B | 808M | -1.55B | 1.45B | -311M | 522M | 1.99B | -7.8B | 4.87B | 1.44B | 6.14B | 5.45B | -1.36B | -110M | -105M | -127M | -120M | -414M | 1.08B | 163M |
| Equity Issued (Net) | -480.69M | -262M | -1.3B | -1.21B | -2.94B | -5.17B | 240M | -90M | -226M | 0 | 3.12B | 0 | -657M | 1.76B | 0 | 0 | 1.36B | 3.15B | -4.44B | -2.5B | 8M | 3M | -45M | -8M | 4M | 4M | -1M | 0 | -78M | 368M |
| Dividends Paid | -576.15M | -421M | -393M | -369M | -332M | -312M | -181M | -203M | -220M | -141M | -61M | -416M | -458M | -415M | -1.19B | -1.19B | -1.26B | -1.34B | -2.58B | -2.27B | -660M | -2.09B | -763M | 0 | 0 | 0 | -18M | -18M | -19M | 0 |
| Share Repurchases | -480.69M | -262M | -1.3B | -1.21B | -2.94B | -5.17B | -500M | -90M | -226M | 0 | 0 | 0 | -657M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -4.44B | -2.55B | 0 | 0 | -54M | -8M | -1M | -1M | -1M | 0 | -78M | -32M |
| Other Financing | -317.02M | -209M | -15M | -162M | -331M | -459M | -135M | -129M | -624M | 28M | -1.18B | -82M | -82M | -2.58B | 483M | 117M | -2.14B | -371.48M | 11M | -85M | -46M | -11M | -211M | -164M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1M |
| Net Change in Cash | -11.29B | -1.01B | -1.29B | -1.61B | 5.08B | -1.39B | 733M | 2.69B | -432M | 171M | -1.49B | 86M | -2.22B | 1.69B | 631M | -2.51B | 288M | -1.66B | -284M | 1.84B | 3.98B | -460M | 1.74B | 3M | -8M | -129M | 44M | -18M | -231M | 480M |
| Free Cash Flow | -1.92B | 471M | 447M | 3.03B | 6.74B | 6.9B | 1.64B | 2.44B | 891M | 1.74B | 264M | -556M | 205M | 844M | 611M | -3.06B | 707M | 4.49B | 9.12B | 11.08B | 4.19B | 2.79B | 3.71B | 25M | 60M | -57M | 197M | 385M | -1.22B | -29M |
| FCF Margin % | -3.06% | 0.77% | 0.72% | 4.44% | 8.44% | 9.01% | 3.08% | 3.46% | 1.17% | 2.54% | 0.46% | -0.87% | 0.26% | 1.06% | 0.73% | -3.26% | 0.91% | 6.89% | 7.3% | 10.53% | 7.11% | 9.93% | 16.73% | 0.46% | 1.23% | -1.27% | 3.86% | 8.23% | -34.97% | -1.32% |
| FCF Growth % | -353.85% | 5.37% | -85.26% | -54.98% | -2.35% | 319.78% | -32.8% | 174.41% | -48.91% | 560.61% | 147.48% | -371.22% | -75.71% | 38.13% | 119.96% | -532.96% | -84.24% | -50.82% | -17.71% | 164.72% | 49.91% | -24.78% | 14752% | -58.33% | 205.26% | -128.93% | -48.83% | 131.53% | -4110.34% | - |
| FCF per Share | -2.51 | 0.61 | 0.57 | 3.59 | 7.37 | 6.22 | 1.44 | 2.41 | 0.87 | 1.70 | 0.28 | -0.72 | 0.27 | 1.13 | 0.94 | -4.53 | 1.05 | 7.39 | 15.69 | 18.86 | 10.09 | 9.66 | 75.00 | 0.49 | 1.16 | -1.12 | 3.91 | 7.65 | -23.47 | -0.59 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | -1.06x | 1.53x | 3.62x | 8.32x | 1.10x | 0.66x | -5.57x | -2.45x | 0.81x | 1.00x | 1.52x | -0.27x | -3.56x | -1.69x | -1.42x | 0.79x | 1.38x | 61.68x | 1.56x | 1.59x | 1.36x | 1.18x | 0.98x | 2.86x | 3.43x | -0.13x | 3.85x | 7.05x | 1.07x | 0.90x |
| Interest Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Taxes Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying MT stock.
ArcelorMittal S.A. (MT) generated $4.81B in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
ArcelorMittal S.A. (MT) generated $471.0M 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.
ArcelorMittal S.A. (MT) spent $4.34B 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, ArcelorMittal S.A. (MT) returned $421.0M to shareholders via cash dividends and spent $262.0M on share repurchases. This shows the company's commitment to returning capital to its equity investors.
Key Metrics
Top Statement Risk
European energy and carbon costs
Cash Conversion Volatility Masks Earnings Quality
Operating cash flow swung from -$354M in 2025Q1 to $3.7B in 2025Q4, per reported figures, while net income remained positive, indicating that working capital swings, not core earnings, drive cash conversion.
The OCF/NI ratio ranged from -6.33 to 21.04 over the past ten quarters, with the most recent quarter at 1.41. This extreme volatility suggests that reported net income is a poor proxy for cash generation, as inventory valuation adjustments and working capital swings dominate. Investors should focus on normalized cash flow rather than quarterly earnings.
Free Cash Flow Remains Deeply Negative
Free cash flow was -$141M in 2026Q2, following -$1.3B in 2026Q1, according to recent financial statements, as capex consistently exceeded operating cash flow, with FCF margins ranging from -8.9% to 9.1% over the period.
Despite a strong 2025Q4 FCF of $1.3B, the trailing twelve-month FCF is negative, reflecting heavy capital spending and weak operating cash flow. The company's capital intensity (capex/revenue averaging ~8%) suggests that sustaining its asset base requires significant reinvestment, limiting distributable cash.
Elevated Capex Reflects Green Steel Transition
Capital expenditures averaged $1.4B per quarter over the last ten quarters, with capex/revenue peaking at 16.4% in 2025Q4, based on reported data, indicating a strategic shift toward decarbonization and maintenance of integrated assets.
The elevated capex, particularly in 2025Q4, suggests that ArcelorMittal is investing heavily in its green steel transformation, which may not yield immediate returns. The high capital intensity relative to peers like Nucor (FCF margin 4.4%) implies that MT's cash flow generation is more constrained by its asset base.
Working Capital Swings Amplify Cash Flow Volatility
Working capital changes ranged from -$2.2B to +$1.7B over the past ten quarters, per financial statements, with 2026Q1 showing a -$1.5B outflow, indicating that inventory and receivables management is a major source of cash flow instability.
The large swings in working capital, particularly in 2025Q4 (+$1.7B) and 2026Q1 (-$1.5B), suggest that the company is managing inventory levels in response to volatile steel prices. This pattern indicates that cash flow is heavily influenced by commodity price cycles, making it difficult to predict quarterly cash generation.
Shareholder Returns Persist Despite Negative FCF
ArcelorMittal paid $186M in dividends and repurchased $483M of shares in 2026Q2, according to reported figures, even as free cash flow was negative, suggesting a commitment to returning capital that may strain liquidity.
The company has consistently returned capital to shareholders, with buybacks totaling over $1.5B in the last two quarters, despite negative FCF. This suggests that management is prioritizing shareholder returns over balance sheet flexibility, which may be sustainable given the low debt levels but warrants monitoring if cash flow deteriorates further.
Cumulative Earnings Exceed Cash Generation
Over the last ten quarters, cumulative net income was approximately $5.8B, while cumulative operating cash flow was roughly $10.6B, per reported data, indicating that cash conversion has been strong on a cumulative basis, but with significant quarterly volatility.
The cumulative OCF exceeding net income by nearly $5B suggests that non-cash charges like D&A (averaging $800M per quarter) are a major contributor to cash flow. However, the negative FCF in many quarters indicates that heavy capex is consuming a large portion of operating cash flow, limiting the cash available for debt reduction or further shareholder returns.
What the Cash Flow Statement Obscures
The cash flow statement may obscure the impact of capitalized stripping costs in mining and potential environmental liabilities, as per reported figures, which could inflate operating cash flow relative to true economic earnings.
The reported debt/equity of 0.24% appears unusually low for an integrated steelmaker, suggesting that certain liabilities may not be fully captured. Additionally, the capitalization of stripping costs in the mining segment can defer expenses, potentially overstating near-term cash flow. Investors should scrutinize these items to assess the sustainability of cash generation.