Free cash flow generation remains strong at a 12.1% margin in Q2 2026, but operating cash flow of $26.5M is heavily reliant on non-cash add-backs like stock-based compensation of $10.1M.
N-able, Inc. (NABL) cash flow statement — 8-year operating, investing & financing cash flows
| Metric | TTM | Dec'25 | Dec'24 | Dec'23 | Dec'22 | Dec'21 | Dec'20 | Dec'19 | Dec'18 |
|---|
| Cash from Operations | 93.32M | 93.2M | 79.44M | 90.09M | 71.41M | 45.34M | 85.67M | 25.54M | 52.33M |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | 18.22% | 17.04% | 21.35% | 19.21% | 13.09% | 28.28% | 9.69% | 22.92% |
| Operating CF Growth % | 5.06% | 17.33% | -11.82% | 26.15% | 57.5% | -47.07% | 235.42% | -51.19% | - |
| Net Income | -4.7M | -17.03M | 30.96M | 23.41M | 16.71M | 113K | -7.16M | -2.51M | -13.69M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 44.7M | 44.06M | 25.73M | 20.07M | 24.44M | 33.77M | 56.45M | 54.14M | 56.02M |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 43.24M | 46.59M | 45.35M | 43.57M | 36.53M | 29.43M | 21.05M | 8.66M | 1.8M |
| Deferred Taxes | -3.92M | -3.82M | -1.95M | 330K | -1.42M | -1.91M | -4.05M | -4.73M | -10.54M |
| Other Non-Cash Items | 23.46M | 25.58M | 377K | 576K | 119K | 3.85M | 3.19M | 1.14M | 3.45M |
| Working Capital Changes | -9.45M | -2.17M | -21.02M | 2.13M | -4.96M | -19.91M | 16.18M | -31.16M | 15.29M |
| Change in Receivables | -7.19M | -436K | -21.84M | -7.23M | -4.13M | -11.57M | -3.69M | -5.29M | -4.94M |
| Change in Inventory | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19.32M |
| Change in Payables | 7.55M | 2.54M | -461K | 1.83M | -1.62M | -455K | 3.27M | -236K | 791K |
| Cash from Investing | -33.13M | -28.96M | -122.42M | -22.34M | -30.21M | -34.83M | -16.14M | -23.04M | -22.93M |
| Capital Expenditures | -22.56M | -18.14M | -17.57M | -13.78M | -12.83M | -30.66M | -11.92M | -5.79M | -9.92M |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 4.23% | 3.55% | 3.77% | 3.27% | 3.45% | 8.85% | 3.94% | 2.2% | 4.35% |
| Acquisitions | 0 | 0 | -98.69M | 0 | -9.2M | 0 | 0 | -14.82M | -13M |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | -10.57M | -10.82M | -6.16M | -8.56M | -8.18M | -4.17M | -4.22M | -2.42M | -451K |
| Cash from Financing | -34.08M | -40.63M | -22.59M | -15.17M | -10.4M | -42.32M | -10.56M | -42.81M | 20.58M |
| Debt Issued (Net) | 63.13M | 61.38M | -3.5M | -3.5M | -3.5M | -23.52M | -21.75M | -55.6M | 0 |
| Equity Issued (Net) | -17.8M | -27.68M | 2.39M | -11.98M | 0 | 216M | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dividends Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -216M | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Share Repurchases | -20.04M | -30.04M | 0 | -11.98M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Financing | -79.41M | -74.32M | -21.49M | 303K | -6.9M | -18.8M | 11.19M | 12.79M | 20.58M |
| Net Change in Cash | 21.94M | 26.64M | -67.85M | 54.2M | 32.11M | -33.05M | 60.44M | -38.52M | 47.44M |
| Free Cash Flow | 70.77M | 75.06M | 55.71M | 67.75M | 50.4M | 10.51M | 69.53M | 17.32M | 42.4M |
| FCF Margin % | 13.25% | 14.68% | 11.95% | 16.06% | 13.56% | 3.03% | 22.96% | 6.57% | 18.57% |
| FCF Growth % | 1.8% | 34.74% | -17.77% | 34.42% | 379.66% | -84.89% | 301.3% | -59.14% | - |
| FCF per Share | 0.37 | 0.40 | 0.30 | 0.36 | 0.28 | 0.06 | 0.22 | 0.05 | 0.13 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | -15.05x | -5.47x | 2.57x | 3.85x | 4.27x | 401.25x | -11.97x | -10.17x | -3.82x |
| Interest Paid | 12.27M | 24.97M | 28.69M | 28.44M | 15.57M | 20.39M | 26.6M | 52.68M | 24.85M |
| Taxes Paid | 12.17M | 18.06M | 12.77M | 14.93M | 16.3M | 19.03M | 14.21M | 8.94M | 3.78M |
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying NABL stock.
N-able, Inc. (NABL) generated $93.2M in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
N-able, Inc. (NABL) generated $75.1M 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.
N-able, Inc. (NABL) spent $18.1M on capital expenditures in 2025. CapEx represents the cash invested in physical assets like property, plant, and equipment to maintain or grow the business.
In 2025, N-able, Inc. (NABL) spent $30.0M on share repurchases. This shows the company's commitment to returning capital to its equity investors.
Key Metrics
Top Statement Risk
SBC masks true cash conversion
Metrics are mathematically derived from official filings.
Cash Flow Strong Despite Net Losses
Despite reporting net losses in several recent quarters, N-able's operating cash flow has remained consistently positive and strong, generating $26.5M in Q2 2026 against a net income of just $1.8M, indicating robust cash conversion from its core subscription model.
The company's OCF/NI ratio is highly volatile, swinging from 15.06 in Q2 2026 to -28.41 in Q1 2026, which is driven by the net income itself being volatile and often negative. This pattern suggests the underlying business generates substantial cash regardless of GAAP profitability, likely due to the cash-frontloaded nature of software subscriptions and the non-cash nature of a significant portion of its operating expenses, particularly stock-based compensation.
FCF Trajectory Decoupled from Earnings
N-able's free cash flow margin has remained robust, averaging approximately 14% over the last four quarters, a stark contrast to its inconsistent and often negative net income, suggesting the core operations are far more profitable on a cash basis than GAAP results indicate.
The FCF trajectory is positive and stable, with the company generating between $15.8M and $22.1M in FCF per quarter since Q2 2024, excluding the anomalous negative Q1 2024. This FCF power is primarily driven by strong operating cash flow, which comfortably covers the company's modest capital expenditure needs, and supports the thesis that N-able is a cash-generative software asset.
Modest Capex Highlights Asset-Light Model
Capital expenditure as a percentage of revenue has remained low, averaging around 3.5% over the last ten quarters, confirming N-able's asset-light software business model that requires minimal reinvestment to maintain its operations and generate free cash flow.
The company's capital intensity is consistently low, with CapEx/Rev ranging from a low of 1.3% to a high of 7.1%. This indicates that the vast majority of operating cash flow is available for distribution or strategic deployment. The recent uptick to 7.1% in Q2 2026 warrants monitoring to see if it represents a sustained increase in investment or a one-time item.
Working Capital Swings Distort Quarterly OCF
Working capital changes have been a major source of volatility in quarterly operating cash flow, with swings from a -$20.5M use in Q1 2024 to a $5.1M source in Q4 2024, obscuring the underlying cash generation trend from period to period.
These large swings, such as the -$6.9M and -$4.0M uses of cash in Q1 and Q3 2025, suggest variability in the timing of customer collections or payment terms. Investors should focus on the longer-term trend in OCF, which is clearly positive, rather than quarter-to-quarter fluctuations driven by working capital.
Cash Deployed for Buybacks After Acquisition
Following a $98.7M acquisition in Q4 2024, N-able initiated a share repurchase program, using $30.0M for buybacks in Q2-Q3 2025, while dividend payments have remained at zero, indicating a preference for returning capital through equity repurchases.
The allocation of capital suggests management is focused on using free cash flow to offset dilution from stock-based compensation, which averaged over $11M per quarter. The shift from an acquisitive posture to a repurchase posture may indicate a pause in M&A activity as the company integrates its recent purchase and focuses on generating returns for shareholders.
SBC and Earnings Quality Caveats
A significant portion of N-able's operating cash flow is offset by stock-based compensation, which averaged $11.1M per quarter over the last ten periods, representing a substantial non-cash add-back that inflates cash conversion metrics relative to true economic earnings.
While the company is cash flow positive, the high SBC expense, which exceeded net income in every positive earnings quarter, is a critical factor for investors to adjust for. This level of compensation creates a recurring dilutive headwind, and the true cash flow available to equity holders, after accounting for this economic cost, is meaningfully lower than the headline OCF figure suggests.