Free cash flow remains highly volatile, swinging from a $232.6 million surplus in 2025Q3 to a $66.8 million deficit in 2026Q1, reflecting inconsistent working capital management.
| Cash from Operations | 398.28M | 298.7M | 73.9M | -10.9M | 61.4M |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | 7.11% | 1.86% | -0.33% | 2.2% |
| Operating CF Growth % | 58.59% | 304.19% | 777.98% | -117.75% | - |
| Net Income | -335M | -353.3M | -716.4M | -472.4M | -316.2M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 637.7M | 632.5M | 596.7M | 460.9M | 301.1M |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 0 | 0 | 4.7M | 4.3M | 4.4M |
| Deferred Taxes | -6.29M | -6.1M | -35.6M | -38.7M | -36.9M |
| Other Non-Cash Items | 138.28M | 123.9M | 183.9M | 55.5M | 35.5M |
| Working Capital Changes | -36.41M | -98.3M | 40.6M | -20.5M | 73.5M |
| Change in Receivables | -87.7M | -18.5M | -54.7M | 900K | 77.2M |
| Change in Inventory | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Change in Payables | 121.61M | -27.9M | 98.5M | -63.7M | -5.2M |
| Cash from Investing | -298.42M | -235.6M | 9.6M | -1.7B | -430.9M |
| Capital Expenditures | -339.79M | -274.8M | -35.4M | -24.2M | -48.3M |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 7.89% | 6.55% | 0.89% | 0.72% | 1.73% |
| Acquisitions | -19.57M | 41M | 304.2M | -1.43B | -102.1M |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | 60.95M | -1.8M | -259.2M | -251.8M | -250.5M |
| Cash from Financing | -18.52M | 177.3M | -67.1M | 1.9B | 296.7M |
| Debt Issued (Net) | -1.01B | -807.4M | -64.3M | 1.98B | 249.4M |
| Equity Issued (Net) | 1.01B | 983.7M | 0 | 0 | 41.1M |
| Dividends Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Share Repurchases | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Financing | -20.17M | 1M | -2.8M | -78.9M | 6.2M |
| Net Change in Cash | 74.3M | 252.6M | -16.7M | 155.3M | -108M |
| Free Cash Flow | 114.89M | 23.9M | -224.8M | -283.5M | -244.2M |
| FCF Margin % | 2.67% | 0.57% | -5.66% | -8.48% | -8.76% |
| FCF Growth % | - | 110.63% | 20.71% | -16.09% | - |
| FCF per Share | 0.39 | 0.09 | -0.92 | -1.16 | -1.00 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | -0.34x | -0.85x | -0.09x | 0.02x | -0.21x |
| Interest Paid | 85M | 0 | 411.4M | 279.2M | 106.4M |
| Taxes Paid | 22.2M | 0 | 118.2M | 109.3M | 68.8M |
High Debt Service Burden
As reported in recent financial statements, NIQ's operating cash flow frequently decouples from net income, evidenced by a 2025Q3 operating cash flow of $283.5 million against a net loss of $198.6 million, highlighting the significant impact of non-cash charges on the company's reported bottom line.
The persistent gap between net income and operating cash flow suggests that accounting losses are heavily influenced by non-cash items, likely amortization of intangibles from recent acquisitions. Investors should monitor whether this cash-generative capacity is sustainable or if it relies on aggressive working capital management that may reverse in future periods.
Based on the provided quarterly data, NIQ's free cash flow trajectory remains highly erratic, swinging from a $232.6 million surplus in 2025Q3 to a $156.7 million deficit in 2025Q1, which underscores the inherent instability in the company's current cash generation profile during this integration phase.
The extreme volatility in free cash flow indicates that the business is struggling to maintain consistent liquidity while absorbing the costs of the GfK merger. This inconsistency warrants further investigation into whether the cash flow troughs are driven by seasonal billing cycles or structural inefficiencies in the underlying subscription model.
According to the cash flow data, NIQ's capital expenditure reached a peak of $130.4 million in 2025Q2, representing 12.5% of revenue, which suggests a period of heavy investment in the digital infrastructure required to harmonize disparate global retail datasets following recent corporate expansion.
The elevated capital intensity appears necessary to modernize legacy systems, yet it places significant pressure on free cash flow. Analysts should evaluate whether these expenditures are truly growth-oriented or if they represent maintenance capex required simply to keep the existing data platform functional in a competitive landscape.
As indicated by the quarterly cash flow filings, working capital changes have been a major source of volatility, ranging from a $221.9 million outflow in 2025Q1 to a $193.5 million inflow in 2025Q3, reflecting significant fluctuations in the timing of client collections and vendor payments.
Such dramatic swings in working capital suggest that the company's cash conversion cycle is not yet optimized, potentially due to the integration of different billing systems from acquired entities. This instability makes it difficult to forecast short-term liquidity and may indicate underlying friction in the revenue recognition process.
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying NIQ stock.
NIQ Global Intelligence Plc (NIQ) generated $298.7M in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
NIQ Global Intelligence Plc (NIQ) generated $23.9M 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.
NIQ Global Intelligence Plc (NIQ) spent $274.8M on capital expenditures in 2025. CapEx represents the cash invested in physical assets like property, plant, and equipment to maintain or grow the business.