Free cash flow was -$571.0K in 2026Q2 after -$8.9M in 2026Q1, with OCF/NI ratios swinging erratically, suggesting cash conversion remains weak and dependent on working capital timing.
Playboy, Inc. (PLBY) 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 | -6.13M | 18K | -19.14M | -43.29M | -59.43M | -36.74M | 813K | 5.09M | 3.12M |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | 0.01% | -16.48% | -30.28% | -32.03% | -14.9% | 0.55% | 6.51% | 3.09% |
| Operating CF Growth % | 329.9% | 100.09% | 55.79% | 27.16% | -61.76% | -4619.31% | -84.02% | 63.29% | - |
| Net Income | 1.69M | -12.67M | -79.4M | -186.45M | -250.69M | -77.68M | -5.27M | -23.58M | 1.68M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 8.39M | 8.35M | 14.04M | 12.84M | 18.16M | 13.76M | 2.26M | 3.09M | 4.04M |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 7.09M | 4.71M | 7.31M | 9.6M | 20.54M | 58.45M | 2.99M | 7.37M | 0 |
| Deferred Taxes | -6.59M | -3.88M | 968K | -18.04M | -62.82M | -6.69M | 2.62M | 0 | 0 |
| Other Non-Cash Items | -19.68M | -60K | 35.95M | 153.91M | 248.31M | 4.7M | -279K | 20.49M | -1.73M |
| Working Capital Changes | 2.97M | 3.57M | 1.98M | -15.15M | -32.93M | -29.29M | -1.5M | -2.29M | -876K |
| Change in Receivables | -7.61M | 2.11M | 1.88M | 5.34M | 228K | -10.8M | -779K | 2.58M | -338K |
| Change in Inventory | -3.77M | -2.98M | 4.59M | -469K | -1.07M | -5.1M | -209K | -71K | -97K |
| Change in Payables | 2.86M | 1.01M | -3.34M | 512K | -801K | 7.64M | 423K | 0 | 0 |
| Cash from Investing | 14.11M | 550K | -318K | 12.95M | 8.75M | -273.18M | -5.47M | -16.99M | -2.97M |
| Capital Expenditures | -1.47M | -1.02M | -2.26M | -3.55M | -7.42M | -17.5M | -884K | -4.22M | -2.97M |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 1.14% | 0.85% | 1.95% | 2.48% | 4% | 7.1% | 0.6% | 5.41% | 2.94% |
| Acquisitions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15.32M | 0 | -255.55M | 0 | -12.79M | 0 |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | 15.57M | 1.57M | 1.94M | 1.18M | 16.18M | -122K | -4.59M | 24K | 0 |
| Cash from Financing | -5.59M | 8.59M | 21.59M | 26.18M | 11.56M | 370.47M | -8.49M | 6.06M | 15.01M |
| Debt Issued (Net) | -15.38M | -381K | -228K | -33.8M | -35.96M | 75.56M | -8.13M | 6.13M | 30.59M |
| Equity Issued (Net) | 13.23M | 10.27M | 22.25M | 60.49M | 48.25M | 202.9M | 0 | 0 | -35.18M |
| Dividends Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Share Repurchases | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -35.18M |
| Other Financing | -3.44M | -1.3M | -426K | -508K | -727K | 92.02M | -359K | -72K | 19.6M |
| Net Change in Cash | 3.08M | 9.5M | 1.65M | -3.95M | -39.86M | 59.93M | -13.15M | -5.84M | 15.15M |
| Free Cash Flow | -7.59M | -1.01M | -21.4M | -46.84M | -66.86M | -54.25M | -71K | 863K | 146K |
| FCF Margin % | -5.93% | -0.83% | -18.43% | -32.77% | -36.04% | -22% | -0.05% | 1.1% | 0.14% |
| FCF Growth % | -164.88% | 95.3% | 54.31% | 29.95% | -23.25% | -76304.23% | -108.23% | 491.1% | - |
| FCF per Share | -0.07 | -0.01 | -0.28 | -0.66 | -1.41 | -1.42 | -0.00 | 0.11 | 0.04 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | -4.50x | -0.00x | 0.24x | 0.24x | 0.21x | 0.47x | -0.15x | -0.22x | 1.85x |
| Interest Paid | 4.4M | 13.2M | 13.03M | 17.26M | 15.55M | 15.02M | 13.56M | 11.83M | 0 |
| Taxes Paid | 397K | 1.17M | 2.05M | 0 | 5.33M | 5.81M | 4.9M | 0 | 0 |
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying PLBY stock.
Playboy, Inc. (PLBY) generated $0.0M in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
Playboy, Inc. (PLBY) reported negative free cash flow of $1.0M in 2025, indicating capital requirements exceeded cash from operations.
Playboy, Inc. (PLBY) spent $1.0M 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
Persistent operating cash burn
Metrics are mathematically derived from official filings.
Operating Cash Flow Disconnected From Earnings
According to reported cash flow statements, PLBY's operating cash flow has frequently diverged sharply from net income, with OCF/NI ratios swinging between negative values and an outlier of 22.02x in 2025Q3, signaling weak and erratic cash conversion quality.
The ratio swings suggest that reported net income is not a reliable proxy for cash generation, as many quarters show losses paired with negative operating cash flow and a few show positive cash flow on near-zero earnings. The 2025Q3 spike of 22.02x, driven by a $10.1M operating inflow against only $460K of net income, appears to reflect working capital timing rather than durable earnings power. Investors should monitor whether conversion stabilizes before treating any single quarter's cash generation as representative.
Free Cash Flow Remains Largely Negative
Based on reported figures, PLBY generated negative free cash flow in most of the last ten quarters, with FCF margins ranging from -51.6% in 2024Q3 to a single positive quarter of 33.8% in 2025Q3, indicating no sustained cash generation trend.
Outside of the 2025Q3 outlier, free cash flow margins cluster between roughly -15% and -37%, which suggests the underlying business has not yet produced consistent surplus cash. The most recent quarter at -1.8% margin is an improvement in magnitude but remains negative and follows a -29.4% quarter in 2026Q1. This pattern warrants further investigation into whether the 2025Q3 result was an isolated working capital release.
Working Capital Swings Drive Cash Volatility
As reported in the financial statements, working capital changes ranged from a $7.0M inflow in 2025Q3 to a $6.5M outflow in 2026Q1, and these swings account for much of the quarter-to-quarter volatility in operating cash flow.
The magnitude of working capital movements relative to operating cash flow indicates that PLBY's reported operating results are heavily influenced by timing of receivables, inventory, and payables rather than steady-state cash earnings. Large inflows that reverse in subsequent quarters, as seen between 2025Q3 and 2026Q1, suggest the cash position may be partially borrowed from future periods. Management's working capital discipline cannot be assessed fully from the available data alone.
Minimal Capital Intensity but Sizable SBC
Based on reported figures, PLBY's capital expenditures remained below 2.6% of revenue across all ten quarters, while stock-based compensation of up to $2.5M per quarter represents a material non-cash item relative to quarterly cash flow.
Low capex intensity suggests an asset-light model, which is consistent with a brand licensing and consumer products business, but it also means the company is not reinvesting heavily to drive future growth. D&A broadly exceeding CapEx in most periods indicates the asset base is being depreciated faster than it is replaced. Elevated SBC means reported operating cash flow may flatter the true economic cost of employee compensation, which investors should weigh alongside dilution.
Cash Flow Statement Obscures Ongoing Burn
As reported in the financial statements, cumulative operating cash flow over the ten quarters is negative, with net losses in seven of ten quarters, suggesting the apparent 2025Q3 cash strength does not offset the broader pattern of burn.
Summing the reported quarterly operating cash flows produces a deeply negative cumulative figure, which challenges any narrative of a cash-generative turnaround. Add-backs such as SBC and D&A in the $2M to $9M range per quarter help narrow the gap between net income and cash flow but do not change the direction of operating cash flow. Investors should monitor whether future quarters confirm sustained positive operating cash flow before accepting the recent improvement as structural.