Operating cash flow remained robust at $20.2M in Q2 2026 despite a net loss, with FCF margin at 17.4%, though cumulative buybacks of $135M have outpaced cumulative FCF of $98M over the last ten quarters.
PubMatic, Inc. (PUBM) 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 | 88.04M | 81.06M | 73.42M | 81.12M | 87.21M | 88.68M | 24.33M | 35.13M | 15.6M |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | 28.65% | 25.21% | 30.38% | 34.02% | 39.08% | 16.36% | 30.85% | 15.71% |
| Operating CF Growth % | 116.08% | 10.4% | -9.49% | -6.98% | -1.66% | 264.49% | -30.73% | 125.23% | - |
| Net Income | -13.48M | -14.46M | 12.5M | 8.88M | 28.7M | 56.6M | 26.61M | 6.64M | 4.42M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 40.23M | 43.77M | 45.35M | 44.77M | 34.25M | 23.07M | 15.74M | 12.67M | 12.29M |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 35.71M | 38.38M | 37.68M | 28.86M | 20.65M | 14.11M | 3.56M | 2M | 3.17M |
| Deferred Taxes | -6.61M | -14.49M | -10.98M | -13.41M | -7.17M | 4.75M | 2.93M | 193K | -4K |
| Other Non-Cash Items | 6.04M | 5.48M | 2.66M | 7.77M | 11.29M | -3.39M | 363K | 4.06M | 436K |
| Working Capital Changes | 26.14M | 22.38M | -13.78M | 4.24M | -514K | -6.46M | -24.89M | 9.56M | -4.72M |
| Change in Receivables | 205K | 66.57M | -49.34M | -75.72M | -24.41M | -67.41M | -102.17M | -11.92M | -24.18M |
| Change in Inventory | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.63M | 44.28M |
| Change in Payables | 20.03M | -42.4M | 38.1M | 79.69M | 29.76M | 68.3M | 77.36M | 18.46M | 17.56M |
| Cash from Investing | -27.87M | 6.07M | 22.31M | -39.02M | -81.37M | -96.72M | -29.88M | -22.09M | -12.75M |
| Capital Expenditures | -14.53M | -14.35M | -17.59M | -10.6M | -35.87M | -30.43M | -24.18M | -14.99M | -9.66M |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 5.02% | 5.07% | 6.04% | 3.97% | 13.99% | 13.41% | 16.25% | 13.17% | 9.73% |
| Acquisitions | -500K | 0 | 0 | 0 | -28.09M | 0 | 0 | -500K | 4.47M |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | -19M | -20.51M | -20.94M | -17.69M | -13.02M | -8.93M | -7.23M | 500K | -4.47M |
| Cash from Financing | -30.18M | -42.73M | -73.48M | -55.98M | 4.04M | 9.36M | 52.48M | -1K | -7.99M |
| Debt Issued (Net) | -145K | -140K | -131K | -126K | -119K | -10K | 0 | 0 | -3M |
| Equity Issued (Net) | -31.24M | -42.59M | -75.33M | -59.27M | 4.16M | -858K | 45.81M | -5K | -1.01M |
| Dividends Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Share Repurchases | -33.35M | -46.5M | -75.33M | -59.27M | 0 | -858K | -3K | -5K | -301K |
| Other Financing | 1.21M | 0 | 1.99M | 3.42M | 0 | 10.23M | 6.68M | 4K | -3.99M |
| Net Change in Cash | 29.5M | 45.07M | 21.94M | -13.87M | 9.88M | 1.32M | 46.94M | 13.04M | -5.15M |
| Free Cash Flow | 46.94M | 66.71M | 34.9M | 52.83M | 38.32M | 49.32M | -7.07M | 20.13M | 5.94M |
| FCF Margin % | 16.23% | 23.58% | 11.98% | 19.79% | 14.95% | 21.74% | -4.75% | 17.68% | 5.98% |
| FCF Growth % | 65.95% | 91.17% | -33.95% | 37.88% | -22.31% | 797.3% | -135.14% | 239% | - |
| FCF per Share | 1.02 | 1.42 | 0.64 | 0.94 | 0.67 | 0.87 | -0.15 | 0.42 | 0.12 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | -3.48x | -5.60x | 5.87x | 9.13x | 3.04x | 1.57x | 0.91x | 5.29x | 3.52x |
| Interest Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Taxes Paid | 3.19M | 0 | 14.18M | 15.63M | 9.19M | 6.79M | 2.69M | 3.02M | 769K |
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying PUBM stock.
PubMatic, Inc. (PUBM) generated $81.1M in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
PubMatic, Inc. (PUBM) generated $66.7M 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.
PubMatic, Inc. (PUBM) spent $14.3M 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, PubMatic, Inc. (PUBM) spent $46.5M on share repurchases. This shows the company's commitment to returning capital to its equity investors.
Key Metrics
Top Statement Risk
Sustained profitability at scale
Metrics are mathematically derived from official filings.
Cash Conversion Diverges from GAAP Losses
Despite net losses in most quarters, operating cash flow remained positive, averaging $19.2M per quarter over the last ten quarters, per financial statements, indicating strong cash conversion from non-cash charges.
The persistent gap between net income and operating cash flow is driven by substantial non-cash items, primarily D&A and SBC, which together averaged over $20M per quarter. This suggests that the company's underlying cash-generating ability is stronger than GAAP profitability implies, but investors should note that SBC is a real economic cost that dilutes shareholders.
FCF Inflection Points to Operating Leverage
Free cash flow swung from negative in Q4 2025 to $13.7M in Q2 2026, with FCF margin expanding to 17.4%, according to recent filings, suggesting the cost rationalization is beginning to pay off.
The trajectory shows a clear inflection: after a trough in Q4 2025, FCF has rebounded strongly, driven by revenue growth and controlled capex. However, the trailing twelve-month FCF margin remains modest at around 10%, and the sustainability of this improvement depends on whether revenue growth can outpace fixed infrastructure costs.
Capex Discipline Masks Infrastructure Intensity
Capital expenditures have been volatile, ranging from $0.01M to $11.7M per quarter, with the latest quarter at $3.0M, per cash flow data, indicating a strategic pause in infrastructure investment.
The low capex in recent quarters (3.8% of revenue in Q2 2026) contrasts with the company's owned-infrastructure model, which historically required heavy investment. This may indicate that management is deferring maintenance or growth capex to preserve cash, which could impair long-term competitiveness if the infrastructure ages. Investors should monitor whether capex normalizes as revenue growth accelerates.
Working Capital Swings Reflect Clearinghouse Role
Working capital changes have been erratic, swinging from -$17.7M in Q4 2024 to +$20.4M in Q3 2025, per quarterly data, highlighting the volatility inherent in the ad-tech clearinghouse model.
The large swings in working capital are likely due to timing differences in collections from advertisers and payments to publishers. The positive working capital contribution in Q2 2026 ($0.8M) is modest, but the overall pattern suggests that the company can occasionally benefit from float. However, this volatility makes quarterly cash flow comparisons less meaningful without adjusting for these swings.
Buybacks Outpace Cash Generation
Share repurchases totaled $135M over the last ten quarters, exceeding cumulative free cash flow of $98M, according to cash flow statements, indicating aggressive capital return despite negative GAAP earnings.
Management has been actively buying back stock, with $22M in Q2 2026 alone, which may signal confidence in the turnaround. However, this deployment is occurring while the company is not yet consistently profitable on a GAAP basis, and the buybacks are funded by existing cash reserves rather than operating cash flow. This could strain liquidity if the recovery stalls.
Cumulative Earnings vs Cash: A Decade of Divergence
Over the last ten quarters, cumulative net income was -$15.4M while operating cash flow was $191.9M, per reported figures, underscoring the massive gap between accounting losses and cash generation.
The cumulative divergence is driven by non-cash charges (D&A and SBC) totaling over $200M, which are added back to net income to arrive at operating cash flow. This suggests that the company's cash-generating ability is far stronger than its GAAP earnings imply, but it also highlights the dilutive impact of SBC. Investors should focus on cash flow metrics when valuing the company, but must also consider the ongoing share dilution.
What the Cash Flow Statement Obscures
Stock-based compensation of $8.3M in Q2 2026 exceeded operating income, per the cash flow statement, suggesting that reported cash flow overstates economic earnings due to non-cash equity costs.
The cash flow statement adds back SBC to arrive at operating cash flow, but this is a real cost to shareholders through dilution. Additionally, the capitalization of internal-use software development costs may understate true cash intensity, as these costs are amortized over time. Investors should adjust for these items to assess the true cash-generating power of the business.