Cash flow generation remains inconsistent, highlighted by a stark OCF/NI ratio of -3.20 in 2026Q1, which suggests that reported earnings are failing to translate into sustainable cash inflows.
| 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 |
|---|
| Cash from Operations | 24.41M | 37.01M | 7.05M | -1.16M | 35.53M | 47.29M | 20.23M | 57.91M | 126.3M | 156.61M | 98.96M | 140.92M | 123.58M | 113.53M | 94.38M | 95.7M | 70.61M | 90.61M | 91.14M | 93.56M | 78.53M | 65.43M | 55.52M | 39.94M | 29.11M | 25.54M | 9.48M | 7.34M | 8.21M |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | 3.06% | 0.56% | -0.09% | 2.81% | 4.07% | 2.33% | 4.4% | 9.44% | 11.34% | 7.63% | 11.21% | 10.78% | 11.16% | 9.66% | 10.46% | 8.17% | 10.77% | 10.48% | 12.25% | 12.69% | 13.46% | 13.57% | 12.15% | 7.78% | 11.38% | 5.01% | 5.64% | 6.95% |
| Operating CF Growth % | 1959.53% | 425.16% | 709.08% | -103.26% | -24.87% | 133.74% | -65.06% | -54.14% | -19.36% | 58.26% | -29.78% | 14.03% | 8.85% | 20.29% | -1.38% | 35.52% | -22.07% | -0.57% | -2.59% | 19.14% | 20.01% | 17.85% | 39.03% | 37.17% | 14% | 169.4% | 29.17% | -10.65% | - |
| Net Income | -26.71M | -23.28M | -77.54M | -21.23M | -77.8M | -50M | -276.07M | -7.9M | -6.42M | 30.02M | 11.72M | 47.7M | 32.56M | 32.24M | 28.33M | 20.58M | 7.3M | 17.6M | 27.13M | 30.65M | 29.36M | 27.39M | 23.38M | 15.73M | 8.26M | 7.72M | 53.62M | 4.38M | 2.24M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 50.95M | 51.12M | 57.73M | 66.19M | 76.25M | 83.44M | 87.56M | 91.79M | 95.37M | 92.55M | 86.69M | 77.37M | 64.58M | 58.2M | 55.47M | 55.27M | 56.74M | 57.17M | 51.69M | 44.05M | 34.18M | 26.63M | 21.7M | 16.7M | 13.32M | 10.49M | 8.46M | 5.39M | 5.01M |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 768K | 1.47M | 6.96M | 6.93M | 6.29M | 6.62M | 4.33M | 3.34M | 4.05M | 4.79M | 4.54M | 4.72M | 4.17M | 3.82M | 3.81M | 3.32M | 4.11M | 6.89M | 6.83M | 0 | 5.78M | 2.89M | 0 | 0 | 79.57M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Deferred Taxes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.05M | 51.5M | -9.64M | -18.61M | -6.48M | -11.93M | 2.68M | -1.99M | -1.66M | 1.85M | 2.22M | -2.2M | -1.29M | 6.67M | -1.87M | 4.72M | -3.1M | 3.53M | 3.43M | 1.36M | 1.22M | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Non-Cash Items | -292K | -599K | 27.76M | -31.05M | 14.95M | -1.92M | 121.73M | -4.63M | 32.87M | 3.93M | 28.88M | -4.02M | 7.25M | -140K | 3.08M | 3.72M | 3.03M | 904K | 2.19M | 6.87M | 5.78M | 2.8M | 1.48M | 279K | -75.75M | 926.23K | -52.6M | -2.44M | 968K |
| Working Capital Changes | -305K | 8.3M | -7.86M | -22M | 15.85M | 2.11M | 31.18M | -15.05M | 19.04M | 31.8M | -20.96M | 12.46M | 17.01M | 21.07M | 1.84M | 10.58M | 1.64M | 9.35M | -3.37M | 13.86M | 4.49M | 8.83M | 5.43M | 3.8M | 2.35M | 5.17M | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Change in Receivables | -302K | 247K | 1.9M | 397K | -26K | -4.92M | 5.6M | 2.77M | 2.92M | -5.13M | -3.54M | 4.27M | -1.28M | -2.33M | -642K | -7.8M | -1.11M | 908K | -848K | -1.44M | 284K | -1.24M | 0 | 0 | 904.8M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Change in Inventory | 1.2M | 134K | -220K | -280K | -1.81M | -1.93M | 2.24M | 15.49M | 5.92M | 416K | -1.22M | -2.38M | -1.95M | -3.62M | -285K | -2M | -1.51M | -1.4M | -1.96M | -1.02M | -1.4M | -1.06M | -1.06M | -1.07M | -424.77K | -138.63K | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Change in Payables | -237K | 7.75M | 3.44M | -9.84M | 11.72M | 7.85M | 4.92M | -15.49M | 5.68M | 21.58M | -22.41M | 1.54M | 12.05M | 17.57M | -696K | 2.96M | 0 | 6.46M | -3.88M | 17.16M | 7.72M | 10.68M | 0 | 0 | 2.72B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cash from Investing | -24.95M | -24.62M | -1.75M | 8.23M | -29.57M | -42.24M | -21.39M | -57.03M | -49.84M | -83.29M | -199.38M | -169.11M | -155.28M | -78.23M | -63.3M | -43.35M | -35.06M | -49.55M | -113.1M | -125.19M | -136.86M | -83.49M | -69.55M | -53.78M | -45.02M | -16.38M | -22.16M | 0 | 0 |
| Capital Expenditures | -25.52M | -30.78M | -26.03M | -49.44M | -38.16M | -42.26M | -22.13M | -57.31M | -50.27M | -83.53M | -163.77M | -166.28M | -107.7M | -78.88M | -59.96M | -44.09M | -34.96M | -48.47M | -83.23M | -77.8M | -95.36M | -83.83M | -70.65M | -54.65M | -39.65M | -18.68M | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 2.13% | 2.54% | 2.09% | 3.79% | 3.02% | 3.64% | 2.55% | 4.36% | 3.76% | 6.05% | 12.63% | 13.22% | 9.4% | 7.75% | 6.14% | 4.82% | 4.05% | 5.76% | 9.57% | 10.19% | 15.41% | 17.25% | 17.27% | 16.63% | 10.59% | 8.32% | - | - | - |
| Acquisitions | 70K | 6.17M | 0 | -3.53M | 8.59M | 20K | 739K | 279K | 435K | 241K | -39.97M | -2.53M | -47.51M | 0 | -3.25M | 0 | 0 | -1.25M | -29.94M | -47.85M | -40.74M | 0 | 0 | 0 | -6.3M | -56.02K | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | 503K | 0 | 24.29M | 61.2M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 435K | 241K | 4.35M | -295K | -64K | 645K | -98K | 730K | -98K | 169K | 72K | 457K | -753K | 335K | 1.1M | 860K | 920.26K | 2.35M | -22.16M | 0 | 0 |
| Cash from Financing | 1.17M | -22.25M | 2.54M | -33.71M | 29.53M | 1.56M | -11.7M | 9.68M | -74.3M | -67.92M | 89.33M | 28.77M | 37.05M | -40.63M | -43.67M | -35.2M | -37.93M | -31.96M | 20.2M | 41.79M | 57.76M | 16.42M | 14.14M | 13.92M | 1.72M | 1.52M | 15.82M | 0 | 0 |
| Debt Issued (Net) | 23.52M | -22.24M | -1.51M | -25.75M | 30.63M | 3.65M | -36.5M | 12.44M | -73.74M | -70.67M | 132.86M | 62.95M | 59.18M | -47.28M | -22.05M | -1.52M | -38.74M | -31.06M | 68.46M | 39.77M | 55.18M | 7.43M | 10.09M | -4.06M | -40.11M | 1.67M | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Equity Issued (Net) | -479K | -479K | 7.09M | -9.96M | 0 | 0 | -1.64M | -3.45M | -1.47M | 0 | -46.08M | -40.01M | -26.88M | -5M | -24.3M | -32.96M | 0 | 1.05M | -50.04M | 0 | 2.21M | 6.11M | 1.73M | 18.66M | 43.35M | 81.02K | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dividends 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 |
| Share Repurchases | -479K | -479K | 0 | -9.96M | 0 | 0 | -1.64M | -3.45M | -1.47M | 0 | -46.08M | -40.01M | -26.88M | -5M | -24.3M | -32.96M | 0 | 0 | -50.04M | 0 | 0 | -83K | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Financing | -21.87M | 471K | -3.05M | 2M | -1.1M | -2.09M | 26.43M | 691K | 914K | 2.74M | 2.55M | 5.83M | 4.75M | 11.66M | 2.68M | -706K | 811K | -1.95M | 1.78M | 2.01M | 370K | 2.88M | 2.32M | -677K | -1.53M | -236.28K | 15.82M | 0 | 0 |
| Net Change in Cash | 632K | -9.86M | 7.84M | -26.64M | 35.46M | 6.63M | -13.93M | 11.48M | 855K | 5.98M | -10.97M | 297K | 5.3M | -5.33M | -12.6M | 17.15M | -2.38M | 9.11M | -1.76M | 10.15M | -578K | -1.64M | 109K | 74K | -14.2M | 10.68M | 3.14M | 7.34M | 8.21M |
| Free Cash Flow | -1.11M | 6.22M | -18.99M | -50.6M | -2.63M | 5.03M | -1.9M | 606K | 76.02M | 73.08M | -64.81M | -25.36M | 15.88M | 34.65M | 34.42M | 51.61M | 35.65M | 42.15M | 7.91M | 15.76M | -16.84M | -18.39M | -15.13M | -14.71M | -10.54M | 6.86M | 9.48M | 7.34M | 8.21M |
| FCF Margin % | -0.09% | 0.51% | -1.52% | -3.88% | -0.21% | 0.43% | -0.22% | 0.05% | 5.68% | 5.29% | -5% | -2.02% | 1.39% | 3.41% | 3.52% | 5.64% | 4.13% | 5.01% | 0.91% | 2.06% | -2.72% | -3.78% | -3.7% | -4.48% | -2.81% | 3.06% | 5.01% | 5.64% | 6.95% |
| FCF Growth % | 93.42% | 132.78% | 62.47% | -1826.04% | -152.22% | 364.93% | -413.37% | -99.2% | 4.03% | 212.75% | -155.55% | -259.72% | -54.18% | 0.68% | -33.31% | 44.77% | -15.41% | 432.89% | -49.82% | 193.59% | 8.44% | -21.55% | -2.86% | -39.63% | -253.49% | -27.6% | 29.17% | -10.65% | - |
| FCF per Share | -0.06 | 0.35 | -1.21 | -3.20 | -0.17 | 0.32 | -0.13 | 0.05 | 5.86 | 5.62 | -4.81 | -1.78 | 1.10 | 2.39 | 2.35 | 3.36 | 2.27 | 2.72 | 0.49 | 0.94 | -1.01 | -1.10 | -0.92 | -0.95 | -0.83 | 0.67 | 1.27 | 2.47 | 2.83 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | 0.04x | -1.59x | -0.09x | 0.05x | -0.45x | -0.94x | -0.07x | -7.33x | -19.68x | 5.22x | 8.44x | 2.95x | 3.80x | 3.52x | 3.33x | 4.65x | 9.67x | 5.15x | 3.36x | 3.05x | 2.67x | 2.39x | 2.37x | 2.54x | 3.52x | 3.31x | 0.61x | 1.68x | 3.67x |
| Interest Paid | -148K | 0 | 22.74M | 24.08M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.75M | 10.01M | 10.37M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Taxes Paid | -77K | 0 | 83K | 454K | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.24M | 2.49M | 4M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Liquidity and margin compression
As reported in recent financial statements, the disconnect between net income and operating cash flow is stark, with the OCF/NI ratio frequently reaching extreme negative values, such as the -3.20 observed in 2026Q1, indicating that reported earnings are not translating into meaningful cash generation for the business.
The persistent divergence between accounting losses and operating cash flow suggests that non-cash charges and working capital volatility are masking the underlying cash burn. Investors should monitor whether this pattern reflects structural inefficiencies in the company's core restaurant operations rather than temporary accounting adjustments.
Based on the provided quarterly data, Red Robin's free cash flow trajectory is highly erratic, swinging from a peak of $7.6M in 2025Q1 to a significant outflow of -$30.9M in 2023Q4, which underscores the difficulty of maintaining positive cash flow amidst a contracting revenue environment.
The inability to sustain positive free cash flow margins suggests that the company's capital-intensive model is struggling to adapt to current market pressures. This inconsistency warrants further investigation into whether the current turnaround plan can stabilize cash generation or if further liquidity constraints are likely.
According to historical cash flow filings, Red Robin consistently allocates between 1.8% and 4.0% of revenue toward capital expenditures, a level of investment that appears difficult to justify given the company's current negative net margins and the ongoing need to preserve its limited cash position.
The maintenance of these capital expenditure levels suggests a commitment to asset upkeep that may be necessary for brand standards but is currently pressuring the company's already thin liquidity. Analysts should consider whether these investments are driving incremental traffic or merely serving as a defensive measure to prevent further asset degradation.
As evidenced by the quarterly cash flow data, working capital changes have been highly volatile, ranging from a $15.0M inflow in 2024Q1 to a $19.1M outflow in 2023Q4, reflecting significant fluctuations in the company's ability to manage its payables and inventory effectively during periods of operational stress.
These sharp swings in working capital suggest that the company may be relying on aggressive payables management to bridge short-term cash gaps. Such tactics may provide temporary relief but often indicate underlying pressure on the company's vendor relationships and overall operational efficiency.
Based on an analysis of the cash flow statement, the company's reliance on stock-based compensation and significant depreciation charges, which totaled $15.3M in 2026Q1, obscures the true cash cost of maintaining its large-format restaurant footprint and the ongoing impact of its turnaround strategy on shareholder value.
The reliance on these non-cash adjustments to bolster operating cash flow figures may mask the true economic cost of the company's operations. Investors should be cautious of relying on headline cash flow metrics that do not fully account for the recurring nature of these operational expenses.
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying RRGB stock.
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. (RRGB) generated $37.0M in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. (RRGB) generated $6.2M 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.
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. (RRGB) spent $30.8M on capital expenditures in 2025. CapEx represents the cash invested in physical assets like property, plant, and equipment to maintain or grow the business.
In 2025, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. (RRGB) spent $0.5M on share repurchases. This shows the company's commitment to returning capital to its equity investors.