Free cash flow generation is anemic at $1.4% FCF margin in 2026Q4, yet Stitch Fix repurchased $41.5M of stock over the last two quarters versus $10.9M of combined free cash flow, suggesting buybacks are consuming more cash than the business generates.
Stitch Fix, Inc. (SFIX) cash flow statement — 11-year operating, investing & financing cash flows
| Metric | Aug'26 | Aug'25 | Jul'24 | Jul'23 | Jul'22 | Jul'21 | Jul'20 | Jul'19 | Jul'18 | Jul'17 | Jul'16 |
|---|
| Cash from Operations | 39.07M | 25.18M | 18.52M | 57.83M | 55.4M | -15.68M | 42.88M | 78.59M | 72.18M | 38.62M | 45.12M |
| Operating CF Margin % | 2.9% | 1.99% | 1.38% | 3.63% | 2.75% | -0.75% | 2.5% | 4.98% | 5.88% | 3.95% | 6.18% |
| Operating CF Growth % | 55.18% | 35.95% | -67.98% | 4.4% | 453.4% | -136.56% | -45.44% | 8.89% | 86.87% | -14.39% | - |
| Net Income | -12.61M | -28.84M | -118.89M | -171.97M | -207.12M | -8.88M | -67.12M | 36.88M | 44.9M | -594K | 33.18M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 22.63M | 26.12M | 44.49M | 42.12M | 37.19M | 29.93M | 22.62M | 14.33M | 10.54M | 7.66M | 3.54M |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 46.4M | 56.73M | 76.76M | 104.49M | 126.06M | 100.7M | 67.53M | 35.26M | 15.4M | 13.24M | 6.66M |
| Deferred Taxes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 236K | -535K | 64K | -21.59M | -8.2M | 6.59M | -6.73M | -5.87M |
| Other Non-Cash Items | -445K | 3.96M | -6.37M | 2.12M | 23.01M | 5.24M | 52.86M | 8.12M | -8.61M | 22.41M | 8.9M |
| Working Capital Changes | -16.91M | -32.79M | 22.53M | 78.53M | 74.38M | -142.73M | -11.42M | -7.79M | 3.36M | 2.64M | -1.3M |
| Change in Receivables | 0 | 242K | 431K | 52.98M | 1.07M | -37.55M | 7.87M | 19.34M | 0 | 18.45M | 13.45M |
| Change in Inventory | -2.76M | -24.78M | 47.74M | 76.05M | 1.5M | -96.06M | 8.83M | 7.97M | 1.92M | -26.38M | -26.51M |
| Change in Payables | -768K | 2.01M | -9.75M | -40.37M | 71.35M | -12.38M | -5.52M | 10.77M | 35.5M | 7.84M | 10.19M |
| Cash from Investing | -15.4M | -59.12M | -78.74M | 64.33M | 10.23M | 39.09M | -70.46M | -225.18M | -16.57M | -17.13M | -15.24M |
| Capital Expenditures | -19.22M | -16.29M | -13.96M | -19.01M | -44.96M | -35.26M | -30.21M | -30.82M | -16.57M | -17.16M | -15.24M |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 1.43% | 1.29% | 1.04% | 1.19% | 2.23% | 1.68% | 1.76% | 1.95% | 1.35% | 1.76% | 2.09% |
| Acquisitions | 17K | 0 | 350K | 842K | -45.35M | -74.35M | -36.59M | -10.6M | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | 1.5M | 10.72M | 0 | 7.37M | 45.35M | 74.35M | 36.59M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cash from Financing | -42.33M | -14.97M | -15.49M | -15.54M | -60.25M | -38.88M | -1.44M | 6.95M | 134.79M | -3.03M | 499K |
| Debt Issued (Net) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Equity Issued (Net) | -24.49M | 1.09M | 1.03M | 161K | -30.04M | 25.93M | 12.08M | 0 | 129.01M | -3.56M | 0 |
| Dividends Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Share Repurchases | -26.39M | -15.97M | -16.09M | -15.58M | -30.04M | -64.32M | -12.82M | -6.75M | -39K | -3.56M | 0 |
| Other Financing | -17.83M | -16.06M | -16.52M | -15.09M | -29.54M | -64.82M | -1.44M | 6.95M | 5.79M | 529K | 499K |
| Net Change in Cash | -18.65M | -48.91M | -76.58M | 108.5M | 1.15M | -13.67M | -27.48M | -139.43M | 190.41M | 18.47M | 30.38M |
| Free Cash Flow | 19.85M | 8.88M | 14.24M | 38.82M | 9.04M | -50.93M | 12.67M | 47.77M | 55.61M | 21.46M | 29.88M |
| FCF Margin % | 1.47% | 0.7% | 1.06% | 2.44% | 0.45% | -2.42% | 0.74% | 3.03% | 4.53% | 2.2% | 4.09% |
| FCF Growth % | 123.37% | -37.61% | -63.31% | 329.21% | 117.76% | -501.98% | -73.48% | -14.1% | 159.16% | -28.18% | - |
| FCF per Share | 0.15 | 0.07 | 0.12 | 0.34 | 0.08 | -0.48 | 0.12 | 0.46 | 0.68 | 0.22 | 0.31 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | -3.10x | -0.88x | -0.14x | -0.34x | -0.27x | 1.77x | -0.64x | 2.13x | 1.61x | -65.02x | 1.36x |
| Interest Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Taxes Paid | 0 | 814K | 1.46M | 1.11M | 868K | 461K | 365K | 966K | 10.07M | 28.02M | 39.39M |
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying SFIX stock.
Stitch Fix, Inc. (SFIX) generated $39.1M in net cash from operating activities in 2026. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
Stitch Fix, Inc. (SFIX) generated $19.8M in free cash flow in 2026. Free cash flow is the cash left over after capital expenditures, which can be used to pay dividends, repurchase shares, or pay down debt.
Stitch Fix, Inc. (SFIX) spent $19.2M on capital expenditures in 2026. CapEx represents the cash invested in physical assets like property, plant, and equipment to maintain or grow the business.
In 2026, Stitch Fix, Inc. (SFIX) spent $26.4M on share repurchases. This shows the company's commitment to returning capital to its equity investors.
Key Metrics
Top Statement Risk
SBC-funded cash flow reversal risk
Metrics are mathematically derived from official filings.
Losses Masked by Non-Cash Add-Backs
Stitch Fix generated $84.3M of cumulative operating cash flow over ten quarters despite $99.3M of cumulative net losses, a divergence driven largely by stock-based compensation add-backs that averaged roughly $12-17M per quarter through 2026Q3 before collapsing to zero.
The persistent negative net income against positive operating cash flow is not evidence of high-quality accruals; it reflects the mechanical effect of adding back non-cash charges, principally SBC and D&A, to a loss-making base. As reported in Stitch Fix's filings, SBC rolled off from $18.9M in 2024Q3 to zero by 2026Q4, which flattered net income but also removes a cushion that had been inflating operating cash flow — investors should monitor whether OCF can hold near $9-11M per quarter without that non-cash shield.
Cumulative Earnings-Cash Gap Unraveling
Over the trailing ten quarters, the cumulative gap between net income and operating cash flow totals approximately $183.6M, yet this cushion has narrowed materially as SBC declined, suggesting the historical earnings-to-cash bridge is largely exhausted.
In earlier periods such as 2024Q4, a $36.5M net loss still produced $9.0M of operating cash flow; by 2026Q4, a $2.1M loss yields only $9.1M of operating cash, meaning the improvement in the bottom line has not been matched by proportional cash generation. This pattern suggests Stitch Fix's reported loss narrowing is partly an accounting artifact of SBC roll-off rather than a step-change in operating economics, and the cash conversion profile should not be extrapolated linearly into future quarters.
Working Capital Volatility Masks Underlying Cash
Working capital swings have been the dominant driver of operating cash variability, ranging from a $22.1M inflow in 2024Q3 to a $30.6M outflow in 2025Q2, per Stitch Fix's reported cash flow statements, making quarter-to-quarter OCF figures unreliable indicators of underlying performance.
The $30.6M working capital drag in 2025Q2 coincided with the only negative operating cash flow quarter in the dataset (-$16.2M), illustrating how inventory and receivable dynamics in a styled-apparel model can swamp operational results. More recently, the $3.1M inflow in 2026Q4 and the modest $1.2M outflow in 2026Q3 suggest normalization, but the absence of a consistent directional trend means analysts should treat any single-quarter cash print as potentially transitory rather than indicative of improved collection efficiency or inventory discipline.
Buybacks Accelerate Despite Unprofitability
Stitch Fix repurchased $26.4M of stock in 2026Q4 and $15.1M in 2026Q3 after roughly 18 months of minimal buyback activity, committing more cash to shareholders than the $10.9M of free cash flow generated in those two quarters combined.
This shift from preservation to capital return appears aggressive for a company still reporting net losses, and the fact that buybacks ($57.3M cumulative over ten quarters) exceed cumulative free cash flow ($51.5M) implies the company is drawing on its balance sheet to fund shareholder returns. Whether this reflects management confidence in stabilized operations or a desire to offset SBC-related dilution that has now ceased warrants further investigation, but it reduces the cash buffer available for operational investment.
Cash Flow Statement Obscures Earnings Quality
The cash flow statement's optimism is undermined by two obscured factors: approximately $116M of cumulative SBC add-backs that flattered operating cash flow, and a $43.6% gross margin reset that prior income statement analysis identified as structural, capping the sustainability of free cash generation.
Additionally, the declining D&A run rate from $9.9M in 2024Q3 to $4.7M in 2026Q4 mechanically reduces the non-cash shield supporting operating cash flow, meaning future OCF will increasingly track the actual cash economics of the business rather than accounting adjustments. With capex of only 1.2-1.6% of revenue, the capital-light model supports free cash generation, but the low-single-digit FCF margins (1.0-1.9% in FY26 quarters) leave virtually no room for demand deterioration, and the 2025Q2 precedent shows how quickly the cash profile can invert.