Silgan Holdings Inc. (SLGN) Cash Flow Statement

The gap between net income and operating cash flow is the defining feature of this dataset, with OCF/NI ratios swinging from 71x in 2025Q4 to negative 12.7x in 2026Q1. This pattern suggests that quarterly operating cash flow is driven far more by working capital timing than by underlying earnings power, so net income alone understates the variability investors face. Reported figures warrant treating any single quarter's cash conversion with caution until multi-quarter averages stabilize.

The consistency of large positive working capital releases in Q3 and Q4 followed by heavy absorption in Q1 and Q2 is consistent with the harvest-linked seasonality of the Metal Containers segment. This suggests the company is funding inventory and receivables build during the first half and recovering it in the second half. Investors should monitor whether year-end collections are normalizing, since the 2025Q4 release appears unusually large relative to prior-year patterns.

Quarterly FCF margins of this magnitude are not representative of steady-state economics, given that CapEx remained consistently near 4 to 6% of revenue. The trajectory likely reflects timing of working capital rather than a structural change in cash generation. A normalized view using trailing twelve-month totals would be more informative for assessing whether free cash flow is supporting dividends and buybacks.

Dividend outlays are small relative to quarterly FCF in the second half but would exceed FCF in quarters such as 2026Q2 and 2025Q2, when free cash flow was deeply negative. Acquisition spending, notably the $917M outflow in 2024Q4, was the largest deployment item and appears to have been funded through balance sheet resources rather than operating cash generation. Investors should monitor whether leverage is rising to fund future deals while the dividend remains covered only on a seasonal basis.