Free cash flow swung from $62.7M in 2026Q2 to -$7.2M in 2026Q3, with working capital changes ranging from -$29.5M to +$35.0M, indicating cash conversion remains volatile and unproven.
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (TARS) 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 | 55.44M | -12.45M | -83.03M | -117.49M | -49.03M | 3.75M | -21.14M | -3.67M | -1.18M |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | -2.76% | -45.38% | -673.43% | -189.92% | 6.57% | - | - | - |
| Operating CF Growth % | 362.09% | 85% | 29.33% | -139.63% | -1408.16% | 117.73% | -475.5% | -210.48% | - |
| Net Income | -702.23M | -66.42M | -115.55M | -135.89M | -62.09M | -13.83M | -26.81M | -4.67M | -1.32M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 2.91M | 1.82M | 1.23M | 877K | 326K | 312K | 96K | 74K | 1K |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 66.79M | 41.72M | 27.82M | 19.83M | 13.46M | 8.46M | 839K | 18K | 9K |
| Deferred Taxes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Non-Cash Items | 671.51M | -4.21M | -360K | -2.61M | 226K | 7.44M | 3.28M | 420K | -116K |
| Working Capital Changes | 16.46M | 14.64M | 3.84M | 306K | -951K | 1.37M | 1.46M | 485K | 126K |
| Change in Receivables | -28.15M | -39.05M | -30.14M | -14.13M | -3.49M | -73K | 16K | -32K | -4K |
| Change in Inventory | -1.31M | -1.75M | -2.05M | -3.11M | 3.49M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Change in Payables | -15.75M | 6.91M | 40.34M | 13.24M | 821K | 3.88M | 3.24M | 245K | 131K |
| Cash from Investing | -160.9M | -42.12M | -199.19M | 140.6M | -144.63M | -586K | -456K | -175K | -7K |
| Capital Expenditures | -17.46M | -9.86M | -1.57M | -1.5M | -506K | -586K | -456K | -175K | -7K |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 2.56% | 2.18% | 0.86% | 8.61% | 1.96% | 1.03% | - | - | - |
| Acquisitions | -260.38M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 144.12M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | 0 | 0 | -5M | -4M | -144.12M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cash from Financing | 134.86M | 143.39M | 154.66M | 130.18M | 93.99M | 21K | 131.77M | 59.45M | 3.56M |
| Debt Issued (Net) | 0 | 0 | 39.6M | 10M | 19.13M | 0 | 0 | 1.99M | 0 |
| Equity Issued (Net) | 124.37M | 143.39M | 115.06M | 120.18M | 74.86M | 21K | 131.4M | 57.46M | 3.56M |
| Dividends Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Share Repurchases | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -28K | 0 | 0 |
| Other Financing | 10.49M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 370K | 0 | 0 |
| Net Change in Cash | 29.4M | 88.82M | -127.57M | 153.29M | -99.67M | 3.18M | 110.18M | 55.6M | 2.37M |
| Free Cash Flow | 37.98M | -22.31M | -84.59M | -123M | -49.54M | 3.16M | -21.59M | -3.85M | -1.19M |
| FCF Margin % | 5.57% | -4.94% | -46.24% | -704.96% | -191.88% | 5.54% | - | - | - |
| FCF Growth % | 160.74% | 73.63% | 31.22% | -148.29% | -1666.6% | 114.64% | -461.17% | -223.36% | - |
| FCF per Share | 0.82 | -0.53 | -2.25 | -4.19 | -2.01 | 0.15 | -1.06 | -0.20 | -0.28 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | -0.05x | 0.19x | 0.72x | 0.86x | 0.79x | -0.27x | 0.79x | 0.79x | 0.90x |
| Interest Paid | 2.01M | 0 | 0 | 2.88M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Taxes Paid | 1.08M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying TARS stock.
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (TARS) generated $-12.5M in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (TARS) reported negative free cash flow of $22.3M in 2025, indicating capital requirements exceeded cash from operations.
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (TARS) spent $9.9M 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
Unexplained net loss volatility
Metrics are mathematically derived from official filings.
Operating Cash Flow Tracks Erratically Against Net Income
According to reported quarterly figures, TARS posted operating cash flow of $66.8M in 2026Q2 against a net loss of $18.6M, a divergence that makes the cash-to-earnings relationship hard to read.
Because net loss and operating cash flow frequently move in opposite directions across the ten quarters, the OCF-to-net-income ratio swings between extremes and offers little stable signal. The 2026Q3 net loss of $668.3M paired with operating cash flow of only -$6.0M suggests the headline loss is dominated by non-cash or non-operating items, though the data alone does not reveal their nature and this warrants further investigation. Investors should treat reported earnings quality as unresolved until the drivers of the 2026Q3 charge are identified.
Free Cash Flow Turns Positive Only Intermittently
Based on reported figures, free cash flow reached $62.7M in 2026Q2, a 36.1% margin, yet turned negative again in 2026Q3 at -$7.2M, indicating the inflection has not yet proven durable.
The quarterly FCF series alternates between modest positive and negative readings rather than trending steadily upward, which suggests working capital timing and collection cadence are driving much of the variation. A single strong quarter at a 36.1% FCF margin is insufficient to establish a sustained cash generation base given the surrounding negative quarters. Investors should monitor whether the next several quarters hold positive FCF before extrapolating the 2026Q2 result.
Minimal Capital Intensity Limits Reinvestment Needs
As reported in the financial statements, capital expenditures ran between 0.1% and 4.2% of revenue across the period, with the latest quarter at 0.6%, indicating a very light fixed-asset footprint.
Low capex intensity is consistent with an outsourced-manufacturing commercial model in which the company does not carry heavy plant maintenance obligations. Depreciation and amortization of roughly $0.4M to $1.0M per quarter is small relative to SBC of $6.9M to $27.2M, so non-cash equity compensation is a far larger add-back than asset replacement. This profile means the cash economics depend more on operating spend discipline than on capital allocation choices.
Working Capital Swings Dominate Quarterly Cash Results
According to reported quarterly figures, working capital changes ranged from -$29.5M to +$35.0M across the period, the largest single driver of quarterly operating cash flow volatility.
The magnitude of working capital movement relative to operating cash flow indicates that receivables, inventory, or payables timing, rather than core profitability, is governing the quarterly cash profile. Such large swings are typical of a launch-stage product where wholesaler stocking and gross-to-net adjustments can shift cash receipts between periods. Investors should watch whether collections normalize, as persistent working capital drag would indicate that reported revenue is converting to cash more slowly than the top line implies.
Acquisition Outflow Obscures Core Cash Position
Based on the reported data, a $260.4M net acquisition outflow in 2026Q3 coincides with the period's largest net loss, making it difficult to separate operating economics from transactional cash movements.
The 2026Q3 acquisition outflow of $260.4M is large relative to the company's typical quarterly operating cash flow and may account for a meaningful share of the cash decline in that period. The data does not disclose the nature or strategic purpose of the acquisition, so any conclusion about its value creation would be speculative. Analysts should adjust for this item when assessing underlying cash generation and monitor the subsequent quarters for any integration-related cash costs.