Free cash flow generation remains fragile and inconsistent, with margins contracting to 1.2% in 2026Q1, while the OCF/NI ratio of 0.97 highlights a persistent disconnect between reported earnings and actual cash conversion.
| 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 |
|---|
| Cash from Operations | 110.36M | 114.39M | 100.31M | 94.57M | 40.78M | 127.45M | 57.77M | 25.54M | 109.56M | 110.81M | 98.36M | 115.32M | 41.45M | 10.19M | 23.5M | 22.44M |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | 4.97% | 4% | 3.55% | 1.38% | 3.97% | 1.7% | 1.37% | 7.18% | 8.26% | 7.84% | 9.64% | 6.35% | 1.97% | 4.81% | 4.36% |
| Operating CF Growth % | 302.75% | 14.04% | 6.07% | 131.94% | -68.01% | 120.62% | 126.24% | -76.69% | -1.13% | 12.65% | -14.71% | 178.24% | 306.81% | -56.65% | 4.72% | - |
| Net Income | 28.97M | 1.75M | -26.39M | -27.79M | -78.25M | -136.17M | -672.4M | -121.19M | 18.11M | -915K | 31.64M | 67.61M | -3.21M | 794.62M | -29.8M | -21.65M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 154.31M | 165.76M | 156.29M | 155.92M | 182.02M | 203.96M | 263.82M | 111.88M | 84.79M | 74.39M | 67.77M | 67.75M | 41.45M | 40.05M | 40.63M | 43.39M |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 8.34M | 9.15M | 12.52M | 16.57M | 16.75M | 18.44M | 26.35M | 11.32M | 3.16M | 3.13M | 2.44M | 1.32M | 59K | 25K | 95K | 462K |
| Deferred Taxes | -10.28M | -10.28M | -44.76M | 11.51M | 2.55M | 44.97M | -30.18M | -87.77M | 202K | 294K | -2.86M | 1.17M | 2.82M | -95K | 1.04M | 470K |
| Other Non-Cash Items | -25.67M | -34.39M | -14.26M | -29.38M | -64.94M | 71.17M | 427.08M | 44.49M | 379K | 35.91M | 6.84M | -44.47M | 7.67M | -835.22M | 1.25M | 1.36M |
| Working Capital Changes | -45.32M | -17.61M | 16.9M | -32.26M | -17.36M | -74.92M | 43.1M | 66.79M | 2.92M | -2.01M | -7.47M | 21.94M | -7.34M | 10.7M | 10.29M | -1.6M |
| Change in Receivables | 0 | 17.17M | 25.84M | 34.13M | 44.94M | -33.25M | 111.51M | 12.61M | 15K | 4.98M | 14.88M | -4.25M | 1.78M | -2.87M | 3.45M | 2.48M |
| Change in Inventory | 0 | 8.11M | 4.62M | 18.51M | -7.43M | -2.82M | 19.96M | 5.15M | -4.34M | 1.07M | -999K | 2.7M | 1.23M | -142K | -2K | 1.71M |
| Change in Payables | 0 | -20.48M | -1.93M | -65.09M | -23.65M | -27.88M | -62.3M | 3.96M | -2.53M | -4M | 6.01M | -14.67M | -4.29M | -1.6M | 1.32M | 2.31M |
| Cash from Investing | -29.5M | 8.97M | -27.95M | 46.98M | 22.12M | 70.65M | 160.14M | -785.06M | -201.48M | -160.27M | -144.83M | -298.7M | -81.6M | -4.18M | -1.04M | -731K |
| Capital Expenditures | -50.85M | -51.49M | -49.53M | -38.12M | -45.38M | -39.56M | -36.98M | -13.98M | -11.64M | -11.09M | -10.63M | -10.15M | -5.01M | -5.17M | -4.69M | -3.33M |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 2.23% | 2.24% | 1.97% | 1.43% | 1.54% | 1.23% | 1.09% | 0.75% | 0.76% | 0.83% | 0.85% | 0.85% | 0.77% | 1% | 0.96% | 0.65% |
| Acquisitions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -15.43M | -125K | 196.34M | -796.5M | -204.88M | -164.16M | -137.49M | -431.13M | -77.62M | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | 15.19M | 54.3M | 21.58M | 85.09M | 82.93M | 110.33M | 767K | 25.42M | 15.04M | 14.97M | 3.28M | 142.58M | 1.03M | 992K | 3.64M | 2.6M |
| Cash from Financing | -82.08M | -139.84M | -68.85M | -135.51M | -102.87M | -261.17M | -201.34M | 898.91M | 98.53M | -79.72M | 72.08M | 206.31M | 132.06M | -8.73M | -7.14M | -11.25M |
| Debt Issued (Net) | -51.08M | -136.16M | -55.16M | -133.82M | -90.99M | -257.19M | -186.26M | 1.11B | 76.58M | 5.56M | -3.51M | 114.74M | 39.21M | 142.35M | -7.14M | -11.25M |
| Equity Issued (Net) | -3.05M | -3.06M | -3.14M | -2.64M | -6.55M | -3.24M | -2.02M | -1M | 111.1M | -5.67M | 135.43M | 150.87M | 116.74M | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dividends Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -91.94M | -87.19M | -75.61M | -59.76M | -57.36M | -18.21M | -149M | 0 | 0 |
| Share Repurchases | -3.05M | -3.06M | -3.14M | -2.64M | -6.55M | -3.24M | -2.02M | -1M | -792K | -5.67M | -417K | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Financing | -27.95M | -613K | -10.55M | 952K | -5.32M | -739K | -13.06M | -121.14M | -1.96M | -4.01M | -83K | -1.94M | -5.68M | -2.08M | 0 | 0 |
| Net Change in Cash | -3.58M | -18.37M | 5.57M | 5.81M | -38.81M | -63.11M | 18.06M | 135.89M | 6.61M | -129.19M | 25.61M | 22.93M | 91.9M | 18.03M | 15.31M | 10.46M |
| Free Cash Flow | 59.52M | 62.9M | 50.78M | 56.46M | -4.6M | 87.89M | 20.8M | 11.56M | 97.92M | 99.72M | 87.73M | 105.16M | 36.43M | 5.02M | 18.81M | 19.11M |
| FCF Margin % | 2.61% | 2.73% | 2.02% | 2.12% | -0.16% | 2.74% | 0.61% | 0.62% | 6.42% | 7.43% | 6.99% | 8.79% | 5.59% | 0.97% | 3.85% | 3.71% |
| FCF Growth % | 16.5% | 23.88% | -10.06% | 1327.35% | -105.23% | 322.66% | 79.93% | -88.2% | -1.8% | 13.66% | -16.58% | 188.64% | 625.78% | -73.31% | -1.55% | - |
| FCF per Share | 0.36 | 0.43 | 0.36 | 0.40 | -0.03 | 0.65 | 0.16 | 0.17 | 1.68 | 1.88 | 1.94 | 2.38 | 1.14 | 0.17 | 0.63 | 0.64 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | 2.05x | 65.40x | -3.81x | -3.40x | -0.52x | -0.94x | -0.09x | -0.21x | 6.02x | -121.10x | 3.11x | 1.71x | -12.93x | 0.01x | -0.79x | -1.04x |
| Interest Paid | 18.86M | 0 | 86.32M | 89.33M | 86.48M | 0 | 0 | 40.21M | 31.18M | 33.63M | 26.91M | 21.73M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Taxes Paid | 200K | 0 | 10.12M | 8.22M | 3.41M | 0 | 0 | 1.19M | 1.27M | 52K | 2.6M | 1.39M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Secular print revenue decline
According to the provided quarterly data, TDAY exhibits a persistent disconnect between net income and operating cash flow, with the OCF/NI ratio frequently swinging into negative territory, most notably reaching -3.18 in 2025Q1, which suggests that reported earnings are not representative of actual cash generation.
The extreme variance in the OCF/NI ratio indicates that GAAP net income is heavily distorted by non-cash charges and restructuring costs. Investors should monitor this divergence closely, as it implies that the company's ability to fund operations is decoupled from its bottom-line profitability metrics.
As reported in financial statements, TDAY's free cash flow margins remain thin and inconsistent, peaking at only 5.3% in 2025Q4 before contracting to 1.2% in 2026Q1, which highlights the difficulty of maintaining positive cash flow amidst a broader secular decline in legacy print revenue.
The inability to sustain meaningful FCF margins suggests that the company's digital transformation efforts are not yet generating the operating leverage required to offset print-related cash outflows. This volatility warrants further investigation into whether the current FCF levels are sufficient to service existing debt obligations.
Based on the reported figures, TDAY's working capital changes are highly erratic, ranging from a $84.7M inflow in 2023Q4 to an $87.2M outflow in 2025Q2, suggesting that the company's cash position is significantly impacted by the timing of collections and payables rather than core operational efficiency.
These large, inconsistent swings in working capital may indicate aggressive management of payables or lumpy advertising revenue cycles within the DMS segment. Such fluctuations make it difficult to forecast normalized cash flow and suggest that liquidity may be tighter than headline figures imply.
As evidenced by the quarterly data, TDAY maintains a consistent capital expenditure profile, with CapEx/Revenue ratios hovering between 1.3% and 2.6%, which appears to reflect the ongoing maintenance requirements of its legacy physical printing and distribution infrastructure despite the strategic pivot toward digital.
The persistent need for capital investment in legacy assets may be cannibalizing the cash flow that could otherwise be deployed toward digital growth initiatives. This capital intensity appears to be a structural drag on the company's ability to pivot toward a higher-margin, asset-light business model.
Based on the provided cash flow statements, the company's reliance on significant depreciation and amortization, which averaged over $38M per quarter, suggests that reported cash flows are heavily supported by non-cash accounting adjustments rather than organic growth in the underlying digital marketing business.
The consistent presence of these non-cash charges may mask the true cost of maintaining the company's aging physical footprint. Investors should be wary that the cash flow statement may be overstating the company's operational health by failing to account for the full replacement cost of its legacy assets.
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying TDAY stock.
USA TODAY Co., Inc. (TDAY) generated $114.4M in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
USA TODAY Co., Inc. (TDAY) generated $62.9M 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.
USA TODAY Co., Inc. (TDAY) spent $51.5M 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, USA TODAY Co., Inc. (TDAY) spent $3.1M on share repurchases. This shows the company's commitment to returning capital to its equity investors.