Free cash flow margin reached 23.2% in 2026Q3 and operating cash flow of $72.5M far exceeded net income of $11.3M, though buybacks of $223.8M in the same quarter appear to have consumed well over the period's free cash flow.
Tenable Holdings, Inc. (TENB) cash flow statement — 10-year operating, investing & financing cash flows
| Metric | TTM | Dec'25 | Dec'24 | Dec'23 | Dec'22 | Dec'21 | Dec'20 | Dec'19 | Dec'18 | Dec'17 | Dec'16 |
|---|
| Cash from Operations | 289.56M | 266.75M | 217.48M | 149.85M | 131.15M | 96.77M | 64.23M | -10.74M | -2.56M | -6.27M | -2.79M |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | 26.69% | 24.16% | 18.76% | 19.2% | 17.88% | 14.59% | -3.03% | -0.96% | -3.34% | -2.24% |
| Operating CF Growth % | 44.61% | 22.66% | 45.12% | 14.26% | 35.54% | 50.65% | 697.84% | -319.85% | 59.16% | -124.99% | - |
| Net Income | 15.78M | -36.12M | -36.3M | -78.28M | -92.22M | -46.68M | -42.73M | -99.01M | -73.52M | -41.02M | -37.21M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 41.23M | 41.95M | 33.21M | 27.11M | 22.19M | 16.17M | 10.63M | 6.88M | 6.19M | 4.69M | 3.06M |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 141.42M | 0 | 163.51M | 145.33M | 120.63M | 79.41M | 59.57M | 41.61M | 22.88M | 7.76M | 2.53M |
| Deferred Taxes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 265K | -2.78M | -10.47M | 161K | 4.24M | 0 | -873K | 635K |
| Other Non-Cash Items | 52.22M | 194M | 3.34M | 475K | 5.5M | 3.92M | 1.07M | -784K | 533K | 125K | 953K |
| Working Capital Changes | 38.91M | 66.92M | 53.71M | 54.96M | 77.82M | 54.42M | 35.52M | 36.32M | 41.36M | 23.05M | 27.88M |
| Change in Receivables | -9.57M | -18.24M | -38.73M | -30.04M | -51.26M | -17.23M | -20.01M | -25.94M | -17.41M | -14.77M | -13.56M |
| Change in Inventory | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -5.59M | 0 | 0 |
| Change in Payables | 9.88M | 12.15M | -8.26M | 7.07M | 409K | 24.33M | -5.28M | 4.24M | 294K | 1.92M | 825K |
| Cash from Investing | 12.95M | -174.58M | -41.43M | -212.62M | -128.04M | -391.59M | 4.08M | -113.05M | -123.22M | -2.75M | -7.85M |
| Capital Expenditures | -12.59M | -12.1M | -4.25M | -1.7M | -9.36M | -3.89M | -20.28M | -20.67M | -5.73M | -2.75M | -5.78M |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 1.18% | 1.21% | 0.47% | 0.21% | 1.37% | 0.72% | 4.61% | 5.83% | 2.14% | 1.47% | 4.64% |
| Acquisitions | 0 | -196.18M | -29.16M | -243.3M | -66.77M | -258.46M | -276K | -74.91M | 0 | 0 | -2.08M |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | -1.9M | -3.62M | -2.94M | -7.05M | -9.79M | -2.67M | 0 | 0 | -117.49M | 0 | 0 |
| Cash from Financing | -155.34M | -234.09M | -79.4M | 1.25M | 23.32M | 397.65M | 36.4M | 34.16M | 264.75M | 2.09M | 1.36M |
| Debt Issued (Net) | 439.06M | -3.75M | -3.75M | -3.75M | -3.75M | 375M | 2M | -16K | 0 | -306K | 953K |
| Equity Issued (Net) | -498.73M | -228.37M | -99.98M | 4.79M | 26.51M | 32M | 34.75M | 34.18M | 268.46M | -385K | -85K |
| Dividends Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Share Repurchases | -516.54M | -247.47M | -99.98M | -14.93M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -75K | -385K | -85K |
| Other Financing | -95.68M | -1.98M | 24.33M | 210K | 556K | -9.36M | -346K | 0 | -3.71M | 2.78M | 495K |
| Net Change in Cash | 145.55M | -140.88M | 91.52M | -63.73M | 22.59M | 99.81M | 103.86M | -90.75M | 137.91M | -7M | -9.27M |
| Free Cash Flow | 279.65M | 254.65M | 213.23M | 141.1M | 112M | 90.2M | 43.95M | -31.42M | -8.29M | -9.02M | -8.56M |
| FCF Margin % | 26.2% | 25.48% | 23.69% | 17.67% | 16.39% | 16.67% | 9.98% | -8.86% | -3.1% | -4.81% | -6.88% |
| FCF Growth % | 11.53% | 19.42% | 51.12% | 25.98% | 24.17% | 105.22% | 239.9% | -278.9% | 8.08% | -5.37% | - |
| FCF per Share | 2.41 | 2.12 | 1.80 | 1.22 | 1.01 | 0.85 | 0.44 | -0.33 | -0.15 | -0.11 | -0.11 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | 17.72x | -7.39x | -5.99x | -1.91x | -1.42x | -2.07x | -1.50x | 0.11x | 0.03x | 0.15x | 0.07x |
| Interest Paid | 5.18M | 26.84M | 30.98M | 34.32M | 16.05M | 4.98M | 335K | 0 | 111K | 79K | 6K |
| Taxes Paid | 0 | 11.8M | 15.18M | 8.98M | 10.58M | 6.48M | 5.73M | 0 | 1.21M | 642K | 307K |
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying TENB stock.
Tenable Holdings, Inc. (TENB) generated $266.8M in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
Tenable Holdings, Inc. (TENB) generated $254.6M 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.
Tenable Holdings, Inc. (TENB) spent $12.1M 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, Tenable Holdings, Inc. (TENB) spent $247.5M on share repurchases. This shows the company's commitment to returning capital to its equity investors.
Key Metrics
Top Statement Risk
Thin GAAP earnings versus cash generation
Metrics are mathematically derived from official filings.
Cash Generation Far Exceeds Thin Earnings
Based on Tenable's reported figures, operating cash flow of $72.5M in 2026Q3 against net income of $11.3M yields an OCF-to-net-income ratio of 6.42, indicating earnings quality that is heavily supported by non-cash add-backs.
The gap between net income and operating cash flow is large and persistent, with the ratio exceeding 10x in several recent quarters. Stock-based compensation of $51.2M in 2026Q3 accounts for most of the difference, suggesting that a substantial share of reported cash generation is effectively offset by equity dilution. Investors should monitor whether this relationship holds as SBC levels evolve, since the cash figures alone may overstate economic returns to shareholders.
Free Cash Flow Margins Recovering Unevenly
Free cash flow margin reached 23.2% in 2026Q3 after a 13.0% low in 2024Q2, though quarterly volatility remains pronounced across the ten-quarter window as reported.
The trajectory shows a broad recovery from 2024 lows, with FCF margins climbing above 30% in several quarters including 2026Q1 at 32.6%. The 2026Q3 and 2026Q2 readings are notably lower, which may reflect working capital timing rather than a durable deterioration, warranting further investigation. Margin stability will depend on whether the working capital contribution proves repeatable.
Asset-Light Model Limits Reinvestment Needs
CapEx consumed only 0.1% to 3.0% of revenue across the reported quarters, indicating a capital-light profile typical of software infrastructure businesses.
Low capital intensity means that the bulk of operating cash flow is available for other uses rather than maintenance of physical assets. D&A of roughly $10M per quarter exceeds CapEx by a wide margin, which may suggest that amortization of acquired intangibles and capitalized software is a larger driver of the D&A figure than tangible asset replacement. This pattern warrants monitoring as the capitalized software base evolves.
Buybacks Dominate Capital Deployment Activity
Share repurchases of $223.8M in 2026Q3 and $130.2M in 2026Q1 far exceed reported free cash flow in several quarters, with no dividends paid across the period.
Repurchase volume in 2026Q3 exceeded free cash flow of $64.2M by roughly 3.5x, implying that buybacks were partly funded from the existing balance sheet rather than current operations. Buybacks may partially offset SBC-driven dilution, though the net effect on share count is not evident from the cash data alone. Investors should monitor whether repurchase pace is sustainable relative to organic cash generation.
SBC Obscures True Owner Economics
Stock-based compensation of $51.2M in 2026Q3 exceeds reported net income of $11.3M by more than 4x, and is excluded from the operating cash flow add-back figures used for this analysis.
Operating cash flow and FCF figures add back SBC as a non-cash charge, which flatters cash generation relative to the economic cost of paying employees in equity. When SBC is treated as a cash-equivalent expense, free cash flow after SBC appears substantially lower and may approach breakeven in several quarters, suggesting the headline FCF margin may overstate sustainable owner earnings. Investors should weigh this adjustment carefully when comparing Tenable to peers with lower equity compensation intensity.