Free cash flow rebounded from deeply negative levels in 2024 to $155.0M in Q1 2026 before easing to $53.0M in Q3 2026, and buybacks of $58M in Q1 2026 alongside roughly $13M in quarterly dividends suggest capital returns are heavily dependent on volatile working capital timing.
TriNet Group, Inc. (TNET) cash flow statement — 14-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 | Dec'15 | Dec'14 | Dec'13 | Dec'12 |
|---|
| Cash from Operations | 378M | 303M | 279M | 545M | 562M | 218M | 546M | 471M | -104M | 253M | 144.53M | 130.6M | 153.84M | 100.72M | 80.54M |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | 6.05% | 5.52% | 11.07% | 11.5% | 4.8% | 13.54% | 12.21% | -2.97% | 7.73% | 4.72% | 4.91% | 7.01% | 6.13% | 7.9% |
| Operating CF Growth % | -3.72% | 8.6% | -48.81% | -3.02% | 157.8% | -60.07% | 15.92% | 552.88% | -141.11% | 75.05% | 10.67% | -15.11% | 52.74% | 25.05% | - |
| Net Income | 172M | 155M | 173M | 375M | 355M | 338M | 272M | 212M | 192M | 178M | 61.41M | 31.7M | 15.5M | 13.15M | 31.83M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 75M | 73M | 86M | 121M | 89M | 94M | 82M | 46M | 46M | 35M | 39M | 52.82M | 84.4M | 73.84M | 31.2M |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 67M | 65M | 65M | 59M | 62M | 50M | 43M | 41M | 44M | 32M | 26.5M | 17.92M | 10.96M | 6.11M | 4.36M |
| Deferred Taxes | 46M | 45M | -2M | 5M | -22M | -9M | -42M | -7M | 1M | -25M | 41.77M | 14.95M | 43.84M | -6.68M | 7.66M |
| Other Non-Cash Items | 48M | 54M | 72M | 7M | 66M | 5M | 3M | 26M | 0 | 0 | -4.46M | -21.31M | -10.75M | -17.04M | -1.67M |
| Working Capital Changes | -30M | -89M | -115M | -22M | 12M | -260M | 188M | 153M | -387M | 33M | -19.68M | 34.52M | 9.89M | 31.34M | 7.16M |
| Change in Receivables | 0 | 0 | -2M | -74M | -51M | 3M | 32M | 5M | 10M | -7M | -2.68M | 3.15M | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Change in Inventory | 0 | 3M | 0 | 40M | 51M | -254M | 0 | 175M | -370M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Change in Payables | 5M | -4M | -7M | -8M | -13M | 33M | 19M | -15M | -8M | 22M | 9.16M | 287K | 5.21M | 976K | -150K |
| Cash from Investing | -185M | -43M | 153M | -70M | -226M | -135M | -151M | -188M | -200M | -24M | -27.12M | -37.69M | -45.43M | -212.44M | -262.61M |
| Capital Expenditures | -36M | 3M | -78M | -75M | -56M | -40M | -36M | -45M | -43M | -38M | -39.65M | -18.56M | -20.55M | -10.69M | -9.66M |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 0.75% | 0.06% | 1.54% | 1.52% | 1.15% | 0.88% | 0.89% | 1.17% | 1.23% | 1.16% | 1.3% | 0.7% | 0.94% | 0.65% | 0.95% |
| Acquisitions | -22M | 1M | 0 | 0 | -229M | 40M | -12M | 47M | 46M | 0 | -300K | -4.75M | 0 | -195M | -225.82M |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | -56M | -72M | 0 | -5M | 0 | -40M | 0 | -47M | -46M | 14M | 13M | -14M | -24.88M | -6.75M | -252.95M |
| Cash from Financing | -157M | -49M | -207M | -546M | -536M | 12M | -208M | -176M | -85M | -77M | -99.37M | -60.75M | -68.31M | 142.38M | 214.19M |
| Debt Issued (Net) | 571M | -90M | -110M | 600M | 0 | 130M | -22M | -22M | -16M | -38M | -37M | -45M | -273.86M | 517.54M | 298.49M |
| Equity Issued (Net) | -147M | -172M | -171M | -1.11B | -512M | -83M | -196M | -129M | -83M | -28M | -76M | -35.88M | 208.37M | 1.15M | 4.75M |
| Dividends Paid | -53M | -52M | -37M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -357.58M | -75.35M |
| Share Repurchases | -152M | -183M | -183M | -1.12B | -523M | -94M | -178M | -140M | -61M | -44M | -71.6M | -48M | -16.44M | -14.61M | -638K |
| Other Financing | -528M | 265M | 111M | -39M | -24M | -35M | 10M | -25M | 14M | -11M | 13.63M | 20.13M | -889K | -18.73M | -13.7M |
| Net Change in Cash | 36M | 211M | 225M | -71M | -201M | 95M | 187M | 107M | -389M | 152M | 17.83M | 31.84M | 39.98M | 30.61M | 32.13M |
| Free Cash Flow | 342M | 306M | 201M | 470M | 506M | 178M | 510M | 426M | -147M | 215M | 104.88M | 112.04M | 133.29M | 90.03M | 70.88M |
| FCF Margin % | 7.09% | 6.11% | 3.98% | 9.55% | 10.36% | 3.92% | 12.64% | 11.05% | -4.2% | 6.56% | 3.43% | 4.21% | 6.08% | 5.48% | 6.96% |
| FCF Growth % | -55.29% | 52.24% | -57.23% | -7.11% | 184.27% | -65.1% | 19.72% | 389.8% | -168.37% | 104.99% | -6.39% | -15.94% | 48.04% | 27.01% | - |
| FCF per Share | 7.28 | 6.38 | 4.02 | 8.25 | 7.91 | 2.66 | 7.50 | 6.00 | -2.03 | 3.01 | 1.46 | 1.54 | 2.24 | 1.32 | 1.03 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | 1.99x | 1.95x | 1.61x | 1.45x | 1.58x | 0.64x | 2.01x | 2.22x | -0.54x | 1.42x | 2.35x | 4.12x | 9.93x | 7.66x | 2.53x |
| Interest Paid | 49M | 52M | 59M | 25M | 18M | 12M | 16M | 19M | 17M | 16M | 15M | 15M | 0 | 30.53M | 5.36M |
| Taxes Paid | 9M | 27M | 76M | 114M | 128M | 129M | 123M | 62M | 49M | 2M | 39M | 2M | 0 | 8.07M | 19.59M |
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying TNET stock.
TriNet Group, Inc. (TNET) generated $303.0M in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
TriNet Group, Inc. (TNET) generated $306.0M 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.
TriNet Group, Inc. (TNET) spent $3.0M 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, TriNet Group, Inc. (TNET) returned $52.0M to shareholders via cash dividends and spent $183.0M on share repurchases. This shows the company's commitment to returning capital to its equity investors.
Key Metrics
Top Statement Risk
Volatile operating cash conversion
Metrics are mathematically derived from official filings.
Operating Cash Conversion Swings Sharply by Quarter
Based on TriNet's reported figures, operating cash flow exceeded net income by roughly 1.7x to 2.6x in most recent quarters, while Q4 2025 net income of -$1.0M sat against $61.0M of operating cash flow.
The gap between net income and operating cash flow is large and positive in most quarters, which suggests earnings are not being overstated in cash terms and that non-cash items and working capital timing are doing significant work. However, the ratio is erratic, and the Q4 2025 figure implies that near-zero reported earnings still produced material cash, which warrants investigation into the working capital drivers behind that quarter. Investors should monitor whether this conversion persists once working capital normalizes.
Free Cash Flow Recovering From 2024 Outflows
As reported in financial statements, free cash flow turned from deeply negative in 2024 to $155.0M in Q1 2026, with the FCF margin reaching 12.6% before easing to 4.5% in Q3 2026.
The trajectory reflects a sharp reversal from large working capital outflows in mid-2024 to consistently positive FCF through 2025 and 2026, which appears to reflect a shift in working capital rather than a durable step-up in profitability. The Q1 2026 peak is likely flattered by favorable working capital timing, so the more representative run-rate is closer to the $50M to $90M range seen in recent quarters. Sustained FCF margins in the mid-single digits would be consistent with a business facing revenue contraction.
Asset-Light Capital Intensity Near Depreciation Levels
According to reported figures, CapEx ran between 0.3% and 2.3% of revenue across recent quarters, while D&A remained in a $16M to $21M quarterly band, suggesting limited net reinvestment.
Capital intensity is low, and CapEx broadly tracks D&A, which implies TriNet is largely maintaining its platform rather than investing aggressively for growth. Several quarters show positive CapEx, which may reflect asset disposals or accounting reclassifications rather than true inflows, and this merits clarification. Given contracting revenue, the low reinvestment rate is consistent with a mature, asset-light model but may limit the company's ability to reignite growth through technology investment.
Buybacks Dominate Capital Returns Through 2026
Based on TriNet's reported figures, share repurchases totaled roughly $58M in Q1 2026 and $18M in Q3 2026 against consistent dividends near $13M to $14M per quarter, with acquisitions occasionally adding outflows.
Capital deployment prioritizes shareholder returns, and buybacks appear to be the flexible lever that scales with free cash flow, which is consistent with a management team seeking to support per-share metrics amid flat-to-declining revenue. Repurchases in Q1 2026 consumed roughly 37% of that quarter's FCF, which suggests they were funded from the strong cash generation and not from balance sheet strain. Investors should monitor whether buybacks are sustained at elevated levels if FCF normalizes toward the lower end of the recent range.
Working Capital Could Be Masking Underlying Cash Weakness
As reported in financial statements, working capital changes swung from a $508M inflow in Q4 2024 to a $35M outflow in Q4 2025, indicating that reported cash generation may depend heavily on timing.
The large working capital swings are the most important caveat to the headline cash figures, since a portion of recent operating cash flow may reflect reversal of prior-period outflows rather than repeatable earnings power. Given the PEO model's treatment of worksite employee payroll obligations, these movements may partly reflect pass-through liabilities that are not fully indicative of economic performance. Based on reported figures, the cumulative picture warrants further investigation before treating recent FCF as a stable base.