Operating cash flow conversion remains unstable, with quarterly OCF swinging from -$210K in 2025Q1 to $45.2M in 2024Q3 and the 2025Q4 earnings windfall converting at just 0.11 OCF/NI, while capital return stays effectively dormant at roughly $5.0M of cumulative buybacks and zero dividends.
LendingTree, Inc. (TREE) cash flow statement — 20-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 | Dec'11 | Dec'10 | Dec'09 | Dec'08 | Dec'07 | Dec'06 |
|---|
| Cash from Operations | 92.98M | 73.1M | 62.26M | 67.57M | 42.97M | 124.87M | 38.57M | 143.92M | 110.71M | 98.73M | 48.25M | 28.95M | -508K | 6.81M | 222.03M | -99.53M | -23.34M | 13.22M | -41.92M | 232.99M | 74.91M |
| Operating CF Growth % | 5631.02% | 17.42% | -7.86% | 57.26% | -65.59% | 223.76% | -73.2% | 29.99% | 12.13% | 104.62% | 66.65% | 5799.41% | -107.46% | -96.93% | 323.08% | -326.45% | -276.58% | 131.53% | -117.99% | 211% | - |
| Net Income | 99.13M | 151.31M | -41.7M | -122.4M | -187.95M | 73.14M | -22.57M | 39.46M | 109.32M | 19.42M | 31.21M | 51.32M | -487K | -673K | -2.25M | -36.04M | -17.59M | -24.47M | -202.28M | -550.4M | 8.69M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 5.21M | 21.65M | 24.19M | 26.76M | 45.4M | 60.65M | 67.28M | 66.24M | 31.48M | 21.55M | 6.19M | 3.16M | 3.38M | 3.65M | 4.46M | 5.91M | 8.88M | 11.51M | 51.4M | 44.53M | 35.73M |
| Deferred Taxes | -130.95M | -129.75M | 2.79M | -4.69M | 132.67M | 10.91M | -9.63M | -8.55M | -63.9M | -6.37M | 6.37M | -29.97M | 106K | 64K | -92K | -1.82M | -1.27M | -382K | -13.27M | 2.76M | 206K |
| Other Non-Cash Items | 78.06M | 9.19M | 51.76M | 110.46M | 17.04M | -12.85M | -24.76M | 18.18M | -8.1M | 27.67M | -14.56M | -7.1M | -8.29M | -3.01M | 227.49M | -65.28M | -101.41M | -100.79M | 44.5M | 492.94M | 11.93M |
| Working Capital Changes | -10.09M | -8.75M | -3.35M | 17.76M | -23.82M | -6.97M | -25.49M | -23.58M | -2.46M | 13.11M | 9.4M | 3.04M | -2.66M | 1.16M | -12.17M | -6.08M | 84.41M | 123.46M | 66.49M | 391.14M | 240.1M |
| Cash from Investing | -11.82M | -9.93M | -11.22M | -12.48M | -27.88M | 13.38M | -122.15M | -101.06M | -383.04M | -74.44M | -117.22M | 4.9M | 2.7M | 10.65M | 22.21M | -17.5M | -7.03M | -5.55M | -18.76M | -10.95M | -16.41M |
| Purchase of Investments | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -16.44M | -1.18M | -80M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sale/Maturity of Investments | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46.31M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Net Investment Activity | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -16.44M | 45.13M | -80M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Acquisitions | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -105.1M | -368.13M | -66.39M | -85.68M | -37K | -740K | 0 | 0 | 0 | -250K | -5.73M | -14.49M | -1.56M | -3.06M |
| Other Investing | 52K | 0 | 2K | 50K | 7K | 3.32M | 0 | 24.08M | -13.24M | -2K | 2.45M | 12.18M | 7.3M | 13.4M | 24.84M | -11.39M | 451K | 4.04M | -143K | 33K | -100K |
| Cash from Financing | -67.02M | -88.7M | -56.5M | -242.01M | 32.67M | -56.96M | 193.29M | -87.68M | 4.84M | 253.13M | -52.64M | 86.91M | -7.65M | -5.98M | -209.58M | 93.75M | 13.09M | 4.78M | 88.38M | -275.6M | -45.91M |
| Dividends Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -131K | -229K | -144K | -11.43M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Share Repurchases | 0 | 0 | -2.19M | 0 | -43.01M | -40.01M | 0 | -5.47M | -93.7M | -19.9M | -48.52M | -218K | -2.61M | -3.32M | -879K | -962K | -9.1M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stock Issued | -33K | -2.79M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 91.48M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.36M | 11K | 0 | 0 |
| Net Stock Activity | -33K | -2.79M | -2.19M | 0 | -43.01M | -40.01M | 0 | -5.47M | -93.7M | -19.9M | -48.52M | 91.27M | -2.61M | -3.32M | -879K | -962K | -9.1M | 3.36M | 11K | 0 | 0 |
| Debt Issuance (Net) | -1000K | -1000K | -1000K | -1000K | 1000K | -1000K | 1000K | -1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1000K | -50K | 1000K | -1000K | -1000K | -1000K |
| Other Financing | -69.08M | -9.1M | -7.98M | -2.67M | -3.55M | -14.45M | -72.85M | -32.21M | -26.45M | -26.97M | -4.12M | -8.83M | -4.81M | -2.66M | -197.28M | 97.04M | 22.14M | -875K | 111.66M | -4.9M | -10.56M |
| Net Change in Cash | 14.13M | -25.52M | -5.46M | -186.91M | 47.63M | 81.29M | 109.71M | -44.82M | -267.48M | 277.42M | -115.84M | 120.76M | -5.46M | 11.48M | 34.65M | -23.28M | -17.27M | 12.45M | 27.7M | -53.56M | 12.59M |
| Exchange Rate Effect | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cash at Beginning | 110.77M | 106.59M | 112.06M | 298.97M | 251.34M | 170.05M | 60.34M | 105.16M | 372.64M | 91.13M | 206.97M | 86.21M | 91.67M | 80.19M | 45.54M | 68.82M | 86.09M | 73.64M | 45.94M | 99.5M | 86.91M |
| Cash at End | 82.71M | 81.07M | 106.59M | 112.06M | 298.97M | 251.34M | 170.05M | 60.34M | 105.16M | 368.55M | 91.13M | 206.97M | 86.21M | 91.67M | 80.19M | 45.54M | 68.82M | 86.09M | 73.64M | 45.94M | 99.5M |
| Interest Paid | 0 | 37.2M | 38.2M | 23.68M | 19.02M | 0 | 4.74M | 7M | 3.59M | 1.33M | 320K | 60K | 2K | 19K | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Income Taxes Paid | 0 | 1.77M | 1.68M | 1.28M | 404K | 0 | 561K | 25K | 541K | 20.36M | 3.1M | 703K | 3K | 654K | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Free Cash Flow | 81.1M | 60.68M | 51.04M | 55.04M | 31.52M | 89.81M | -3.58M | 123.88M | 95.81M | 90.69M | 14.27M | 21.72M | -4.36M | 4.06M | 219.39M | -105.64M | -30.56M | 9.35M | -46.05M | 223.56M | 61.66M |
| FCF Growth % | 33.9% | 18.89% | -7.28% | 74.61% | -64.9% | 2608.55% | -102.89% | 29.3% | 5.64% | 535.68% | -34.31% | 597.62% | -207.41% | -98.15% | 307.69% | -245.62% | -426.82% | 120.31% | -120.6% | 262.56% | - |
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying TREE stock.
LendingTree, Inc. (TREE) generated $73.1M in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
LendingTree, Inc. (TREE) generated $60.7M 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.
LendingTree, Inc. (TREE) spent $12.4M 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
Operating cash flow volatility masks earnings quality
Metrics are mathematically derived from official filings.
Cash Conversion Breaks From Reported Earnings
The 2025Q4 earnings outlier does not appear in cash generation: net income of $144.7M translated to just $16.5M of operating cash flow, an OCF/NI ratio of 0.11, per LendingTree's quarterly statements — suggesting the windfall was non-cash or balance-sheet driven rather than economically realized.
This divergence is the single most important caveat in the cash flow statement and reinforces the earlier income statement finding that 2025Q4 reflected a one-time item, plausibly a valuation allowance release on deferred tax assets, which is by nature non-cash. An analyst excluding that quarter would find core cash generation clustered between roughly -$0.2M and $29M per quarter, a materially smaller earnings base than the annual aggregate implies. Cash conversion beyond that anomaly is otherwise often strong (OCF/NI above 2.8x in 2025Q2, Q3, and 2026Q2), consistent with a capital-light, fee-driven model where working capital dynamics, not accruals, drive period-to-period swings.
Capital Generation Unstable Across Cycle
Aggregate four-quarter operating cash flow of $86.1M through 2026Q2 masks extreme intra-period dispersion, with quarterly OCF swinging from -$210K in 2025Q1 to $45.2M in 2024Q3, and two of ten quarters posting negative OCF despite no meaningful balance-sheet investing activity.
The instability is unusual for an entity classified alongside depository institutions: without a securities book or loan origination engine to absorb cash, swings of this magnitude appear to originate in working capital and accrued items tied to the marketplace revenue cycle rather than asset growth. The negative-OCF quarters cluster near loss-making periods (2025Q1 and 2024Q2), which may indicate that receivable timing and reserve movements amplify losses at the cash line. For capital-planning purposes, this suggests internally generated capital is episodic rather than a reliable funding source, warranting closer monitoring of quarterly working-capital disclosures.
Capital Return Policy Effectively Dormant
Across all ten reported quarters, LendingTree paid zero common dividends and repurchased only modest amounts of stock — a cumulative roughly $5.0M net of buyback activity concentrated in 2024 — leaving essentially all operating cash flow retained on the balance sheet per its quarterly cash flow statements.
The absence of dividends alongside a peer group where names like Ellington Financial yield 15.8% and BankFinancial yields 3.3% positions TREE as an outlier that treats cash generation as a reserve rather than a distribution source. Given that no buyback has exceeded $2.6M in any quarter and activity effectively ceased after 2025Q1, the retained capital is presumably funding the lending segment or absorbing credit losses rather than signaling balance-sheet strength. Investors should assess whether the ~$86M of four-quarter OCF retention is being deployed productively, as the cash flow statement alone offers no visibility into that allocation.
Credit Cost Line Volatile, Direction Unstable
Loan loss provisions ranged from a $7.2M build in 2024Q2 to a $373K release in 2025Q2 and a $6.9M release in 2025Q3, before re-emerging at $3.1M and $2.8M in 2026Q1 and Q2, indicating reserve calibration that has swung through both directions within eighteen months.
Provision releases in mid-2025 mechanically flattered net income during a stretch when core operating cash flow was already strong (OCF/NI above 2.8x), which warrants scrutiny of whether the releases reflected genuine improvement in loan performance or management judgment. The return to positive provisioning in 2026 alongside the previously noted revenue deceleration could signal management is re-establishing buffers ahead of softening consumer credit conditions. Because originations and repayments are not separately disclosed in the summarized data, the provision line cannot be decomposed into loss content versus reserve movement, leaving loss-content assumptions unverifiable from this section.