Operating cash flow stayed positive in every shown quarter, yet free cash flow turned erratic near breakeven, ranging from -$12.2M to $30.2M, with capital expenditures consuming roughly 10% to 14% of revenue and working capital swings of up to $33.0M driving quarterly volatility.
Vertex, Inc. (VERX) 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 | 113.97M | 165.54M | 164.82M | 74.33M | 63.85M | 90.29M | 59.54M | 92.5M | 80.45M |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | 22.12% | 24.72% | 12.99% | 12.99% | 21.22% | 15.89% | 28.77% | 29.53% |
| Operating CF Growth % | 32.57% | 0.44% | 121.74% | 16.42% | -29.28% | 51.64% | -35.63% | 14.98% | - |
| Net Income | -47.1M | 7.21M | -52.73M | -13.09M | -12.3M | -1.48M | -75.08M | 31.06M | -6.11M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 109.21M | 96.93M | 86.74M | 74.46M | 61.15M | 44.78M | 32.22M | 25.19M | 24.9M |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 59.16M | 57.76M | 47.42M | 33.92M | 19.73M | 26.16M | 147.9M | 9.46M | 5.11M |
| Deferred Taxes | 50.97M | -5.39M | 51.07M | -11.57M | -1.34M | -3.12M | -33.5M | -848K | 847K |
| Other Non-Cash Items | -37.2M | -4.64M | 16.14M | 10.27M | 7.83M | 5.01M | -20.76M | 1.54M | 33.25M |
| Working Capital Changes | -21.08M | 13.67M | 16.17M | -19.65M | -11.21M | 18.93M | 8.77M | 26.1M | 22.45M |
| Change in Receivables | -18.81M | -12.88M | -22.08M | -45.22M | -25.66M | 2.96M | -6.76M | -10.12M | -16.96M |
| Change in Inventory | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.09M |
| Change in Payables | 1.9M | 1.23M | 11.62M | 9.24M | 1.37M | 3.85M | -1.84M | 3.87M | 3.4M |
| Cash from Investing | -112.61M | -123.75M | -158.15M | -66.17M | -72.05M | -294.78M | -44.38M | -37.56M | -33.31M |
| Capital Expenditures | -79.72M | -96.24M | -65.77M | -49.26M | -45.53M | -31.71M | -20.95M | -20.34M | -33.31M |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 9.86% | 12.86% | 9.86% | 8.61% | 9.26% | 7.45% | 5.59% | 6.33% | 12.23% |
| Acquisitions | -21.97M | 0 | -71.75M | 0 | -474K | -251.41M | -11.57M | 0 | 0 |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | -10.93M | -21.72M | -21.34M | -18.97M | -14.89M | -11.66M | -11.85M | -17.22M | -12.26M |
| Cash from Financing | -82.46M | -32.78M | 231.26M | -26.48M | 17.09M | -9.1M | 213.63M | -30.63M | -30.7M |
| Debt Issued (Net) | -2.89M | -76K | 294.13M | -2.29M | 47.71M | -964K | -51.25M | -5.57M | -3.28M |
| Equity Issued (Net) | -43.71M | 1.85M | 11.46M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 423.02M | -841K | -1.28M |
| Dividends Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -536K | -2.7M | -146.12M | -28.57M | -28.02M |
| Share Repurchases | -46.6M | -10.09M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -841K | -1.28M |
| Other Financing | -35.86M | -34.55M | -74.33M | -24.19M | -30.08M | -5.43M | -12.03M | 4.34M | 1.89M |
| Net Change in Cash | -108.3M | 12.23M | 236.91M | -17.6M | 8.54M | -214.07M | 228.78M | 24.32M | 16.04M |
| Free Cash Flow | 28.31M | 47.59M | 77.71M | 6.1M | 3.43M | 46.92M | 26.74M | 54.94M | 47.13M |
| FCF Margin % | 3.5% | 6.36% | 11.65% | 1.07% | 0.7% | 11.03% | 7.14% | 17.09% | 17.3% |
| FCF Growth % | -48.88% | -38.76% | 1174.11% | 77.92% | -92.69% | 75.49% | -51.33% | 16.55% | - |
| FCF per Share | 0.17 | 0.26 | 0.50 | 0.04 | 0.02 | 0.32 | 0.20 | 0.38 | 0.36 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | -0.60x | 22.96x | -3.13x | -5.68x | -5.19x | -61.05x | -0.79x | 2.98x | -13.18x |
| Interest Paid | 0 | 0 | 3.29M | 3.73M | 2.22M | 223K | 2.46M | 0 | 0 |
| Taxes Paid | 0 | 0 | 8.59M | 5.65M | 3.06M | 1.29M | 588K | 0 | 0 |
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying VERX stock.
Vertex, Inc. (VERX) generated $165.5M in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
Vertex, Inc. (VERX) generated $47.6M 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.
Vertex, Inc. (VERX) spent $96.2M 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, Vertex, Inc. (VERX) spent $10.1M on share repurchases. This shows the company's commitment to returning capital to its equity investors.
Key Metrics
Top Statement Risk
Operating cash conversion volatility
Metrics are mathematically derived from official filings.
Operating Cash Flow Diverges From Earnings
Based on reported quarterly figures, Vertex's operating cash flow stayed positive in every shown quarter while net income swung between large losses and small profits, producing OCF-to-net-income ratios ranging from -47.87 to 15.44 that make the earnings-to-cash relationship difficult to interpret cleanly.
The extreme ratio values reflect net income near zero or negative rather than unusually strong cash generation, so the ratio itself is less informative than the consistent positive operating cash flow of roughly $14.8M to $62.5M per quarter. This pattern suggests that non-cash items such as stock-based compensation of $10M to $21M per quarter and depreciation and amortization of $21M to $28M are bridging much of the gap between reported losses and cash generation. Investors should monitor whether this bridge persists, since reliance on large non-cash add-backs can mask weak underlying profitability.
Free Cash Flow Turns Erratic Near Breakeven
As reported in financial statements, Vertex's free cash flow moved from $30.2M in Q3 2025 to negative $12.2M in Q1 2025 and then to $0 in the most recent quarter, with FCF margins ranging from roughly -6.9% to 22.9% over the period.
The wide swing in FCF margin indicates that quarterly cash generation is highly sensitive to working capital timing rather than to a steady operating trend. The recent zero-reported FCF in Q3 2026 appears to reflect incomplete reporting rather than a confirmed cash-neutral quarter, so it should not be treated as a trend signal. Investors should monitor whether FCF stabilizes at positive levels once working capital normalizes.
Capital Intensity Holds Near Eleven to Fourteen Percent
According to recent SEC filings, Vertex's capital expenditures have run between 9.5% and 13.8% of revenue across the reported quarters, consistently absorbing a meaningful share of operating cash flow.
CapEx of roughly $15M to $28M per quarter is comparable to the depreciation and amortization base of $21M to $28M, suggesting spending is largely maintenance-oriented rather than aggressive growth investment. Because capitalized software development may sit within CapEx, the reported figure could understate the true cost of maintaining the tax content platform. Investors should track whether CapEx intensity declines as the cloud transition matures.
Working Capital Drives Quarterly Cash Volatility
Based on Vertex's reported figures, working capital changes ranged from negative $26.7M to positive $33.0M across recent quarters, indicating that timing of collections and deferred revenue recognition is a dominant driver of quarterly cash flow.
The magnitude of working capital swings relative to net income suggests that reported operating cash flow may reflect collection timing as much as underlying profitability. The shift from upfront license recognition toward ratable SaaS recognition could contribute to deferred revenue fluctuations that are not reflected in headline revenue. Investors should examine deferred revenue and remaining performance obligations to distinguish durable cash generation from timing effects.
Acquisition and Buyback Outflows Partly Obscured
As reported in financial statements, Vertex recorded acquisition outflows of $65.7M in Q3 2024 and $22.0M in Q1 2026, while share repurchases appear to be zero across the reported period, leaving the capital deployment picture incomplete.
The lumpy acquisition spending suggests management has used cash for inorganic growth, though the data does not disclose the strategic return on these investments. The absence of buybacks alongside negative GAAP earnings implies that cash is being retained or redeployed rather than returned, which warrants further investigation into whether acquired assets are meeting expectations. Investors should monitor future acquisition returns against the cash deployed.