Cash generation remains highly erratic, evidenced by a $41.1 million negative swing in working capital during 2026Q1 and an OCF/NI ratio that has fluctuated between 9.16 and -2.86.
| Metric | TTM | Jan'26 | Dec'24 | Dec'23 | Dec'22 | Dec'21 | Jan'21 | Dec'19 | Dec'18 | Dec'17 | Dec'16 | Jan'16 | Jan'15 | Dec'13 | Dec'12 | Dec'11 | Dec'10 | Jan'10 | Jan'09 | Dec'07 | Dec'06 | Dec'05 | Dec'04 | Dec'02 |
|---|
| Cash from Operations | 52.41M | 80.08M | 72.07M | 39.21M | 9.43M | 9.8M | 47.02M | 11.62M | 7.57M | 11.07M | 21.6M | 8.1M | 12.62M | 1.21M | 5.27M | -683K | 97K | 2.15M | 3.55M | -263K | 6.27M | 4.57M | 3.88M | 0 |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | 11.75% | 12.74% | 7.69% | 2.2% | 2.77% | 12.03% | 2.62% | 2.78% | 4.05% | 10.34% | 6% | 11.68% | 1.42% | 5.64% | -0.64% | 0.12% | 3.5% | 4.84% | -0.33% | 8.01% | 6.79% | 6.66% | - |
| Operating CF Growth % | 1952.87% | 11.12% | 83.79% | 315.71% | -3.78% | -79.15% | 304.66% | 53.55% | -31.63% | -48.75% | 166.6% | -35.81% | 940.48% | -76.99% | 871.74% | -804.12% | -95.5% | -39.26% | 1448.29% | -104.19% | 37.42% | 17.69% | - | - |
| Net Income | 56.4M | 52.56M | 22.57M | 10.93M | -8.45M | -8.42M | -14.5M | 4.84M | 10.03M | 12.13M | 8.3M | 4.26M | 9.42M | 2.63M | -17.3M | 1.83M | 2.72M | -5.58M | -1.6M | 2.14M | 6.29M | -1.38M | 3.77M | 1.51M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 19.69M | 18.69M | 14.74M | 16.43M | 17.49M | 17.15M | 18.74M | 15.47M | 6.21M | 4.08M | 3.22M | 2.07M | 460K | 585K | 737K | 944K | 1.05M | 1.81M | 1.98M | 1.75M | 1.58M | 1.27M | 1.06M | 844K |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 9.4M | 11.82M | 7.39M | 5.32M | 8.37M | 16.56M | 16.11M | 12.11M | 6.26M | 2.77M | 1.24M | 777K | 258K | 150K | 227K | 201K | 235K | 272K | 214K | 38M | 38M | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Deferred Taxes | -836K | 0 | 2.62M | 2.58M | -1.69M | 0 | -5.21M | -209K | -2.89M | 621K | 1.23M | 1.76M | -1.43M | -2.25B | -2.25M | 1.47M | 389K | 4.6M | -112M | 1.6B | 2.03B | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Non-Cash Items | -7.29M | -9.34M | 805K | 2.21M | 3.35M | 1.04M | 9.02M | 741K | -968K | 994K | 241K | 1.13M | 530K | 2.25B | 15.93M | -689K | -65K | 707K | 113.49M | -1.64B | -2.07B | 3.08M | 275K | -2.35M |
| Working Capital Changes | -24.96M | 6.36M | 23.95M | 1.75M | -9.63M | -16.53M | 22.85M | -21.34M | -11.08M | -9.53M | 7.38M | -1.89M | 3.38M | -2.28M | 7.93M | -4.43M | -4.24M | 338K | 1.47M | -4.61M | -2.11M | 1.59M | -1.22M | 0 |
| Change in Receivables | -33.34M | -14.57M | 9.96M | -17.52M | -15.51M | -11.07M | 37.38M | -25.68M | 3.18M | -7.41M | 1.29M | -4.35M | -532K | 2.22M | 625K | -2.51M | -4.41M | 936K | 3.27M | -3.07B | -3.07B | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Change in Inventory | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -10.34M | -3.61M | 3.75M | -2.23M | 2.98M | -11K | 8.62M | -4.52M | -3.47M | 328K | 0 | 2.84B | 2.84B | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Change in Payables | 520K | 7.74M | -831K | 4.36M | -7.84M | 0 | 7.37M | -6.29M | -1.58M | 3.19M | 206K | 1.84M | -720K | -3.03M | -1.2M | 2.8M | 3.92M | -654K | -186K | 226M | 226M | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cash from Investing | -13.45M | -45.63M | -15.74M | -11.46M | -9.53M | -8.45M | -5.06M | -78.35M | -126.39M | -16.78M | -10.5M | -10.64M | -487K | -279K | -339K | -3.12M | -2.75M | -2.76M | -9.51M | -1.92M | -2.92M | -1.87M | -945K | 0 |
| Capital Expenditures | -9.1M | -9.39M | -8.41M | -9.93M | -9.6M | -8.5M | -5.08M | -6.64M | -2.1M | -2.18M | -1.66M | -2.48M | -492K | -306K | -359K | -395K | -685K | -386K | -552K | -654K | -2.82M | -1.89M | -981K | 0 |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 1.33% | 1.38% | 1.49% | 1.95% | 2.24% | 2.4% | 1.3% | 1.5% | 0.77% | 0.8% | 0.8% | 1.83% | 0.46% | 0.36% | 0.38% | 0.37% | 0.88% | 0.63% | 0.75% | 0.83% | 3.6% | 2.8% | 1.68% | - |
| Acquisitions | -4.37M | -36.29M | -7.36M | -1.6M | 75K | 0 | 0 | -71.76M | -124.34M | -14.6M | -8.86M | -8.17M | 0 | 0 | -2.73B | -2.73M | -2.1M | -2.37M | -10.24M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | 27K | 46K | 34K | 68K | 0 | 46K | 17K | 45K | 59K | 0 | 15K | 7K | 5K | 27K | 2.73B | 6K | 40K | 0 | -26K | 35K | -95K | 13K | 36K | 0 |
| Cash from Financing | -43.76M | -42.69M | -5.57M | -23.84M | -2.32M | -18.53M | -19.01M | 56.92M | 119.66M | -2.53M | -4.92M | 848K | 103K | -2.81M | 2.07M | 164K | 849K | 906K | -1.4M | -2.94M | 14.21M | 107K | -3.17M | 0 |
| Debt Issued (Net) | -41.23M | -43.22M | -9.76M | -10.81M | 5.57M | -13.38M | -17.61M | 57.52M | 68.46M | -3.55M | -4.17M | 166K | -423K | -2.89M | 1.94M | 64K | 759K | 822K | -1.47M | 175K | -667K | -1.47M | -1.96M | 0 |
| Equity Issued (Net) | 6.36M | 6.01M | 0 | 0 | 3.31M | -3.12M | 0 | 0 | -442K | 0 | 0 | 170K | 76K | 73K | 120K | 93K | 87K | 84K | 75K | 25K | 22.66M | 3.56M | 612K | 0 |
| Dividends Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3.15M | -5.48M | -1.72M | -1.08M | 0 |
| Share Repurchases | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3.12M | 0 | 0 | -442K | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Financing | -8.89M | -5.48M | 4.19M | -13.04M | -11.2M | -2.04M | -1.4M | -599K | 51.64M | 1.02M | -748K | 512K | 450K | -276K | 600K | 7K | 3K | 0 | 0 | 10K | -2.3M | -264K | -733K | 0 |
| Net Change in Cash | -4.8M | -8.24M | 50.76M | 3.91M | 8.26M | -17.18M | 22.95M | -9.81M | 835K | -8.24M | 6.18M | -1.69M | 12.24M | -1.87M | 7M | -3.64M | -1.8M | 301K | -7.37M | -5.12M | 17.57M | 2.8M | -232K | 0 |
| Free Cash Flow | 43.31M | 70.7M | 63.66M | 29.29M | -169K | 1.3M | 41.95M | 4.98M | 5.46M | 8.89M | 19.94M | 5.63M | 12.13M | 907K | 4.91M | -1.08M | -588K | 1.77M | 2.99M | -917K | 3.45M | 2.68M | 2.9M | 0 |
| FCF Margin % | 6.33% | 10.37% | 11.25% | 5.74% | -0.04% | 0.37% | 10.73% | 1.12% | 2.01% | 3.25% | 9.54% | 4.17% | 11.22% | 1.06% | 5.26% | -1.01% | -0.75% | 2.87% | 4.09% | -1.16% | 4.41% | 3.98% | 4.97% | - |
| FCF Growth % | 9.13% | 11.05% | 117.35% | 17430.77% | -112.96% | -96.89% | 741.67% | -8.77% | -38.56% | -55.41% | 254.33% | -53.61% | 1237.27% | -81.53% | 555.66% | -83.33% | -133.26% | -40.95% | 426.5% | -126.57% | 28.77% | -7.52% | - | - |
| FCF per Share | 2.81 | 4.69 | 4.47 | 2.15 | -0.01 | 0.10 | 3.56 | 0.42 | 0.56 | 0.97 | 2.33 | 0.69 | 1.57 | 0.12 | 0.67 | -0.14 | -0.08 | 0.25 | 0.42 | -0.13 | 0.70 | 0.67 | 0.79 | - |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | 0.77x | 1.52x | 3.19x | 3.59x | -1.12x | -1.16x | -3.24x | 2.40x | 0.75x | 0.91x | 2.60x | 1.90x | 1.34x | 0.46x | -0.30x | -0.37x | 0.04x | -0.39x | -2.21x | -0.12x | 1.00x | -3.31x | 1.03x | - |
| Interest Paid | 2.25M | 0 | 7.52M | 10.19M | 0 | 3.54M | 5.03M | 4.17M | 494K | 111K | 179K | 203K | 16K | 100K | 106K | 77K | 52K | 40K | 34K | 84K | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Taxes Paid | 2.41M | 0 | 1.32M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 174K | 4.05M | 3.16M | 2.75M | 1.88M | 949K | 134K | 324K | 139K | 139K | 48K | 3K | 853K | 902K | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Working capital volatility risks
As reported in quarterly financial statements, Willdan's OCF/NI ratio has exhibited extreme volatility, ranging from a high of 9.16 in 2024Q1 to a negative 2.86 in 2026Q1, indicating that reported net income frequently fails to translate into actual cash generation for the firm.
The significant divergence between net income and operating cash flow suggests that earnings are heavily influenced by non-cash accruals or timing differences in project billing. Investors should monitor whether this inconsistency stems from the percentage-of-completion accounting method, which may recognize revenue well before cash is collected from municipal clients.
Based on the provided cash flow data, Willdan's FCF margin has fluctuated wildly between -17.0% and 21.6% over the last ten quarters, demonstrating that the company's ability to generate sustainable free cash flow is highly sensitive to project-specific working capital cycles and timing.
The lack of a consistent FCF trajectory suggests that the business model is prone to lumpy cash inflows, likely tied to the milestone-based nature of large-scale energy and engineering contracts. This volatility complicates the assessment of the company's true underlying cash-generating power and warrants a cautious approach to valuation.
According to recent SEC filings, Willdan's working capital changes have been a primary driver of cash flow instability, with a single-quarter swing of negative $41.1 million in 2026Q1 highlighting the company's vulnerability to delayed collections or inventory build-ups within its energy services segment.
The frequent and large shifts in working capital suggest that the company's cash position is heavily dependent on the efficiency of its billing and collection cycles with public sector entities. Such fluctuations may indicate that the firm is acting as a financing vehicle for its clients, which could strain liquidity during periods of project delays.
As indicated by the historical data, Willdan maintains a disciplined capital expenditure profile, with CapEx/Revenue ratios consistently hovering between 1.2% and 1.6%, suggesting that the business model remains asset-light and does not require heavy reinvestment to maintain its current service capacity.
The low capital intensity confirms that the firm's primary investment is in human capital rather than physical infrastructure. While this supports a lean operating model, it also implies that the company's competitive moat is not protected by significant capital barriers, leaving it exposed to labor market competition.
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying WLDN stock.
Willdan Group, Inc. (WLDN) generated $80.1M in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
Willdan Group, Inc. (WLDN) generated $70.7M 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.
Willdan Group, Inc. (WLDN) spent $9.4M on capital expenditures in 2025. CapEx represents the cash invested in physical assets like property, plant, and equipment to maintain or grow the business.