What is a free cash flow bridge?

A free cash flow bridge (FCF bridge) is a period-over-period reconciliation that decomposes the change in free cash flow into its two primary drivers: the change in operating cash flow and the change in capital expenditure. Each bar shows the signed contribution of that driver to the total FCF change, and the drivers add up exactly to the FCF movement from one period to the next.

How is the OCF/Capex split of blame calculated?

The FCF identity is: ΔFCF = ΔOperating CF + ΔCapex. A positive ΔOperating CF bar means the business generated more operating cash — this adds to FCF. ΔCapex is the change in capital expenditure (stored as a negative outflow in reported figures), so a capex increase (more spending) produces a negative bar that reduces FCF. A residual "Other Items" step only appears when the reported free cash flow figure differs from operating CF minus capex.

What is FCF conversion and why does it matter?

FCF conversion is the ratio of free cash flow to operating cash flow (FCF ÷ OCF). A ratio above 80% indicates that most operating cash is retained as free cash after capital investment. The bridge snapshot shows the period-over-period change in this ratio in percentage points, so you can quickly see whether capital efficiency improved or deteriorated.

How is the prior period selected?

For TTM, the prior period is the trailing twelve months ending one year earlier. For fiscal years, it is the immediately preceding fiscal year. For quarters, it is the same quarter one year earlier (year-over-year). Periods without a comparable prior period are excluded from the bridge period dropdown, so the chart is always available for the selected period.

What does the capex sign convention mean?

Capex is recorded as a negative number in cash flow statements because it is an outflow. On the FCF bridge, a bar labelled "Capital Expenditure" that points downward means capex spending increased — the company invested more, which reduced free cash flow. A bar pointing upward means capex declined, releasing cash and lifting FCF. The magnitude of the bar is always the period-over-period change in capex (not the capex level itself).

How can operating cash flow rise while free cash flow falls?

This happens when capex increases more than operating cash flow improves. For example, if OCF grows by $200M but capex rises by $400M, FCF falls by $200M despite the operating improvement. The bridge makes this visible: the positive OCF bar is more than offset by the negative capex bar. This pattern is common during heavy investment cycles, acquisitions-light growth, or major infrastructure builds.

ChronoScale (CHRN) Free Cash Flow Bridge

Break down what drove ChronoScale's free cash flow change period-over-period — operating cash flow shifts and capex contributions explained.

Bridge data is not yet available for ChronoScale (CHRN). A comparable prior period is needed to build the FCF bridge — this typically means we need at least one fiscal year or quarter with data from the preceding year. For recent IPOs or companies with limited history, bridge data appears as additional periods accumulate.