What is a cash flow waterfall?

A cash flow waterfall is a bar chart that walks from operating cash flow through capital expenditure to free cash flow, then shows how the remaining cash is allocated — acquisitions, buybacks, dividends, debt, and other financing — ending at the net change in cash. Each step is colour-coded: green bars add to the running total, red bars subtract.

How does Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) spend its free cash flow?

For TTM through Q1 2026, Chipotle Mexican Grill generated $2.21B of operating cash flow and $1.51B of free cash flow — a free cash flow margin of 68.2% of operating cash flow. The waterfall breaks down how the remaining cash was allocated across investing and financing activities.

How much did Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) return via buybacks and dividends?

The waterfall shows buybacks (share repurchases) and dividends paid as separate steps in the financing section. Together these represent Chipotle Mexican Grill's shareholder returns for TTM through Q1 2026. You can compare these against free cash flow to assess the capital-return payout ratio.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) Cash Flow Waterfall

Operating CF

$2.21B

Capex

-$702M

Free Cash Flow

$1.51B

FCF Margin

+68.2%

Cash flow waterfall for Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) — TTM through Q1 2026

Free cash flow: $1.51B

Note: Other Investing is large — driven mainly by purchases or sales of investments.

Cash flow breakdown for Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) — TTM through Q1 2026

Line item	Amount	Running total
Operating Cash Flow	$2.21B	$2.21B
Capital Expenditure	-$702M	$1.51B
Free Cash Flow	$1.51B	$1.51B
Other Investing	$653M	$2.16B
Share Buybacks	-$2.57B	-$415M
Other Financing & FX	-$63.6M	-$478M
Net Cash Decrease	-$478M	-$478M

Operating Cash Flow$2.21B
Capital Expenditure-$702M
Free Cash Flow$1.51B
Other Investing$653M
Share Buybacks-$2.57B
Other Financing & FX-$63.6M
Net Cash Decrease-$478M

Want to see what drove the FCF change?Free Cash Flow Bridge

Frequently asked questions

Data & methodology

Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) Key Financials

Charts, filings, and peer comparison for every metric

Explore more

Deep-dives across the income statement, cash flow, capital return, and valuation

Overview

CMG Overview

Counters

Income Statement

Cash Flow

Capital Return

How this company returns cash to shareholders — buybacks, dividends, and stock splits.

Forecast & Valuation