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 Cencora (COR) spend its free cash flow?

For TTM through Q1 2026, Cencora generated $2.28B of operating cash flow and $1.56B of free cash flow — a free cash flow margin of 68.5% of operating cash flow. The waterfall breaks down how the remaining cash was allocated across investing and financing activities.

How much did Cencora (COR) return via buybacks and dividends?

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

Cencora (COR) Cash Flow Waterfall

Operating CF

$2.28B

Capex

-$718M

Free Cash Flow

$1.56B

FCF Margin

+68.5%

Cash flow waterfall for Cencora (COR) — TTM through Q1 2026

Free cash flow: $1.56B

Cash flow breakdown for Cencora (COR) — TTM through Q1 2026

Line item	Amount	Running total
Operating Cash Flow	$2.28B	$2.28B
Capital Expenditure	-$718M	$1.56B
Free Cash Flow	$1.56B	$1.56B
Acquisitions	-$5.04B	-$3.48B
Other Investing	$29.6M	-$3.45B
Dividends Paid	-$459M	-$3.91B
Net Debt Change	$4.12B	$204M
Other Financing	-$105M	$98.8M
Forex Effect	-$79.5M	$19.3M
Net Cash Increase	$19.3M	$19.3M

Operating Cash Flow$2.28B
Capital Expenditure-$718M
Free Cash Flow$1.56B
Acquisitions-$5.04B
Other Investing$29.6M
Dividends Paid-$459M
Net Debt Change$4.12B
Other Financing-$105M
Forex Effect-$79.5M
Net Cash Increase$19.3M

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

Frequently asked questions

Data & methodology

Cencora (COR) 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

COR Overview

Counters

Income Statement

Cash Flow

Capital Return

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

Forecast & Valuation