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 Eastman Chemical (EMN) spend its free cash flow?

For TTM through Q1 2026, Eastman Chemical generated $1B of operating cash flow and $498M of free cash flow — a free cash flow margin of 49.8% of operating cash flow. The waterfall breaks down how the remaining cash was allocated across investing and financing activities.

How much did Eastman Chemical (EMN) return via buybacks and dividends?

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

Eastman Chemical (EMN) Cash Flow Waterfall

Operating CF

$1B

Capex

-$502M

Free Cash Flow

$498M

FCF Margin

+49.8%

Cash flow waterfall for Eastman Chemical (EMN) — TTM through Q1 2026

Free cash flow: $498M

Cash flow breakdown for Eastman Chemical (EMN) — TTM through Q1 2026

Line item	Amount	Running total
Operating Cash Flow	$1B	$1B
Capital Expenditure	-$502M	$498M
Free Cash Flow	$498M	$498M
Acquisitions	$38M	$536M
Other Investing	$29M	$565M
Share Buybacks	-$100M	$465M
Dividends Paid	-$381M	$84M
Net Debt Change	$159M	$243M
Other Financing & FX	$4M	$247M
Net Cash Increase	$247M	$247M

Operating Cash Flow$1B
Capital Expenditure-$502M
Free Cash Flow$498M
Acquisitions$38M
Other Investing$29M
Share Buybacks-$100M
Dividends Paid-$381M
Net Debt Change$159M
Other Financing & FX$4M
Net Cash Increase$247M

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

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