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 Eaton Corporation (ETN) spend its free cash flow?

For TTM through Q1 2026, Eaton Corporation generated $4.74B of operating cash flow and $4.7B of free cash flow — a free cash flow margin of 99% of operating cash flow. The waterfall breaks down how the remaining cash was allocated across investing and financing activities.

How much did Eaton Corporation (ETN) return via buybacks and dividends?

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

Eaton Corporation (ETN) Cash Flow Waterfall

Operating CF

$4.74B

Capex

-$46M

Free Cash Flow

$4.7B

FCF Margin

+99.0%

Cash flow waterfall for Eaton Corporation (ETN) — TTM through Q1 2026

Free cash flow: $4.7B

Cash flow breakdown for Eaton Corporation (ETN) — TTM through Q1 2026

Line item	Amount	Running total
Operating Cash Flow	$4.74B	$4.74B
Capital Expenditure	-$46M	$4.7B
Free Cash Flow	$4.7B	$4.7B
Acquisitions	-$12.6B	-$7.86B
Other Investing	-$1.11B	-$8.97B
Share Buybacks	$585M	-$8.38B
Dividends Paid	-$1.64B	-$10B
Net Debt Change	$10.5B	$480M
Other Financing & FX	-$1.56B	-$1.08B
Net Cash Decrease	-$1.08B	-$1.08B

Operating Cash Flow$4.74B
Capital Expenditure-$46M
Free Cash Flow$4.7B
Acquisitions-$12.6B
Other Investing-$1.11B
Share Buybacks$585M
Dividends Paid-$1.64B
Net Debt Change$10.5B
Other Financing & FX-$1.56B
Net Cash Decrease-$1.08B

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

Frequently asked questions

Data & methodology

Eaton Corporation (ETN) 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

ETN Overview

Counters

Income Statement

Cash Flow

Capital Return

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

Forecast & Valuation