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 First Solar (FSLR) spend its free cash flow?

For TTM through Q1 2026, First Solar generated $2.45B of operating cash flow and $1.67B of free cash flow — a free cash flow margin of 68.1% of operating cash flow. The waterfall breaks down how the remaining cash was allocated across investing and financing activities.

How much did First Solar (FSLR) return via buybacks and dividends?

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

First Solar (FSLR) Cash Flow Waterfall

Operating CF

$2.45B

Capex

-$782M

Free Cash Flow

$1.67B

FCF Margin

+68.1%

Cash flow waterfall for First Solar (FSLR) — TTM through Q1 2026

Free cash flow: $1.67B

Cash flow breakdown for First Solar (FSLR) — TTM through Q1 2026

Line item	Amount	Running total
Operating Cash Flow	$2.45B	$2.45B
Capital Expenditure	-$782M	$1.67B
Free Cash Flow	$1.67B	$1.67B
Other Investing	-$43.1M	$1.62B
Net Debt Change	-$90.5M	$1.53B
Other Financing & FX	-$1.89M	$1.53B
Net Cash Increase	$1.53B	$1.53B

Operating Cash Flow$2.45B
Capital Expenditure-$782M
Free Cash Flow$1.67B
Other Investing-$43.1M
Net Debt Change-$90.5M
Other Financing & FX-$1.89M
Net Cash Increase$1.53B

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

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