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 General Mills (GIS) spend its free cash flow?

For TTM through Q2 2026, General Mills generated $2.17B of operating cash flow and $1.63B of free cash flow — a free cash flow margin of 75.1% of operating cash flow. The waterfall breaks down how the remaining cash was allocated across investing and financing activities.

How much did General Mills (GIS) return via buybacks and dividends?

The waterfall shows buybacks (share repurchases) and dividends paid as separate steps in the financing section. Together these represent General Mills's shareholder returns for TTM through Q2 2026. You can compare these against free cash flow to assess the capital-return payout ratio.

General Mills (GIS) Cash Flow Waterfall

Operating CF

$2.17B

Capex

-$540M

Free Cash Flow

$1.63B

FCF Margin

+75.1%

Cash flow waterfall for General Mills (GIS) — TTM through Q2 2026

Free cash flow: $1.63B

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

Cash flow breakdown for General Mills (GIS) — TTM through Q2 2026

Line item	Amount	Running total
Operating Cash Flow	$2.17B	$2.17B
Capital Expenditure	-$540M	$1.63B
Free Cash Flow	$1.63B	$1.63B
Other Investing	$1.8B	$3.42B
Share Buybacks	-$500M	$2.92B
Dividends Paid	-$1.32B	$1.61B
Net Debt Change	-$1.43B	$183M
Other Financing & FX	-$55.3M	$128M
Net Cash Increase	$128M	$128M

Operating Cash Flow$2.17B
Capital Expenditure-$540M
Free Cash Flow$1.63B
Other Investing$1.8B
Share Buybacks-$500M
Dividends Paid-$1.32B
Net Debt Change-$1.43B
Other Financing & FX-$55.3M
Net Cash Increase$128M

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

Frequently asked questions

Data & methodology

General Mills (GIS) 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

GIS Overview

Counters

Income Statement

Cash Flow

Capital Return

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

Forecast & Valuation