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 KeyCorp (KEY) spend its free cash flow?

For TTM through Q1 2026, KeyCorp generated $2.29B of operating cash flow and $2.18B of free cash flow — a free cash flow margin of 95.2% of operating cash flow. The waterfall breaks down how the remaining cash was allocated across investing and financing activities.

How much did KeyCorp (KEY) return via buybacks and dividends?

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

KeyCorp (KEY) Cash Flow Waterfall

Operating CF

$2.29B

Capex

-$109M

Free Cash Flow

$2.18B

FCF Margin

+95.2%

Cash flow waterfall for KeyCorp (KEY) — TTM through Q1 2026

Free cash flow: $2.18B

Cash flow breakdown for KeyCorp (KEY) — TTM through Q1 2026

Line item	Amount	Running total
Operating Cash Flow	$2.29B	$2.29B
Capital Expenditure	-$109M	$2.18B
Free Cash Flow	$2.18B	$2.18B
Other Investing	-$553M	$1.62B
Share Buybacks	-$635M	$989M
Dividends Paid	-$1.05B	-$59M
Net Debt Change	$2.19B	$2.13B
Other Financing & FX	-$2.91B	-$779M
Net Cash Decrease	-$779M	-$779M

Operating Cash Flow$2.29B
Capital Expenditure-$109M
Free Cash Flow$2.18B
Other Investing-$553M
Share Buybacks-$635M
Dividends Paid-$1.05B
Net Debt Change$2.19B
Other Financing & FX-$2.91B
Net Cash Decrease-$779M

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

Frequently asked questions

Data & methodology

KeyCorp (KEY) Key Financials

Charts, filings, and peer comparison for every metric

Income Statement

Balance Sheet

Profitability

Cash Flow

Capital Return

Forecast & Valuation

Operations

Employees17.9K

Explore more

Deep-dives across the income statement, cash flow, capital return, and valuation

Overview

KEY Overview

Counters