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 LyondellBasell (LYB) spend its free cash flow?

For TTM through Q1 2026, LyondellBasell generated $2.57B of operating cash flow and $2.79B of free cash flow — a free cash flow margin of 108.3% of operating cash flow. The waterfall breaks down how the remaining cash was allocated across investing and financing activities.

How much did LyondellBasell (LYB) return via buybacks and dividends?

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

LyondellBasell (LYB) Cash Flow Waterfall

Operating CF

$2.57B

Capex

$214M

Free Cash Flow

$2.79B

FCF Margin

+108.3%

Cash flow waterfall for LyondellBasell (LYB) — TTM through Q1 2026

Free cash flow: $2.79B

Note: Other Investing is large — driven mainly by acquisitions and investment activity.

Cash flow breakdown for LyondellBasell (LYB) — TTM through Q1 2026

Line item	Amount	Running total
Operating Cash Flow	$2.57B	$2.57B
Capital Expenditure	$214M	$2.79B
Free Cash Flow	$2.79B	$2.79B
Other Investing	-$1.84B	$947M
Share Buybacks	$110M	$1.06B
Dividends Paid	$209M	$1.27B
Other Financing & FX	-$497M	$769M
Net Cash Increase	$769M	$769M

Operating Cash Flow$2.57B
Capital Expenditure$214M
Free Cash Flow$2.79B
Other Investing-$1.84B
Share Buybacks$110M
Dividends Paid$209M
Other Financing & FX-$497M
Net Cash Increase$769M

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

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