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 Marriott International (MAR) spend its free cash flow?

For TTM through Q1 2026, Marriott International generated $3.42B of operating cash flow and $3.11B of free cash flow — a free cash flow margin of 91% of operating cash flow. The waterfall breaks down how the remaining cash was allocated across investing and financing activities.

How much did Marriott International (MAR) return via buybacks and dividends?

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

Marriott International (MAR) Cash Flow Waterfall

Operating CF

$3.42B

Capex

-$309M

Free Cash Flow

$3.11B

FCF Margin

+91.0%

Cash flow waterfall for Marriott International (MAR) — TTM through Q1 2026

Free cash flow: $3.11B

Cash flow breakdown for Marriott International (MAR) — TTM through Q1 2026

Line item	Amount	Running total
Operating Cash Flow	$3.42B	$3.42B
Capital Expenditure	-$309M	$3.11B
Free Cash Flow	$3.11B	$3.11B
Other Investing	-$645M	$2.47B
Share Buybacks	-$3.25B	-$780M
Dividends Paid	-$722M	-$1.5B
Net Debt Change	$1.46B	-$47M
Other Financing & FX	-$31M	-$78M
Net Cash Decrease	-$78M	-$78M

Operating Cash Flow$3.42B
Capital Expenditure-$309M
Free Cash Flow$3.11B
Other Investing-$645M
Share Buybacks-$3.25B
Dividends Paid-$722M
Net Debt Change$1.46B
Other Financing & FX-$31M
Net Cash Decrease-$78M

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

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