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 Nucor (NUE) spend its free cash flow?

For TTM through Q2 2026, Nucor generated $3.76B of operating cash flow and $532M of free cash flow — a free cash flow margin of 14.2% of operating cash flow. The waterfall breaks down how the remaining cash was allocated across investing and financing activities.

How much did Nucor (NUE) return via buybacks and dividends?

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

Nucor (NUE) Cash Flow Waterfall

Operating CF

$3.76B

Capex

-$3.22B

Free Cash Flow

$532M

FCF Margin

+14.2%

Cash flow waterfall for Nucor (NUE) — TTM through Q2 2026

Free cash flow: $532M

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

Cash flow breakdown for Nucor (NUE) — TTM through Q2 2026

Line item	Amount	Running total
Operating Cash Flow	$3.76B	$3.76B
Capital Expenditure	-$3.22B	$532M
Free Cash Flow	$532M	$532M
Other Investing	$732M	$1.26B
Share Buybacks	-$525M	$739M
Dividends Paid	-$512M	$227M
Net Debt Change	-$829M	-$602M
Other Financing & FX	-$328M	-$930M
Net Cash Decrease	-$930M	-$930M

Operating Cash Flow$3.76B
Capital Expenditure-$3.22B
Free Cash Flow$532M
Other Investing$732M
Share Buybacks-$525M
Dividends Paid-$512M
Net Debt Change-$829M
Other Financing & FX-$328M
Net Cash Decrease-$930M

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

Frequently asked questions

Data & methodology

Nucor (NUE) 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

NUE Overview

Counters

Income Statement

Cash Flow

Capital Return

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

Forecast & Valuation