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 Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) spend its free cash flow?

For TTM through Q1 2026, Old Dominion Freight Line generated $1.41B of operating cash flow and $1.02B of free cash flow — a free cash flow margin of 72.3% of operating cash flow. The waterfall breaks down how the remaining cash was allocated across investing and financing activities.

How much did Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) return via buybacks and dividends?

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

Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) Cash Flow Waterfall

Operating CF

$1.41B

Capex

-$389M

Free Cash Flow

$1.02B

FCF Margin

+72.3%

Cash flow waterfall for Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) — TTM through Q1 2026

Free cash flow: $1.02B

Cash flow breakdown for Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) — TTM through Q1 2026

Line item	Amount	Running total
Operating Cash Flow	$1.41B	$1.41B
Capital Expenditure	-$389M	$1.02B
Free Cash Flow	$1.02B	$1.02B
Other Investing	$53.3M	$1.07B
Share Buybacks	-$617M	$454M
Dividends Paid	-$237M	$217M
Other Financing & FX	-$26.2M	$191M
Net Cash Increase	$191M	$191M

Operating Cash Flow$1.41B
Capital Expenditure-$389M
Free Cash Flow$1.02B
Other Investing$53.3M
Share Buybacks-$617M
Dividends Paid-$237M
Other Financing & FX-$26.2M
Net Cash Increase$191M

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

Frequently asked questions

Data & methodology

Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) 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

ODFL Overview

Counters

Income Statement

Cash Flow

Capital Return

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

Forecast & Valuation