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 Palantir (PLTR) spend its free cash flow?

For TTM through Q1 2026, Palantir generated $2.72B of operating cash flow and $2.69B of free cash flow — a free cash flow margin of 98.7% of operating cash flow. The waterfall breaks down how the remaining cash was allocated across investing and financing activities.

How much did Palantir (PLTR) return via buybacks and dividends?

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

Palantir (PLTR) Cash Flow Waterfall

Operating CF

$2.72B

Capex

-$35.1M

Free Cash Flow

$2.69B

FCF Margin

+98.7%

Cash flow waterfall for Palantir (PLTR) — TTM through Q1 2026

Free cash flow: $2.69B

Note: Other Investing is large — driven mainly by purchases or sales of investments.

Cash flow breakdown for Palantir (PLTR) — TTM through Q1 2026

Line item	Amount	Running total
Operating Cash Flow	$2.72B	$2.72B
Capital Expenditure	-$35.1M	$2.69B
Free Cash Flow	$2.69B	$2.69B
Other Investing	-$1.38B	$1.3B
Share Buybacks	-$57M	$1.25B
Other Financing & FX	$54.2M	$1.3B
Net Cash Increase	$1.3B	$1.3B

Operating Cash Flow$2.72B
Capital Expenditure-$35.1M
Free Cash Flow$2.69B
Other Investing-$1.38B
Share Buybacks-$57M
Other Financing & FX$54.2M
Net Cash Increase$1.3B

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

Frequently asked questions

Data & methodology

Palantir (PLTR) 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

PLTR Overview

Counters

Income Statement

Cash Flow

Capital Return

Buybacks0.02% TTM

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

Forecast & Valuation