Apple Inc.: would “free cash flow stays above zero” have held?
It would never have broken. Free cash flow stays above zero held in every one of the 10 fiscal years it could be tested in.
On the newest filing, FY2025 lodged 2025-10-31, it stands 98.77 bn USD from the line, at 98.77 bn USD.
Year by year, against the filings
| Fiscal year | Free cash flow | On the year | Against zero | Clear by | Read from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2016 | 53.50 bn USD | n/a | held | 53.50 bn USD | 2016-10-26 10-K 0001628280-16-020309 |
| FY2017 | 51.77 bn USD | -1.72 bn USD | held | 51.77 bn USD | 2017-11-03 10-K 0000320193-17-000070 |
| FY2018 | 64.12 bn USD | 12.35 bn USD | held | 64.12 bn USD | 2018-11-05 10-K 0000320193-18-000145 |
| FY2019 | 58.90 bn USD | -5.22 bn USD | held | 58.90 bn USD | 2019-10-31 10-K 0000320193-19-000119 |
| FY2020 | 73.36 bn USD | 14.47 bn USD | held | 73.36 bn USD | 2020-10-30 10-K 0000320193-20-000096 |
| FY2021 | 92.95 bn USD | 19.59 bn USD | held | 92.95 bn USD | 2021-10-29 10-K 0000320193-21-000105 |
| FY2022 | 111.44 bn USD | 18.49 bn USD | held | 111.44 bn USD | 2022-10-28 10-K 0000320193-22-000108 |
| FY2023 | 99.58 bn USD | -11.86 bn USD | held | 99.58 bn USD | 2023-11-03 10-K 0000320193-23-000106 |
| FY2024 | 108.81 bn USD | 9.22 bn USD | held | 108.81 bn USD | 2024-11-01 10-K 0000320193-24-000123 |
| FY2025 | 98.77 bn USD | -10.04 bn USD | held | 98.77 bn USD | 2025-10-31 10-K 0000320193-25-000079 |
What the series does
- Largest single-year move. FY2020 to FY2021, from 73.36 bn USD to 92.95 bn USD, a change of 19.59 bn USD, filed 2021-10-29 under 0000320193-21-000105. The filing is the place to read why; this reports the size and nothing about the cause. The average move between filed years, in either direction, is 11.44 bn USD, which is the scale of ordinary movement to judge a threshold against.
- Largest single-year fall. FY2022 to FY2023, from 111.44 bn USD to 99.58 bn USD, a change of -11.86 bn USD.
- Closest to the line. FY2017, at 51.77 bn USD against zero, which is 51.77 bn USD clear of it. A threshold set anywhere inside that gap would have produced a different answer for this company.
- Span of the filed series. Lowest in FY2017 at 51.77 bn USD, highest in FY2022 at 111.44 bn USD, averaging 81.32 bn USD across the years that could be tested.
- Where the answer would flip. Any line at or below 51.77 bn USD would have held in every year that could be tested. Anything above it would have broken in FY2017 at the latest.
- First filed year to newest. FY2016 at 53.50 bn USD, FY2025 at 98.77 bn USD, a net 45.27 bn USD across the window on file. The path between them is the column above, not a straight line between these two.
10 of 10 filed years could be tested. A missing figure counts as neither held nor broken.
How demanding zero is
Definitional. Zero is the point at which the business consumed cash over the year rather than produced it.
The threshold is the reader's to choose. This is what one would have done, not advice. We do not publish a peer distribution for this metric.
What this page leaves out
Evaluated over 10 filed fiscal years, FY2016 to FY2025. Accounts filed before this company began tagging its statements in XBRL are not machine-readable and are outside this page. No share price is involved in any figure here, so nothing on this page is limited by the depth of our price archive.
Filings get mis-tagged and restated, so check a figure against the submission it names. Coverage for a company you own.
Related
- Ask this about your own company, at your own number
- The current ratio stays at or above 2.0, on the same filings. It would have broken in 10 of 10.
- Gross margin stays at or above 40 percent, on the same filings. It would have broken in 5 of 10.
- Revenue grows by at least 5 percent a year, on the same filings. It would have broken in 3 of 9.
- Net margin stays at or above 10 percent, on the same filings. It held in all 10 years on file.