KE
KEY
Sep 30, 2024
Quarter ended Sep 30, 2024 · FY2024 Q3

KeyCorp stock research

KeyCorp (KEY) Free Cash Flow — Quarter Ended Sep 30, 2024

Free cash flow turned deeply negative this quarter, a sharp reversal from positive free cash flow a year earlier. Operating cash flow was the primary driver, as it shifted from positive to a large negative outflow.

Free cash flow takeaway

A quick read on the company's cash generation and what it means for investors.

Free cash flow turned deeply negative this quarter, a sharp reversal from positive free cash flow a year earlier. Operating cash flow was the primary driver, as it shifted from positive to a large negative outflow.

  • Revenue was higher sequentially, but operating cash flow was a large negative, resulting in a deeply negative free cash flow margin. Capital expenditure remained relatively stable, so the conversion weakness came entirely from operating cash flow.
  • Compared to the prior quarter, free cash flow weakened significantly as operating cash flow dropped from a small negative to a large negative. Versus the same quarter one year earlier, free cash flow declined sharply from positive to deeply negative.

FCF snapshot

Quarterly and TTM cash-flow metrics with the minimum valuation context.

TTM free cash flow

-$111.0M

Trailing twelve-month free cash flow.

Quarter free cash flow

-$1.2B

Free cash flow in the selected fiscal quarter.

Operating cash flow

-$1.2B

Cash generated by operations before capital spending.

CapEx

$17.0M

Capital spending and related asset purchases.

FCF margin

-291.6%

The share of revenue converted into free cash flow.

Cash flow trend

A short quarterly history shows whether FCF is scaling with revenue or only spiking for one period.

PeriodRevenueOperating CFCapExFCFFCF margin
2023-12-31$361.0M$1.0B$43.0M$994.0M275.3%
2024-03-31$399.0M$359.0M$12.0M$347.0M87.0%
2024-06-30$379.0M-$217.0M$13.0M-$230.0M-60.7%
2024-09-30$419.0M-$1.2B$17.0M-$1.2B-291.6%

Cash conversion quality

Checks that separate high-quality free cash flow from accounting noise or working-capital timing.

FCF / net income298.0%Shows whether accounting earnings convert into cash.
CapEx / revenue4.1%Lower capital intensity usually supports FCF margin.
Net cashn/aCash and equivalents minus total debt.

Recent events shaping cash flow

Near-term business events that help explain the free cash flow result.

Watch

Operating Cash Flow Swing

Operating cash flow moved from positive a year ago to a large negative this quarter, and from a small negative last quarter to a much larger negative. This was the strongest observable driver of the free cash flow decline.

The negative operating cash flow fully reversed the free cash flow position, from positive to deeply negative.

What the cash flow says

How to interpret the company's free cash flow beyond the headline number.

Revenue was higher sequentially, but operating cash flow was a large negative, resulting in a deeply negative free cash flow margin. Capital expenditure remained relatively stable, so the conversion weakness came entirely from operating cash flow.

Compared to the prior quarter, free cash flow weakened significantly as operating cash flow dropped from a small negative to a large negative. Versus the same quarter one year earlier, free cash flow declined sharply from positive to deeply negative.

Monitor the magnitude of negative operating cash flow, as it drove both the sequential and year-over-year deterioration in free cash flow.