Free cash flow
Capital One Financial Free cash flow decreased by 15.7% to $7.39B in Q4 2025 compared to the prior quarter. Year-over-year, this metric grew by 253.1%, from $2.09B to $7.39B. Over 4 years (FY 2021 to FY 2025), Free cash flow shows an upward trend with a 22.5% CAGR. This decline may warrant attention — for this metric, higher values are generally preferred.
Analysis
How to read this metric
An increase suggests strong operational efficiency and the ability to self-fund future innovation or return capital to shareholders, while a decrease may indicate heavy capital expenditure cycles or declining operational profitability.
Detailed definition
Free cash flow represents the cash generated by a company after accounting for cash outflows to support operations and m...
Peer comparison
High-growth semiconductor and AI infrastructure peers typically prioritize reinvestment, so free cash flow margins are often compared against R&D intensity and capital expenditure requirements of industry rivals.
cf_free_cash_flowHistorical Data
| Q2 '21 | Q3 '21 | Q4 '21 | Q1 '22 | Q2 '22 | Q3 '22 | Q4 '22 | Q1 '23 | Q2 '23 | Q3 '23 | Q4 '23 | Q1 '24 | Q2 '24 | Q3 '24 | Q4 '24 | Q1 '25 | Q2 '25 | Q3 '25 | Q4 '25 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $3.90B | $1.79B | $4.47B | -$309.00M | $2.76B | $2.56B | $7.87B | $2.76B | $3.15B | $6.87B | $6.84B | $2.76B | $5.95B | $6.15B | $2.09B | $4.32B | $5.67B | $8.77B | $7.39B |
| QoQ Change | — | -54.0% | +149.5% | -106.9% | +993.5% | -7.4% | +207.8% | -65.0% | +14.2% | +118.2% | -0.5% | -59.6% | +115.5% | +3.2% | -66.0% | +106.5% | +31.2% | +54.7% | -15.7% |
| YoY Change | — | — | — | — | -29.1% | +42.7% | +76.1% | +992.2% | +14.0% | +168.8% | -13.1% | +0.2% | +89.1% | -10.5% | -69.4% | +56.3% | -4.8% | +42.6% | +253.1% |
Free cash flow at Other Companies
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is Capital One Financial's free cash flow?
- Capital One Financial (COF) reported free cash flow of $7.39B in Q4 2025.
- How has Capital One Financial's free cash flow changed year-over-year?
- Capital One Financial's free cash flow increased by 253.1% year-over-year, from $2.09B to $7.39B.
- What is the long-term trend for Capital One Financial's free cash flow?
- Over 4 years (2021 to 2025), Capital One Financial's free cash flow has grown at a 22.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), from $11.61B to $26.14B.
- What does free cash flow mean?
- The cash a company has left over after paying for its operating expenses and capital investments.