Free cash flow
Cencora Free cash flow increased by 148.4% to $1.17B in Q1 2026 compared to the prior quarter. Year-over-year, this metric declined by 63.6%, from $3.22B to $1.17B. Over 4 years (FY 2021 to FY 2025), Free cash flow shows an upward trend with a 9.5% CAGR. This is a positive signal — higher values indicate stronger performance for this metric.
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.
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 | Q1 '26 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $1.09B | $845.01M | $783.72M | $136.93M | $295.23M | $990.88M | $634.35M | $526.65M | $640.65M | $1.65B | $810.94M | -$991.20M | $2.36B | $818.06M | -$2.82B | $3.22B | -$73.97M | $2.88B | -$2.42B | $1.17B |
| QoQ Change | — | -22.2% | -7.3% | -82.5% | +115.6% | +235.6% | -36.0% | -17.0% | +21.6% | +157.8% | -50.9% | -222.2% | +338.1% | -65.3% | -445.3% | +214.1% | -102.3% | >999% | -184.1% | +148.4% |
| YoY Change | — | — | — | — | -72.8% | +17.3% | -19.1% | +284.6% | +117.0% | +66.7% | +27.8% | -288.2% | +268.3% | -50.5% | -448.3% | +425.1% | -103.1% | +252.5% | +14.2% | -63.6% |
Free cash flow at Other Companies
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is Cencora's free cash flow?
- Cencora (COR) reported free cash flow of $1.17B in Q1 2026.
- How has Cencora's free cash flow changed year-over-year?
- Cencora's free cash flow decreased by 63.6% year-over-year, from $3.22B to $1.17B.
- What is the long-term trend for Cencora's free cash flow?
- Over 4 years (2021 to 2025), Cencora's free cash flow has grown at a 9.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), from $2.23B to $3.21B.
- What does free cash flow mean?
- The cash a company has left over after paying for its operating expenses and capital investments.