Free cash flow
Marathon Petroleum Free cash flow increased by 13.6% to $1.89B in Q4 2025 compared to the prior quarter. Year-over-year, this metric grew by 35.1%, from $1.40B to $1.89B. Over 4 years (FY 2021 to FY 2025), Free cash flow shows an upward trend with a 13.3% 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.
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 | $1.08B | -$1.53B | $3.19B | $2.02B | $6.45B | $1.81B | $3.66B | $3.60B | $3.50B | $4.53B | $591.00M | $947.00M | $2.76B | $1.03B | $1.40B | -$727.00M | $1.94B | $1.66B | $1.89B |
| QoQ Change | — | -241.5% | +309.4% | -36.8% | +219.8% | -71.9% | +101.7% | -1.5% | -2.7% | +29.4% | -87.0% | +60.2% | +190.9% | -62.5% | +35.2% | -152.0% | +367.4% | -14.5% | +13.6% |
| YoY Change | — | — | — | — | +498.7% | +218.9% | +14.5% | +78.4% | -45.7% | +150.0% | -83.8% | -73.7% | -21.4% | -77.2% | +136.4% | -176.8% | -29.4% | +60.9% | +35.1% |
Free cash flow at Other Companies
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is Marathon Petroleum's free cash flow?
- Marathon Petroleum (MPC) reported free cash flow of $1.89B in Q4 2025.
- How has Marathon Petroleum's free cash flow changed year-over-year?
- Marathon Petroleum's free cash flow increased by 35.1% year-over-year, from $1.40B to $1.89B.
- What is the long-term trend for Marathon Petroleum's free cash flow?
- Over 4 years (2021 to 2025), Marathon Petroleum's free cash flow has grown at a 13.3% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), from $2.90B to $4.77B.
- What does free cash flow mean?
- The cash a company has left over after paying for its operating expenses and capital investments.