Free cash flow
Stryker Free cash flow increased by 38.6% to $1.88B in Q4 2025 compared to the prior quarter. Year-over-year, this metric grew by 12.6%, from $1.67B to $1.88B. Over 4 years (FY 2021 to FY 2025), Free cash flow shows an upward trend with a 11.8% 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 | $772.00M | $803.00M | $794.00M | $84.00M | $386.00M | $751.00M | $815.00M | $315.00M | $536.00M | $902.00M | $1.38B | $37.00M | $481.00M | $1.30B | $1.67B | $127.00M | $928.00M | $1.35B | $1.88B |
| QoQ Change | — | +4.0% | -1.1% | -89.4% | +359.5% | +94.6% | +8.5% | -61.3% | +70.2% | +68.3% | +53.3% | -97.3% | >999% | +171.1% | +27.7% | -92.4% | +630.7% | +45.8% | +38.6% |
| YoY Change | — | — | — | — | -50.0% | -6.5% | +2.6% | +275.0% | +38.9% | +20.1% | +69.7% | -88.3% | -10.3% | +44.6% | +20.4% | +243.2% | +92.9% | +3.8% | +12.6% |
Free cash flow at Other Companies
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is Stryker's free cash flow?
- Stryker (SYK) reported free cash flow of $1.88B in Q4 2025.
- How has Stryker's free cash flow changed year-over-year?
- Stryker's free cash flow increased by 12.6% year-over-year, from $1.67B to $1.88B.
- What is the long-term trend for Stryker's free cash flow?
- Over 4 years (2021 to 2025), Stryker's free cash flow has grown at a 11.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), from $2.74B to $4.28B.
- What does free cash flow mean?
- The cash a company has left over after paying for its operating expenses and capital investments.