Tools › Investing › Company Financials › Capital Allocation History › Example
Where the cash went: Apple's fiscal 2023 cash flow statement split into its uses, against the Form 10-K
| Tool | Capital Allocation History |
| Source | Apple Inc. (2023). Form 10-K: Annual Report for the Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2023. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR accession 0000320193-23-000106, filed 3 November 2023. Consolidated statements of cash flows. |
| Level | Undergraduate |
Problem
Set a company's cash from operations against its uses for one fiscal year and check that the column closes to the change in cash. For Apple's fiscal year ended 30 September 2023 the cash flow statement prints, in millions of dollars: cash generated by operating activities 110,543; payments for property, plant and equipment 10,959; cash generated by investing activities 3,705; dividends 15,025; repurchases of common stock 77,550; proceeds from term debt 5,228 and repayments 11,151; cash used in financing activities 108,488; depreciation and amortization 11,519.
Inputs to Enter
- Company AAPL (the default); read the 2023 column of Tables 1 to 3; no market value typed
Answers
- Investing cash flow other than capital spending = −3,705 − 10,959 = −14,664 (a net inflow, mostly sales and maturities of marketable securities)
- Debt repaid, net of debt issued = 11,151 − 5,228 = 5,923; other financing = 108,488 − 15,025 − 77,550 − 5,923 = 9,990 (in the filing: taxes on share awards 5,431, net commercial paper repaid 3,978, other 581)
- Change in cash = 110,543 + 3,705 − 108,488 = 5,760, the filing's increase in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash; check: 110,543 − 10,959 + 14,664 − 15,025 − 77,550 − 5,923 − 9,990 = 5,760
- As a percent of operating cash flow: capital spending 9.9 %, dividends 13.6 %, repurchases 70.2 %, net debt repaid 5.4 %
- Free cash flow 110,543 − 10,959 = 99,584; paid to shareholders 15,025 + 77,550 = 92,575, or 93.0 % of free cash flow; capital spending / depreciation 10,959 / 11,519 = 0.95
Notes
The tool's default company is Apple; press Load. The page shows the ten latest fiscal years on file, so the 2023 column moves left as new years are added and the written-out steps are those of the newest year. Acquisitions are inside the other-investing row and repurchases are gross in Tables 1 to 3; a fourth table shows cash paid for acquisitions and proceeds from issuing shares where the company tags them. Figures are as filed and standardised by reporting tag; the filing is the authority. The page describes the uses of cash and makes no judgement of them. Checked against the filed 10-K text and an independent numpy implementation (test_capital_allocation_history.php). A calculator for education and analysis, not investment advice.