US companies with the most free cash flow
Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending: the cash a business can return to shareholders, pay down debt with or reinvest. Apple Inc. leads with $136.1bn in fiscal 2026. The top 100 of 2,494 companies with a figure on file.
Would buying this list have paid?
Buying the top 100 companies by free cash flow, as the list stood each quarter since March 31, 2010, would have returned +14.9% a year against +14.0% for the S&P 500. It beat the index, but not by enough, consistently enough, to rule out luck.
| Return a year | Typical yearly swing | Sharpe ratio | Biggest drop | Moves with market (beta) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 100 by free cash flow | +14.9% | 14.6% | 0.94 | -22.1% | 0.91 |
| S&P 500, buy and hold | +14.0% | 15.1% | 0.87 | -23.9% | 1.00 |
- Ahead of the S&P 500 in 53.0% of 66 quarters.
- Extra return after allowing for market risk (alpha): +2.0% a year No reliable evidence t = 1.37
- Against the S&P 500: +2.5% a year in 2010–2017, −0.6% in 2018–2026.
More rankings
- Largest US companies by revenue
- Most profitable US companies
- Fastest-growing large US companies
- US companies with the highest profit margins
- US companies with the highest return on equity
- Biggest share buybacks by US companies
- Biggest dividend payers in the US
- US companies raising their dividend every year
- Largest US employers
- US companies with the most cash
- US companies with the most debt
- Biggest R&D spenders in the US
- Companies by sector and industry