AA

Apple Inc. (AAPL)

The fcf payout ratio for Apple Inc. (AAPL) is 15.74%.

Current FCF Payout Ratio

AAPL

15.74%

Assessment

Low

Highly sustainable - room for dividend growth

What is FCF Payout Ratio?

FCF Payout Ratio measures what percentage of free cash flow is paid out as dividends. Unlike earnings-based payout, it shows actual cash sustainability of dividends.

Payout Ratio Comparison

FCF Payout Ratio

15.7%

Earnings Payout Ratio

13.9%

Dividend Yield

0.41%

FCF Yield

2.58%

Formula: FCF Payout Ratio = Dividends Paid / Free Cash Flow × 100

Why FCF Payout matters more than Earnings Payout:

  • FCF represents actual cash available (not accounting earnings)
  • A company can't sustainably pay more dividends than it generates in cash
  • FCF Payout > 100% means the company is borrowing or using reserves to pay dividends
  • Earnings can be manipulated, FCF is harder to fake

Dividend sustainability: If FCF Payout is consistently below 60-70%, dividends are likely sustainable and have room to grow.