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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Moderated Thread - please read rules before posting

QCOM 159.42

-1.2%

Jan 16 3:59 PM EST

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To: Clarksterh who wrote (29137)	11/19/2002 10:13:25 PM
From: propitious7	Read Replies (1) of 197278

cash flow/ free cash flow clark I don't think that "cash flow" is an ambiguous term in accounting, but I agree there are variations. The variations I am familiar with do have ambiguity, and I think this is because they have been invented not by accountants but by securities analysts. Thus "free cash flow" is an analyst term which means cash flow minus capex (capital expenditures) + (at least to some analysts) dividends. For companies like cell phone carriers which simply have to incur capex, free cash flow is very useful. NXTL has large positive cash flow, has some positive earnings but has yet to show positive free cash flow. For a company like QCOM with $3B of cash and very limited capex except for discretionary investment decisions, free cash flow is not a relevant metric, IMO. I don't think accountants use terms which commingle balance sheet and income statement accounts but i'm no accountant. propitious

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