Air Methods's total free cash flow for the
months ended in Dec. 2016 was
$32 Mil.
Its total free cash flow for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2016 was $118 Mil.
Air Methods's Free Cash Flow per Share for the
months ended in Dec. 2016 was $0.84.
Its free cash flow per share for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2016 was $3.13.
The historical data trend for Air Methods's Free Cash Flow can be seen below:
* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD. * For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.
Free Cash Flow is considered one of the most important parameters to measure a company's earnings power by value investors because it is not subject to estimates of Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization (DDA). However, when we look at the Free Cash Flow, we should look from a long term perspective, because any year's Free Cash Flow can be drastically affected by the spending on Property, Plant, & Equipment (PPE) of the business in that year. Over the long term, Free Cash Flow should give pretty good picture on the real earnings power of the company.
Air Methods's Free Cash Flow for the fiscal year that ended in Dec. 2016 is calculated as
Free Cash Flow for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2016 adds up the quarterly data reported by the company within the most recent 12 months, which was $118 Mil.
* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD. * For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.
Air Methods (NAS:AIRM) Free Cash Flow Explanation
Free Cash Flow is very close to Warren Buffett's definition of Owner's Earnings, except that in Warren Buffett's Owner's Earnings, the spending for Property, Plant, and Equipment is only for maintenance (replacement), while in the Free Cash Flow calculation, the cost of new Property, Plant, and Equipment due to business expansion is also deducted. There, Free Cash Flow is more conservative than Owner's Earnings.
In Don Yacktman's calculation of forward rate of return, he uses Free Cash Flow for the calculation. Yacktman explained the forward rate of return concept in detail in his interview with GuruFocus. Yacktman defines forward rate of return as the normalized free cash flow yield plus real growth plus inflation.
This is what Yacktman said in his March 2012 interview - when the S&P 500 was at 1400:
If the business is stable, this calculation is fairly straightforward. For instance, on the S&P 500 we would normalize earnings. We would then calculate what percentage of those earnings are not reinvested in the underlying businesses and are therefore free. Historically, for the S&P 500, this has been just under 50% of earnings. Currently, we expect the S&P to earn about 70 on a normalized basis, a number which is far below reported earnings due to our adjusting for record high profit margins. $70 X ½ / 1400 gives you a normalized free cash flow yield of approximately 2.5%.
The historical real growth rate of the S&P 500 (companies) is about 1.5%. Assuming an inflation rate of 2.5%, the forward rate of return on an investment in the S&P 500 is about 6.5% today (2.5% free cash flow yield plus 1.5% real growth plus 2.5% inflation).
For the growth part of the Forward Rate of Return calculation, GuruFocus uses the 5-year average growth rate of EBITDA per share as the growth rate, and the growth rate is always capped at 20%. For the Free Cash Flow we use per share data averaged over seven years. The reason we use seven years is because research shows that seven years is the length of the typical business cycle.
* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD. * For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.
Be Aware
Free Cash Flow within a report period can be affected by management's decisions of capital spending. Therefore, it is important to look at long term when it comes to Free Cash Flow.
Air Methods Free Cash Flow Related Terms
Thank you for viewing the detailed overview of Air Methods's Free Cash Flow provided by GuruFocus.com. Please click on the following links to see related term pages.
Air Methods Corp is a Delaware corporation, was established in Colorado in 1982. The Company provides air medical emergency transport services and systems throughout the United States of America. It designs, manufactures, and installs medical aircraft interiors and other aerospace and medical transport products. The Company also provides tourism operations in and around the Grand Canyon and Hawaiian Islands. The Company's operating segments include Air Medical Services, Tourism Division and United Rotorcraft. Air Medical Services provides air medical transportation services to the general population as an independent service and to hospitals or other institutions under exclusive operating agreements. The division operates 380 helicopters and 26 fixed wing aircraft under both Instrument Flight Rules and Visual Flight Rules. Tourism Division provides helicopter tours and charter flights, mainly focusing on Grand Canyon and Hawaiian Island tours. The division operates 48 helicopters under two Part 135 Air Carrier Certificates. United Rotorcraft Division designs, manufactures, and installs aircraft medical interiors and other aerospace and medical transport products for domestic and international customers. The Company maintains patents covering several products, including the Litter Lift System used in the U.S. Army's HH-60M helicopter and Medical Evacuation Vehicle, and the Articulating Patient Loading System and Modular Equipment Frame developed as part of the modular interior concept. The Company competes with several national and regional air medical transportation providers for contracts with hospitals and other healthcare institutions. It also competes with larger aerial tourism operators in the Grand Canyon market and a number of smaller operators in both the Grand Canyon and Hawaiian Island markets. The Company is subject to the Federal Aviation Act of 1958. All of its flight and maintenance operations-including equipment, ground facilities, dispatch, communications, flight training personnel and other matters affecting air safety are regulated and actively supervised by the U.S. Department of Transportation through the FAA. It is also subject to laws, regulations, and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations, NASDAQ Stock Market rules, and other federal and state securities laws.
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