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Warner Music Group (Warner Music Group) Free Cash Flow : $496 Mil (TTM As of Dec. 2023)


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What is Warner Music Group Free Cash Flow?

Warner Music Group's total free cash flow for the months ended in Dec. 2023 was $205 Mil. Its total free cash flow for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2023 was $496 Mil.

Warner Music Group's Free Cash Flow per Share for the months ended in Dec. 2023 was $0.40. Its free cash flow per share for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2023 was $0.96.

During the past 12 months, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate of Warner Music Group was -22.80% per year. During the past 3 years, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was 8.90% per year. During the past 5 years, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was 2.90% per year. During the past 10 years, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was 15.60% per year. Please click Growth Rate Calculation Example (GuruFocus) to see how GuruFocus calculates Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT)'s revenue growth rate. You can apply the same method to get the Free Cash Flow Growth Rate using Free Cash Flow per Share data.

During the past 13 years, Warner Music Group's highest 3-Year average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was 156.40% per year. The lowest was -42.90% per year. And the median was 2.10% per year.


Warner Music Group Free Cash Flow Historical Data

The historical data trend for Warner Music Group'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.

* Premium members only.

Warner Music Group Free Cash Flow Chart

Warner Music Group Annual Data
Trend Sep14 Sep15 Sep16 Sep17 Sep18 Sep19 Sep20 Sep21 Sep22 Sep23
Free Cash Flow
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 255.00 338.00 64.00 416.00 446.00

Warner Music Group Quarterly Data
Mar19 Jun19 Sep19 Dec19 Mar20 Jun20 Sep20 Dec20 Mar21 Jun21 Sep21 Dec21 Mar22 Jun22 Sep22 Dec22 Mar23 Jun23 Sep23 Dec23
Free Cash Flow Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 155.00 -50.00 102.00 239.00 205.00

Warner Music Group Free Cash Flow Calculation

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.

Warner Music Group's Free Cash Flow for the fiscal year that ended in Sep. 2023 is calculated as

Free Cash Flow (A: Sep. 2023 )=Cash Flow from Operations+Capital Expenditure
=687+-241
=446

Warner Music Group's Free Cash Flow for the quarter that ended in Dec. 2023 is calculated as

Free Cash Flow (Q: Dec. 2023 )=Cash Flow from Operations+Capital Expenditure
=293+-88
=205

Free Cash Flow for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2023 adds up the quarterly data reported by the company within the most recent 12 months, which was $496 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.


Warner Music Group  (NAS:WMG) 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.

Therefore, as of Dec23, Warner Music Group's Forward Rate of Return (Yacktman) % is

Forward Rate of Return (Yacktman) % (Dec23)=Normalized Free Cash Flow/Price+5-Year EBITDA Growth Rate
=0.60571429/35.79+0.1472
=16.41 %

* 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.


Warner Music Group Free Cash Flow Related Terms

Thank you for viewing the detailed overview of Warner Music Group's Free Cash Flow provided by GuruFocus.com. Please click on the following links to see related term pages.


Warner Music Group (Warner Music Group) Business Description

Traded in Other Exchanges
Address
1633 Broadway, New York, NY, USA, 10019
Warner Music Group is the third largest of the three major global record labels, with Vivendi's Universal Music in first and Sony Music in second. Warner's larger segment, recorded music, consists of iconic labels like Atlantic Records, Warner Records, and Parlophone Records and popular artists such as Ed Sheeran, Cardi B, Dua Lipa, and Blake Shelton. Warner Chappell, the firm's publishing arm, is the home to over 65,000 composers and songwriters with over 1 million copyrights represented. Warner is controlled by Access Industries, which owns an 84% economic interest and 99% of voting rights.
Executives
Max Lousada director, officer: CEO, Recorded Music C/O WARNER MUSIC GROUP CORP., 1633 BROADWAY, NEW YORK NY 10019
Carletta Higginson officer: EVP, Chief Digital Officer C/O WARNER MUSIC GROUP CORP., 1633 BROADWAY, NEW YORK NY 10019
Bryan Castellani officer: Chief Financial Officer C/O WARNER MUSIC GROUP CORP., 1633 BROADWAY, NEW YORK NY 10019
Valentin Blavatnik director C/O WARNER MUSIC GROUP CORP., 1633 BROADWAY, NEW YORK NY 10019
Entertainment Holdings Ii Llc 10 percent owner 40 WEST 57TH STREET, 28TH FLOOR, NEW YORK NY 10019
Lincoln E Benet director C/O LYONDELLBASELL INDUSTRIES N.V., DELFTSEPLEIN 27E, ROTTERDAM P7 3013AA
Timothy Matusch officer: EVP Strategy & Operations C/O WARNER MUSIC GROUP CORP., 1633 BROADWAY, NEW YORK NY 10019
Robert Kyncl officer: Co-CEO C/O WARNER MUSIC GROUP CORP., 1633 BROADWAY, NEW YORK NY 10019
Nancy Dubuc director C/O WARNER MUSIC GROUP CORP., 1633 BROADWAY, NEW YORK NY 10019
Ai Entertainment Holdings Llc 10 percent owner C/O ACCESS INDUSTRIES, LLC, 40 WEST 57TH ST, 28TH FLR, NEW YORK NY 10019
Louis Dickler officer: Acting CFO & Corp. Contr. C/O WARNER MUSIC GROUP CORP., 1633 BROADWAY, NEW YORK NY 10019
Noreena Hertz director C/O WARNER MUSIC GROUP CORP., 1633 BROADWAY, NEW YORK NY 10019
Cecelia Kurzman director 237 PARK AVENUE, REVLON, 14TH FLOOR, NEW YORK NY 10017
Thomas H Lee director C/O THOMAS H. LEE CAPITAL LLC, 767 FIFTH AVENUE, 6TH FLOOR, NEW YORK NY 10153
Michael Lynton director 2000 AVENUE OF THE STARS 12TH FL, LOS ANGELES CA 90067