Free Cash Flow Yield

An overall return evaluation ratio of a stock, which standardizes the free cash flow per share a company is expected to earn against its market price per share. The ratio is calculated by taking the free cash flow per share divided by the share price. To illustrate:

Free cash flow yield is similar in nature to the earnings yield metric, which is usually meant to measure GAAP earnings per share divided by share price. Generally, the lower the ratio, the less attractive the investment is and vice versa. The logic behind this is that investors would like to pay as little price as possible for as many earnings as possible.

Some investors regard free cash flow (which takes into account capital expenditures and other ongoing costs a business incurs to keep itself running) as a more accurate representation of the returns shareholders receive from owning a business, and thus prefer to free cash flow yield as a valuation metric over earnings yield.