what does fcf indicate 
free cash flow indicates the amount of cash generated each year that is free and clear of all internal or external obligations in other words it reflects cash that the company can safely invest or distribute to shareholders while a healthy fcf metric is generally seen as a positive sign by investors it is important to understand the context behind the figure for instance a company might show high fcf because it is postponing important capex investments in which case the high fcf could actually present an early indication of problems in the future 