Purchase of securities

When calculating FCF for DCF analysis, I know that we subtract off the CAPEX (PP&E). I noticed that on the CF statement, there is also a "Purchases of Investment Securities" and "Sales of Investment Securities." Do we also have to factor these into the FCF?

7 Comments
 

Capex is obviously included in the equation. By saying "FCF only deals with operating cash flows" I was referencing a specific portion of the SoCF which would exclude the items OP mentioned (as they are financing items). Thank you for the explanation, though.

 
Best Response

They are not financing items. Purchase/sale of investment securities do not fall under CFF, they are categorized as CFI, which is why OP is asking if they should be included in a FCF calc as capex (also a CFI item) happens to be. Purchase/sale of investment securities typically relates to how a treasury dept of a company chooses to park its cash. In a DCF, you wouldn't account for this activity as it is non-core to the business itself and should be a part of the residual CF that gets discounted.

 

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