Negative Free Cash FlowNegative free cash flow is a structural concern if persistent: it can limit reinvestment, dividend flexibility, and debt repayment options. Even with low leverage, prolonged cash burn would force reliance on financing or asset sales, increasing long-term funding and strategic risk.
Weak Cash ConversionAn OCF-to-net-income ratio well below 1.0 shows earnings are not being reliably converted to cash, often due to working capital or receivable build. This reduces free-cash-flow predictability, constraining capex, deleveraging capacity, and shareholder distributions over multi-quarter horizons.
Earnings Per Share ContractionSignificant negative EPS growth signals underlying pressure on profitability per share. If driven by volume, pricing or mix shifts, or one-offs, it raises the risk that earnings recovery may be protracted and could limit retained-earnings accumulation and long-term shareholder value creation.