Owner Earnings Data Lookup - FMP Estimates

What Are Owner Earnings?

Owner earnings is an estimate of cash generation after the reinvestment needed to sustain a business. Buffett’s 1986 discussion also includes required additional working capital. The maintenance requirement needs judgment; it is not an audited measure of intrinsic value. This page displays Financial Modeling Prep (FMP) results rather than recalculating them from filings. The provider’s published formula is: Owner Earnings = Operating Cash Flow + signed Maintenance Capex. Spending can be negative in the provider’s convention, so adding it deducts the outflow. Do not reverse the sign a second time.

How to Use This Owner Earnings Tool

1
Enter a Stock Symbol
Enter a supported ticker symbol (e.g., AAPL, MSFT, GOOGL) in the Symbol field to look up that company's owner earnings history.
2
Set the Number of Periods
Optionally set a limit to control how many records are returned. Leave blank for the default number of results.
3
Analyze the Results
Review the returned period and reporting currency alongside owner earnings, maintenance capex, growth capex, and per-share values. Export to CSV for further analysis in Excel or Google Sheets.

Understanding Owner Earnings Metrics

Owners Earnings

The provider-estimated amount after its modeled maintenance spending. A rising value alone does not prove a competitive advantage or an available dividend; examine its inputs and the business.

Maintenance Capex

The capital expenditure required to maintain the company's existing assets and operations at their current level. The displayed value is a model estimate, not a company-confirmed minimum budget.

Growth Capex

Capital expenditure invested to expand the business beyond its current capacity. Intended expansion does not guarantee a positive return. Verify project economics rather than treating this field’s sign as a quality score.

Average PPE Ratio

FMP documents the sum of net PP&E divided by summed revenue over the last seven annual statements. It is a modeling input, not a direct measure of future maintenance needs.

Owners Earnings Per Share

FMP divides owner earnings by weighted-average diluted shares. Compare matching periods, currencies and share bases. The result is not itself an intrinsic share price.

Sources: FMP calculation methodology and Berkshire Hathaway’s 1986 letter. FMP also uses revenue changes to estimate growth spending. Coverage and revisions can vary; missing values are shown as unavailable, not zero. This page’s server cache can retain a response for one hour.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are owner earnings and why do they matter?

Buffett’s 1986 letter describes reported earnings plus relevant noncash charges, less the reinvestment needed to maintain the business, including additional working capital where needed. Maintenance requirements are estimates. This page displays FMP’s calculated series; it is not an independent valuation or proof of distributable cash.

How is owner earnings different from free cash flow?

A common free-cash-flow measure deducts total capital expenditure from operating cash flow. Owner-earnings approaches try to isolate maintenance requirements. Results depend on the estimate and sign convention; neither number alone identifies an undervalued stock.

What is the difference between maintenance capex and growth capex?

The distinction separates spending needed to sustain existing operations from spending intended to expand them. FMP models the split rather than reproducing a company-certified maintenance budget. Check filings and business conditions before relying on that estimate.

How can I use owner earnings per share for stock valuation?

First confirm the period, currency and share basis. Do not compare a quarterly per-share number directly with a full-year estimate or multiply one seasonal quarter by four without justification. A valuation multiple or cash-flow forecast needs additional assumptions; this lookup does not calculate an intrinsic value.

Is this owner earnings data free to use?

This page has no account or payment requirement. Symbol coverage, available periods and successful retrieval depend on the provider. Requests can use a one-hour server cache, so Refresh does not guarantee a newer observation. The table shows returned values and can export them to CSV.

Free Owner Earnings Data Lookup

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