Definition

Capital expenditures

Cash spent acquiring or upgrading long-lived assets — plants, equipment, data centers — recorded in investing activities rather than expensed against the year's income. It is the reinvestment line free cash flow subtracts, and the physical-world footprint behind depreciation that flows through the income statement in later years.

Formula

Free cash flow = Operating cash flow − Capex

Drivers — what actually moves it

Growth investment: capacity built ahead of demand — spend today, revenue later.
Maintenance: keeping existing assets productive; filings rarely split maintenance from growth spend.
Capital intensity: the business model's structural appetite — a foundry and a software vendor need very different footprints.

Where to find it in the filing

Cash-flow statement (investing activities). 10-K Item 8 — purchases of property, plant and equipment in the investing section; MD&A often discusses the forward plan.

XBRL concepts Echelon grounds to: PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment

Prove it on a model

Sector caveats — where this breaks

Capitalized software and leased capacity can move real investment out of this single tag — read the investing section whole.
Comparing capex across sectors without revenue-scaling reads the business model, not the discipline.

Free cash flow walk EBITDA

Educational use only — not investment advice. Figures come from public SEC filings; Echelon teaches you to analyze data, it never recommends buying or selling any security.