Sector Report4 min read
Financials: 16 A-Grades With Five Banks Failing
Payments and exchanges print cash. Big banks bleed it. The split is getting worse.
Apr 3, 2026
CMEVMACOF+12
Free cash flow analysis, sector reports, and market insights
Payments and exchanges print cash. Big banks bleed it. The split is getting worse.
Philip Morris and Monster print 26% and 22% margins. Walmart and Tyson barely break 2%. Same sector, different planets.
Travel and fast food print 30%+ FCF margins. Auto and retail burn cash. Same sector, different planets.
Pharma prints cash at 25%+ margins. Health insurers are burning through it at 2%. Same sector, different planets.
Half the sector earns A-grades while Boeing burns cash. The spread tells you everything about where quality lives.
76% of tech companies grade A. Three burn cash. The sector split tells you where to look.
Alexandria Real Estate prints half its revenue as free cash flow. The debt load is massive. The grade is still an A.
AvalonBay prints nearly half of revenue as free cash flow. The debt load is real, but the margin tells a different story.
Kimco prints half its revenue as free cash flow. The debt load says otherwise.
Regency Centers prints cash like clockwork. The debt load is the only reason it's not perfect.
CME prints $3.6B in free cash flow on $6.1B revenue. The exchange business model works exactly like it should.
Public Storage converts 60% of revenue to free cash flow. That's exceptional. The $10B debt load tells a different story.