PG&E Corporation (PCG): Cash Flow, Capex & Dividend Sustainability

Executive snapshot: PG&E financials, dividend sustainability and capex#

PG&E’s cash profile tightened into FY2024 despite an operational rebound: operating cash rose to $8.04B while free cash flow remained negative at -$2.33B, driven by a near-record $10.37B capital program. That tension — stronger operating performance versus heavy capex — is the single most consequential trend for PG&E’s dividend sustainability and funding flexibility.

The operating improvement translated into meaningful margin gains: FY2024 revenue held roughly flat at $24.42B versus FY2023 while gross profit increased to $9.16B and operating income widened to $4.46B. These figures come from Monexa AI’s company dataset and form the quantitative basis for the analysis below (Monexa AI.

At the same time PG&E’s balance sheet shows continued asset build-out: property, plant & equipment (net) expanded to $88.75B, and long-term debt edged higher to $54.01B, leaving net debt near $57.4B — a structure that supports capital-intensive operations but constrains free-cash-flow deployment for distributions without sustained operating cash improvement (Monexa AI.

What is driving PG&E’s recent cash-flow improvement?#

PG&E’s cash-flow uplift is primarily operational: stronger regulated earnings and working-capital timing produced a jump in operating cash, even while capex remained elevated.

Supporting detail: Net cash provided by operating activities rose to $8.04B in FY2024 (+69.26% YoY), while EBITDA expanded to $9.94B — reflecting both rate-related revenue capture and cost leverage. These figures are reported by Monexa AI (Monexa AI.

That improvement was offset by continued large investments: capital expenditure increased to $10.37B (+6.80% YoY), which turned operating cash into negative free cash flow of -$2.33B despite stronger earnings and working capital performance (Monexa AI. The interplay between rising operating cash and persistent capex is the proximate cause of the FCF profile.

Financial analysis and comparative tables#

The headline picture is one of margin recovery alongside heavy investment. Below are two reference tables for quick comparison of FY2024 vs FY2023 performance.

Source: Monexa AI (company filings and derived ratios).

Source: Monexa AI.

The numbers show several connected themes: (1) margin expansion (gross and operating) is driving bigger operating cash inflows; (2) capex remains the dominant cash outflow and explains the persistent negative FCF despite better operating performance; (3) balance-sheet leverage is stable but still substantial — net-debt-to-EBITDA (TTM) is 6.08x per Monexa AI, which is an important gauge of financial flexibility for capital-intensive utilities (Monexa AI.

Capital allocation, dividend signals and leverage dynamics#

Dividend and payout: PG&E has resumed modest cash dividends in 2024–2025 (quarterly payments shown in the company history). The company’s reported dividend per share is $0.085 and recent quarterly payments were $0.025 each; reported dividend yield is ~0.55% in Monexa AI’s profile (Monexa AI.

Data inconsistency note: within the dataset some fields show anomalous values (for example a dividend-yield field reported as 54.93% in ratios metadata). That figure is clearly inconsistent with dividend-per-share, share price and paid-dividend totals; for practical assessment we prioritize cash-paid dividends and the dividend-per-share field (and cash-flow coverage) as the ground-truth indicators (Monexa AI. Using cash-paid dividends of $86MM in FY2024 versus reported net income of $2.51B implies a cash-coverage ratio of roughly +3.43% of net income — materially lower than the anomalous payout ratios reported elsewhere in the feed (Monexa AI.

Leverage & liquidity: PG&E’s net debt of $57.4B and a TTM net-debt/EBITDA of 6.08x point to elevated leverage levels consistent with a large regulated utility undertaking system investment; the company’s cash balances ($940MM) and access to financing are important buffers while capex remains high (Monexa AI. Long-term debt increased by +3.77% YoY to $54.01B, indicating incremental financing for capital projects rather than material deleveraging in the period (Monexa AI.

Key takeaways and strategic implications#

PG&E’s FY2024 results show operational recovery and stronger cash generation, but the company remains in a capital-intensive posture. Investors and analysts should watch three measurable levers that will determine financial flexibility: rate/revenue realization (regulated filings), capex trajectory and operating-cash conversion.

1. Operational cash has improved materially — net cash from operations $8.04B, +69.26% YoY — but capex keeps FCF negative (- $2.33B). Monitor quarterly operating-cash conversion to see if FCF turns positive once capex normalizes (Monexa AI.
2. Leverage remains meaningful — net-debt/EBITDA 6.08x — so financing costs and capital market access are central to sustaining the investment program (Monexa AI.
3. Dividend signals are modest and currently covered more comfortably by earnings than by free cash flow: dividends paid $86MM vs net income $2.51B. Use cash-paid dividends and cash-flow coverage — not discrepant ratio fields — when assessing distribution sustainability (Monexa AI.

What this means for investors: PG&E (see PCG is executing a large, multi-year capital program that is improving asset quality and regulated operations but compressing free cash flow in the near term. The operational improvements are measurable and should support credit metrics over time if capex stabilizes and operating cash remains elevated. Near-term catalysts to monitor include quarterly operating-cash trends, capex guidance shifts, rate case outcomes and any material changes to financing or dividend policy (next earnings calendar noted in the company profile) — all of which are recorded in Monexa AI’s dataset (Monexa AI.

Sources: Financials, filings and time-series metrics from Monexa AI.