The company's low-cost operations enable it to produce a lot of free cash flow. For example, it generated $5.5 billion in cash flow from operations and$2.1 billion in free cash flow in the first quarter. It also has a strong balance sheet, with $7.5 billion in cash at the end of the first quarter. The company's robust free cash flow and balance sheet strength enabled it to return$2.5 billion to investors during the first quarter, with $1 billion paid in dividends and a repurchase of$1.5 billion of its st ...