Capital Expenditures
The expenditures made by a firm to acquire, to add to, or to improve property, plant, and equipment (PP&E). PP&E includes land, timber, mineral and like-rights owned; structures, machinery, equipment, special tools, and other depreciable property; construction in progress; and tangible and intangible exploration and development costs. It excludes the changes in PP&E that are due to changes in the entity--such as mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures--or that are due to changes in accounting methods. The expenditures are measured on a gross basis; sales and other dispositions of fixed assets are not netted against them.