Aslan Research · Chips
ARM HOLDINGS PLC /UK (ARM)
Data as of 2026-09-03 · 16 quarters · filed in USD
Revenue grew 25% per year, ahead of expense growth at 22%. That growth sits alongside $2.1 billion of backlog, equal to 0.4x one year of revenue, and $939 million of deferred revenue.
Earned, collected early, and merely signed
Reports — of debt; has promised $464M
The $464 million of committed money is entirely leases, so it adds no purchase commitments beyond reported lease exposure.
What the promised total is made of, latest quarter
Spending, by reported line
When the promises come due
Only 0.2x of the $3.0 billion of future revenue promised over the next five years is due over that period. Another $286 million of commitments falls after year five or has no date.
The rates that matter
Expenses as filed vs after cited reconciliation
32 patterns worth a second look
The filings show financing or prepayments involving parties that also appear as customers or revenue sources. Four of 16 quarters changed through reconciliation, and several historical operating-income, net-income, income-tax, and operating-cash-flow figures were dropped after extraction disagreements.
circular financing · 1
The filings report company financing or prepayments involving parties that also appear as customers or revenue sources.
extraction disagreement · 21
6-K arm-20230930.htm: the two extraction passes read operating_income for 2023-09-30 as -156000000 vs 156000000; the figure was dropped.
6-K arm-20230930.htm: the two extraction passes read operating_income for 2023-09-30 as -45000000 vs 45000000; the figure was dropped.
6-K arm-20230930.htm: the two extraction passes read net_income for 2023-09-30 as -110000000 vs 110000000; the figure was dropped.
+ 18 more
off balance sheet · 1
The filings report substantial obligations outside ordinary recognized liabilities, including guarantees, not-yet-commenced leases, and an intercompany lending commitment.
one time dressing · 1
The filings identify a one-time payroll-tax timing effect that produced a $573 million Q4 benefit and was reversed in the following quarter.
redefinition · 1
The filings change the stated scope of annualized contract value from including signed-agreement licensing fees to explicitly excluding potential future royalty revenue.
regulator challenge · 5
A reply to SEC staff was filed on 2023-08-21, answering a staff comment letter dated 2023-08-10; it quotes 1 staff comment.
A reply to SEC staff was filed on 2023-09-05, answering a staff comment letter dated 2023-08-28; it quotes 1 staff comment.
A reply to SEC staff was filed on 2023-09-07, answering a staff comment letter dated 2023-09-07; it quotes 1 staff comment.
+ 2 more
related party exposure · 1
Related-party revenue and receivable exposure increases materially through the reported periods, particularly with Arm China and SoftBank affiliates.
subsequent event · 1
The filings report later transactions that materially recontextualize the preceding period, including the DreamBig acquisition and the Artisan divestiture agreement.