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Aslan Research · Chips

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO)

Data as of 2026-08-21 · 28 quarters · filed in USD

Backlog stands at $164.6 billion, or 2.2x one year of revenue, while revenue grew 23% per year against 22% annual expense growth. That gives the order book meaningful scale relative to the current business, although the growth rates are close.

Revenue, last 12 mo $75B to 2026-05-03
Spend, last 12 mo $41B cost + R&D + admin + tax
Debt they report $65B balance-sheet borrowings
Money promised $65B debt + leases + purchases
Unrealized revenue $14B + $165B signed backlog
Due in next 5 years $150B the obligation wall

Earned, collected early, and merely signed

signed backlogrevenue (qtr)deferredQ3 '19Q2 '21Q1 '23Q3 '24Q2 '26$86B$173B

Reports $65B of debt; has promised $65B

Total committed money matches reported debt at 1.0x. The filing data therefore shows no additional committed amount from leases or purchases beyond the $64.9 billion of debt.

promisedreported debtQ3 '19Q2 '21Q1 '23Q3 '24Q2 '26$40B$80B

What the promised total is made of, latest quarter

debtleasespurchase deals
today
100%

Spending, by reported line

Cost of revenueR&DSelling & adminTax
2020
62%
30%
12%
2021
63%
29%
8%
2022
61%
27%
2023
59%
28%
8%
2024
51%
25%
13%
10%
2025
58%
31%
12%

When the promises come due

Most of the backlog is scheduled within the next five years, with $149.6 billion of revenue commitments due in that period. The backlog extends beyond that window through $877 million of commitments after year five.

$150Bnext 5 years$0years 5–10$0beyond 10$877Mafter yr 5, undated

The rates that matter

Revenue growth /yr 23% 2020-Q2 → 2026-Q2
Expense growth /yr 22%
Promised money /yr 8%
Reported debt /yr 8%
Deferred revenue /yr 31%
Quarters re-stated 6 of 28 by cited reconciliation

Expenses as filed vs after cited reconciliation

$4.0Bfiled2019$4.0Breality2019$13Bfiled2020$12Breality2020$17Bfiled2021$17Breality2021$18Bfiled2022$18Breality2022$19Bfiled2023$19Breality2023$37Bfiled2024$32Breality2024$35Bfiled2025$35Breality2025$23Bfiled2026$23Breality2026

10 patterns worth a second look

The sharpest flag is a backstop tied to a customer's lease obligations, with maximum exposure of $29 billion. Other filing changes include a shift in the revenue-commitment definition and 6 of 28 quarters changed by reconciliation.

off balance sheet · 1

The Q2 FY2026 filing reports a backstop for a customer's lease obligations with maximum exposure of $29 billion.

one time dressing · 1

The FY2020 quarterly filing reports a $116 million one-time gain in other income; later filings do not describe it as recurring operating performance.

redefinition · 1

The revenue commitment metric changes from firmly committed remaining performance obligations to remaining performance obligations without the prior qualifier.

related party exposure · 1

The FY2025 and Q1 FY2026 filings report substantial stock-gifting and selling arrangements involving related parties and affiliated foundations.

subsequent event · 2

The FY2023 filing reports the VMware acquisition shortly after period end, including approximately $86.3 billion of preliminary purchase consideration.

The FY2024 filing reports an estimated $4.9 billion discrete tax expense after an intra-group transfer of IP rights to the United States.

tagging quality · 1

7 XBRL facts were reported at inconsistent scales across filings (e.g. us-gaap:WeightedAverageNumberOfDilutedSharesOutstanding).

value revision · 2

The current debt amount was revised from $290 million to $264 million; the catalog does not provide enough context to classify the revision as substantive.

The noncurrent debt amount was revised from $39.440 billion to $41.235 billion; the catalog does not provide enough context to classify the revision as substantive.

vanishing item · 1

The FY2023 filing reports $642 million of future payments under additional leases commencing in FY2024; later cited filings do not repeat this specific commitment.

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