Arm Holdings plcおよびその完全子会社(以下、「社」とも称します) 半導体業種のグローバルリーダーです。同社の主な業務は、マイクロプロセッサ、システム知的財産(IP)、グラフィックス処理ユニット、物理IPおよび関連するシステムIP、ソフトウェア、ツール、およびその他の関連サービスのライセンス供与、マーケティング、研究開発です。
会社が保有する全セクター投資はエコシステムの成長を促進するために新規買として考慮され、非流動資産として分類されています。 2024年9月30日までの3か月間 2023年には、会社は$1.0百万と $1.8百万の配当を認識しましたそれぞれ、NAVの実務上の便宜を用いて評価された株式投資から。 2024年9月30日および2023年の6か月間で、会社は $1.1 百万 および2.1それぞれ、NAVの実務的便宜を用いて測定された株式投資からの配当として、百万ドル。 会社の既存の投資先に対する財務コミットメントの総額は、要約連結財務諸表では記載されていませんでした。 $19.1百万ドルと$19.9 In the same period of last year. 2024年3月31日2024年9月30日および 2024年3月31日、それぞれ.
No share-based compensation cost was capitalized for the three and six months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023.
10 - Income Taxes
For the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, income tax benefit (expense) was $43.0 million and $9.0 million, respectively. For the six months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, income tax benefit (expense) was $22.0 million and $(13.0) million, respectively. For the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, the income tax benefit (expense) as a percentage of income before taxes was 67.2% and (7.6)%, respectively. For the six months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, the income tax benefit (expense) as a percentage of income before taxes was 7.1% and (162.5)%, respectively.
The effective rate decreased compared to the same period last year primarily due to windfall tax benefits associated with share-based compensation arising in the three and six months ended September 30, 2024. Additionally, a $25.0 million contingency was released in the three months ended September 30, 2024, following the resolution of a tax inquiry.
For the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, the effective rate differed from the U.K. statutory rate of 25% in both periods, primarily due to patent box, research and development tax credits and the tax impact of share-based
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
(unaudited)
compensation cost. For the six months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, the effective rate differed from the U.K. statutory rate of 25% in both periods, primarily due to patent box, research and development tax credits and the tax impact of share-based compensation cost. As noted above there was also a $25.0 million release of a contingency provision in the three months ended September 30, 2024, following the resolution of a tax inquiry.
11 - Net Income (Loss) Per Share
The following table presents a reconciliation of basic and diluted earnings per share computations for all periods presented:
Three Months Ended September 30,
Six Months Ended September 30,
(in millions, except per share amounts)
2024
2023
2024
2023
Numerator:
Income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders — basic and diluted
Net income (loss)
$
107
$
(110)
$
330
$
(5)
Denominator:
Weighted average ordinary shares used to calculate income (loss) per share — basic (1)
1,049
1,025
1,047
1,025
Equity-classified shared-based awards
14
—
14
—
Weighted average ordinary shares used to calculate income (loss) per share — diluted
1,063
1,025
1,061
1,025
Income (loss) per share attributable to ordinary shareholders — basic
Net income (loss) per ordinary share - basic
$
0.10
$
(0.11)
$
0.32
$
—
Income (loss) per share attributable to ordinary shareholders — diluted
Net income (loss) per ordinary share - diluted
$
0.10
$
(0.11)
$
0.31
$
—
Securities excluded from diluted net income (loss) per ordinary share because their effect would have been anti-dilutive:
Restricted share units (2)
—
39
—
39
Performance share units (3)
1
1
1
1
Total
1
40
1
40
(1) For the three and six months ended September 30, 2023, includes weighted average ordinary shares for vested securities without restrictions that were not issued and outstanding as of the end of the reporting period.
(2) For the three and six months ended September 30, 2023, RSUs exclude certain awards which require cash settlement and do not allow for share settlement.
(3) Prior to the IPO, certain executive awards entitled participants to fixed monetary amounts where the quantity of securities was calculated based on the total fixed monetary amount divided by the closing average market price of ordinary shares. Upon the IPO, these awards entitled participants to a fixed number of ordinary shares calculated based on the total fixed monetary amount divided by the IPO price.
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
(unaudited)
12 - Commitments and Contingencies
Litigation
From time to time, the Company is party to litigation and other legal proceedings in the ordinary course of business. Because the results of any litigation or other legal proceedings are uncertain, the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows could be materially affected by an unfavorable resolution of one or more of these proceedings, claims, or demands. However, management does not currently believe the ultimate resolution of any pending legal matters is reasonably possible to have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows. The Company accrues for loss contingencies when it is both probable that it will incur the loss and when the Company can reasonably estimate the amount of the loss or range of loss.
No material amounts related to litigation settlements were recognized in the three and six months ended September 30, 2024. For the three and six months ended September 30, 2023, the liability for litigation was reversed resulting in a reduction of selling, general and administrative expenses by $40.0 million due to a settlement agreement and no amount of cash was paid by the Company.
Arduino Guarantee
The Company is guarantor for a $5.6 million credit facility available to Arduino. As of September 30, 2024 and March 31, 2024, no claims have been made against the guaranty. The guaranty expires in January 2025.
13 - Related Party Transactions
Arm China and Acetone Limited
Following the restructuring of its direct investment in Arm Technology (China) Co. Limited (“Arm China”) in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022, the Company has a 10% non-voting ownership interest in Acetone Limited, whose primary asset is a 48.2% interest in Arm China. The Company has no direct material transactions with Acetone Limited.
For the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, the Company recognized revenue of $147.7 million and $162.0 million, respectively, generated pursuant to arrangements under the terms of the intellectual property license agreement with Arm China (the “IPLA”), and recognized expenses of $15.2 million and $17.5 million, respectively, under a service share arrangement with Arm China. For the six months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, the Company recognized revenue of $270.3 million and $300.9 million, respectively, generated pursuant to arrangements under the terms of the IPLA, and recognized expenses of $31.4 million and $33.6 million, respectively, under a service share arrangement with Arm China. The Company leases certain assets to Arm China. For the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, rental income from the assets leased to Arm China was $0.3 million and $0.4 million, respectively, which is included within the recognized revenue. For the six months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, rental income from the assets leased to Arm China was $0.7 million and $0.9 million, respectively, which is included within the recognized revenue.
As of September 30, 2024, the Company had a net receivable of $168.9 million ($179.5 million receivable less $10.6 million payable) from Arm China. As of March 31, 2024, the Company had a net receivable of $175.8 million ($181.1 million receivable less $5.3 million payable) from Arm China. As of September 30, 2024 and March 31, 2024, the Company had contract liabilities of $106.9 million and $105.7 million, respectively, relating to Arm China.
For the three months ended September 30, 2024, the Company did not recognize any expected credit losses against earnings relating to Arm China. For the six months ended September 30, 2024, the Company recognized $16.0 million for expected credit losses against earnings relating to Arm China. For the three and six months ended September 30, 2023, the Company did not recognize any expected credit losses against earnings relating to Arm China. As of September 30, 2024 and March 31, 2024, the Company’s allowance for current expected credit losses related to Arm China was $16.0 million and $0.0 million, respectively, which is reflected in accounts receivable, net on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
(unaudited)
See Note 4 - Equity Investments, for further details of the impact of Acetone Limited on the Company’s results.
Other Entities Related by Virtue of Common Control by SoftBank Group
The Company entered into related party transactions with an affiliate of SoftBank Group Corp. (collectively “SoftBank Group”) relating to a licensing and service arrangement. For the three and six months ended September 30, 2024, revenue from SoftBank Group was $43.2 million. As of September 30, 2024, the Company had contract assets of $43.2 million and did not have any accounts receivable or contract liabilities from SoftBank Group.
The Company had revenue transactions, along with accounts receivable, contract assets and contract liabilities balances, with other entities under common control by SoftBank Group. For the three and six months ended September 30, 2024, the Company did not recognize revenue from other entities controlled by SoftBank Group. For the three and six months ended September 30, 2023, the Company recognized revenue of $0.4 million and $0.6 million, respectively, from other entities controlled by SoftBank Group. As of September 30, 2024, the Company did not have any accounts receivable, contract assets or contract liabilities related to other entities controlled by SoftBank Group. In August 2023, the Company distributed its receivable related to the Company’s sale of Pelion IOT Limited and its subsidiaries (“IoTP”) to the majority shareholder of the Company, which represented a non-cash distribution of $12.0 million. As of March 31, 2024, the Company had accounts receivable of $0.8 million, contract assets of $3.1 million, and contract liabilities of $1.6 million related to other entities controlled by SoftBank Group. The Company also had an immaterial lease with an entity under common control by SoftBank Group, which ended as of December 31, 2023.
Other Equity Investments
The Company has revenue transactions, along with receivable, contract asset and contract liability balances for certain other equity investees, for which the Company has significant influence or, for investments in limited partnerships or certain limited liability companies that maintain a specific ownership account for each investor, for which the Company has more than virtually no influence (i.e., at least 3% to 5% ownership) (such investees, “Significant Influence Investees”). For the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, the Company recognized revenue of $0.6 million and $0.1 million, respectively, from Significant Influence Investees. For the six months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, the Company recognized revenue of $2.0 million and $1.1 million, respectively, from Significant Influence Investees.
As of September 30, 2024, the Company had contract assets and contract liabilities of $12.1 million and $0.2 million, respectively, related to contracts with Significant Influence Investees. As of September 30, 2024, the Company did not have accounts receivable with Significant influence investees. As of March 31, 2024, the Company had accounts receivable and contract assets of $0.2 million and $18.7 million, respectively, related to contracts with Significant Influence Investees. As of March 31, 2024, the Company did not have contract liabilities related to contracts with Significant Influence Investees.
For the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, the Company recognized aggregate distributions, dividends and returns of capital from certain equity investments of $1.0 million and $2.1 million, respectively. For the six months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, the Company recognized aggregate distributions, dividends and returns of capital from certain equity investments of $1.3 million and $2.4 million, respectively.
Linaro Limited
Linaro Limited (“Linaro”) is a not-for-profit entity for which the Company is a member and has significant influence. For the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, the Company incurred subscription and other costs of $3.0 million and $2.4 million, respectively, from Linaro. For the six months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, the Company incurred subscription and other costs of $5.4 million and $4.7 million, respectively, from Linaro. As of September 30, 2024 and March 31, 2024, $1.1 million and $1.3 million, respectively, was recorded in other current liabilities on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.
In February 2023, the Company entered into an agreement with Linaro to sell certain net assets of the Company that meets the definition of a business in exchange for cash consideration of $4.0 million to be paid in equal annual installments over
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
(unaudited)
five years. As of September 30, 2024 and March 31, 2024, the total unpaid purchase consideration was $3.2 million, which was recorded in prepaid expenses and other current assets and other non-current assets on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.
Loans to Related Parties
As of September 30, 2024 and March 31, 2024, the Company had a loan receivable of $16.4 millionand $16.2 million, respectively, with Arduino, a related party and a loan receivable of $3.2 million and $3.1 million, respectively, with Cerfe Labs, Inc, a related party, both of which remain fully impaired. See Note 5 - Financial Instruments, for further information regarding these loans.
As of September 30, 2024 and March 31, 2024, the outstanding balance of the convertible promissory note with Ampere, a related party, was $33.1 million and $32.4 million, respectively. The Company’s maximum exposure to loss is the amounts invested in, and advanced to, Ampere as of September 30, 2024. See Note 4 - Equity Investments, for further details on Ampere.
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes included in this Quarterly Report on Form 6-K (this “Quarterly Report”) and in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024, which are included in our Annual Report on Form 20-F, filed with the SEC on May 29, 2024 (the “Annual Report”). Some of the information contained in this discussion and analysis, including information with respect to our plans and strategy for our business and our expectations with respect to liquidity and capital resources, includes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those risks and uncertainties described in the “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors” and “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” sections in our Annual Report. Our actual results could differ materially from the results described in or implied by these forward-looking statements.
Overview
Arm architects, develops, and licenses high-performance, low-cost, and energy-efficient compute platforms, on which many of the world’s leading semiconductor companies and original equipment manufacturers rely to develop their products. We enable any company to make a modern computer chip through the unique combination of our compute platforms and our unmatched ecosystem of technology partners. Our primary product offerings are leading CPU products that address diverse performance, power, and cost requirements. Complementary products such as graphics processing units (“GPUs”), System IP (including memory controller IP, interconnect IP, and other on-chip peripheral components), and compute platforms are also available and enable high-performance, efficient, reliable, system-level creation for a wide range of increasingly sophisticated devices and applications. Our development tools and robust software ecosystem have further solidified our position as the world’s most widely adopted processor architecture. Our partners include leading semiconductor technology suppliers (including foundries and electronic design automation vendors), firmware and operating system vendors, game engine vendors, software tool providers and application software developers. Our solution, combined with the breadth of our software ecosystem and the millions of chip design engineers and software developers that utilize it, has created a virtuous cycle of adoption, which means that software developers write software for Arm-based devices because it offers the biggest market for their products, and chip designers choose Arm processors because they have the broadest support of software applications.
Corporate Reorganization
In September 2023, we completed a board approved corporate reorganization which involved (1) the shareholders of Arm Limited exchanging each of the ordinary shares held by them in Arm Limited for newly issued ordinary shares of Arm Holdings Limited; and (2) the re-registration of Arm Holdings Limited as a public limited company under the laws of England and Wales at which time its name was changed to Arm Holdings plc. This corporate reorganization was solely for the purpose of reorganizing our corporate structure, in which Arm Limited became a wholly owned subsidiary of the holding company, Arm Holdings plc. This transfer of equity resulted in the issuance of ordinary shares of Arm Holdings plc to shareholders in the same class and the same number of ordinary shares as their previous shareholding in Arm Limited. As a result of the corporate reorganization between entities under common control, our historical consolidated financial statements were retrospectively adjusted for the change in reporting entity. Therefore, the historical consolidated financial statements of Arm Limited became the historical consolidated financial statements of Arm Holdings plc as of the date of the corporate reorganization.
We have a flexible business model for licensing products to customers, and we are continuously assessing our ability to provide greater flexibility to our customers and maximize the number of design wins for our products. Our customers license our products for a fee, which gives them access to our products and enables them to develop Arm-based processors. Once a processor has been designed and manufactured with our products, we receive a per-unit royalty on substantially all Arm-based chips shipped by our customers. Our business model enables the widest range of customers to access Arm products through an agreement best suited to their particular business needs. Our licensing and royalty business model primarily includes:
•Arm Total Access Agreements: Under an Arm Total Access agreement, we license a portfolio of CPU designs and related technologies to a customer in return for an annual fee determined at execution of the agreement. We retain the right, from time to time, to add or remove specific products from the package. The agreement is for a fixed term and may limit the number of concurrent chip designs that may use products from the package.
•Arm Flexible Access Agreements: Under an Arm Flexible Access agreement, we license a portfolio of CPU designs and related technologies to a customer in return for an annual fee determined at execution of the agreement. Unlike an Arm Total Access license, the package of products licensed pursuant to an Arm Flexible Access agreement will not contain our latest products. Although customers are free to experiment with products contained in the Arm Flexible Access package, they must pay a single use license fee for specific products if they include Arm products in a final chip design “tape out,” when the final result of a semiconductor chip design is sent for manufacturing. As with an Arm Total Access agreement, we retain the right, from time to time, to add or remove specific products from the package.
•Technology Licensing Agreements (“TLA”): Under a TLA, we license a single CPU design or other technology design to a customer in return for a fixed license fee. The license may be limited by term (i.e., the number of years during which the licensee is entitled to incorporate our products in new chip designs, but licensees typically have the right to manufacture designs perpetually) and/or by number of uses (i.e., the number of concurrent chip designs that may use our products).
•Architecture License Agreements (“ALA”): Under an ALA, the licensee is allowed to develop their own highly customized CPU designs that is compliant with the Arm instruction set architecture (“ISA”) for a fixed architecture license fee. As the creation of an optimized CPU is very costly and time consuming, architecture licensees will often also license Arm CPU designs to use either as a complementary processor alongside the licensee’s Arm-compliant CPU design, or in other chips where the licensee’s own design is unsuitable.
•Royalty Fees: We generate the majority of our revenue from customers who enter into license agreements, pursuant to which we receive royalty fees based on average selling price of the customer’s Arm-based chip or a fixed fee per chip. Royalty revenue is impacted primarily by the adoption of our products by the licensee as well as other factors, such as product lifecycles, customer’s business performance, market trends and global supply constraints.
Key Factors and Trends Affecting Our Operating Results
We believe that the growth of our business and our future success are dependent upon many factors, including those described in the section titled “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in the Annual Report as well as the factors described below. While each of these factors presents significant opportunities for us, these factors also pose challenges that we must successfully address in order to sustain the growth of our business and enhance our results of operations.
Global Demand for Semiconductor Products and Cyclical Nature of the Semiconductor Industry
Semiconductor chips are essential components in consumer, enterprise, and automotive electronics, which has resulted in sustained and increasing long-term demand for semiconductor chips, a significant percentage of which contain our products. Our license and royalty revenue is, in part, affected by market conditions in the semiconductor industry, which is cyclical by nature and impacted by broad economic factors, such as worldwide gross domestic product and consumer and enterprise spending. While the semiconductor industry has experienced significant, prolonged, and sometimes sudden
downturns in the past, we expect there to be continued and increasing demand for semiconductors over the long term as macro trends drive device manufacturers to produce more powerful and energy-efficient devices.
Because our royalty revenue is dependent on the number of Arm-powered chips shipped by our customers, dislocations created by cyclical, economic factors generally affect demand for our customers’ chips and, consequently, may result in variability in our operating performance. Royalties are recognized on an accrual basis in the quarter in which the customer ships products incorporating our products. A material portion of the accrual is estimated using trend analysis of market and sales data as well as customer-specific financial information with a true-up in the following quarter based on actual sales data once received. Accordingly, differences between our estimated market trends and our customers’ forecasts of their chip shipments can lead to variability in our royalty revenue.
Our Market Share Across End Markets
Arm CPUs are the world’s most widely licensed and deployed processors. Our products are used in almost all smartphones, the majority of tablets and digital TVs, and a significant proportion of all chips with embedded processors, including for both consumer and enterprise applications. As new high-growth markets for electronics emerge and incorporate more artificial intelligence (“AI”) and machine learning workloads, they require our more advanced processor designs in areas such as cloud computing, the automotive industry, and the internet of things (“IoT”) economy. Our operating and financial performance is dependent, in large part, upon maintaining our market share in the smartphone and consumer electronics markets and maintaining or growing market share in our other target markets.
Ability to Provide Our Customers with More Value Per Chip
We believe our ability to continue to develop more advanced products and offer increasingly comprehensive product packages, including providing more complete subsystems, such as Arm's Compute Subsystems (“CSS”) solutions which are pre-integrated and pre-verified configurations of Arm technology, will encourage greater use of our products by existing and prospective customers. For example, some licensees may combine multiple different Arm CPUs in a single chip, Arm CPUs with other Arm IP such as Arm GPUs, or deploy Arm CPU implementations with more than 100 cores. Some customers may be better served by the integration of our IP into a subsystem with additional information to assist in fabrication. For chips where our products have provided more value, we will typically receive a higher royalty rate per chip. Accordingly, we believe that our investments in higher performance, higher efficiency, and more specialized designs will drive greater demand for our products and higher value for our customers, which is expected to result in higher royalty fees. Our future performance is dependent on our continued ability to provide value to customers, and our ability to drive additional value through technological innovation.
Increasing Design Wins with Existing and Prospective Customers
We have in the past and will continue to make significant investments in research and development to ensure that we can develop products suitable for new opportunities with existing and prospective customers. A key measure of our success is our customer design wins. Because we are often embedded within our customers’ research and development functions, we typically have significant, unique visibility into our customers’ product development pipelines, which we believe positions us to capture design wins to a greater extent than our competitors. A “design win” occurs when a customer decides to include an Arm CPU product or related technology within one of their chip designs. For customers who already license our products, a new design win does not necessarily require a customer to sign a new license. By licensing a portfolio of Arm products to our customers (rather than licensing a single CPU design or other technology design), we have made it easier and more compelling for customers to access and utilize more Arm products, further broadening our potential customer base and end-market penetration. Our licensing options provide greater flexibility to our customers and maximize our opportunities to secure more design wins for our products, which results in greater opportunities to increase our recurring royalty revenue.
Performance of Arm China
We utilize our commercial relationship with Arm China to access the PRC market, and a significant portion of our total revenue is generated from Arm China, a related party. Arm China has the right to sublicense our processor technology pursuant to the intellectual property license agreement (“IPLA”). Our responsibility under the IPLA is to facilitate delivery of our processor technology to Arm China’s end customers in accordance with detailed instructions and other specifications from Arm China. Our revenue is calculated as a percentage of license and royalty fees earned by Arm China
from sub-license arrangements entered into with its end customers. Where our revenue is earned as a percentage of the license fee received by Arm China, we categorize such revenue as our license revenue. Our share of Arm China’s royalties is categorized as royalty revenue in our financial statements. Despite our reliance on Arm China through our commercial relationship with it, both as a source of revenue and a conduit to the important PRC market, Arm China operates independently of us. Under the IPLA, Arm China’s payments due to us are determined based on the financial information that Arm China provides to us. Accordingly, we are dependent on Arm China providing us with reliable and timely financial information. Additionally, political actions, including trade and national security policies of the U.S. and PRC governments, such as tariffs, placing companies on restricted lists, or new end-use controls, have in the past, currently do and could in the future limit or prevent us, directly or through our commercial relationship with Arm China, from transacting business with certain PRC customers or suppliers, limit, prevent or discourage certain PRC customers or suppliers from transacting business with us or Arm China, or make it more expensive to do so, which could adversely affect demand for our products. Total revenue derived from Arm China decreased during the three and six months ended September 30, 2024, as compared to the three and six months ended September 30, 2023. The decrease in licensing and other revenue from Arm China was partially offset by increased royalty revenue from Arm China during the three and six months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the three and six months ended September 30, 2023 primarily due to smartphone market recovery and improved mix of products with higher royalty rates per chip, such as Armv9 technology.
Developments in Export Control Regulations
In October 2023, the Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) of the U.S. Department of Commerce published updated export controls on advanced computing chips, computer commodities that contain such chips, and certain semiconductor manufacturing items, as well as controls on transactions involving items for supercomputer and semiconductor manufacturing end-uses. The October 2023 export controls expand the scope of items subject to license requirements for certain entities on BIS’s Entity List. As a result, our freedom to license our products to designated countries or entities could be reduced, and our commercial relationships could be further harmed by limiting the ability of certain of our customers and partners from freely shipping chips and end products incorporating certain of our products.
Impact of the Current Macroeconomic Environment and Geopolitical Events
Uncertainty in the macroeconomic environment, resulting from a range of events and trends, including the recent financial institution failures, rise in global inflation and interest rates, supply chain disruptions, geopolitical pressures, including the unknown impact of current and future U.S. and PRC trade regulations, changes in PRC-Taiwan relations, the war in Ukraine, fluctuation in foreign exchange rates, and associated global economic conditions have resulted in volatility in our operating performance. For example, the war in Ukraine could lead to further market disruptions and exacerbate current supply chain constraints, including with respect to certain materials and metals, which are essential in semiconductor manufacturing. The conflicts in the Middle East have caused no major interruption to our operations to date. Furthermore, given the concentration of semiconductor manufacturing in East Asia (particularly in Taiwan), any potential escalation in geopolitical tensions in Asia, particularly with respect to Taiwan, could significantly disrupt existing semiconductor chip manufacturing and increase the prospect of increased interruption to the semiconductor chip supply across the world.
Investment in Technology and Product Development
To remain competitive, we must continue to develop new applications and enhancements to our existing products and services, particularly as next generation technology is adopted by market participants. Allocating and maintaining adequate research and development resources, such as the appropriate personnel and development technology, to meet the evolving demands of the market is essential to our continued success.
In addition, we continue to evaluate opportunities and potential investments to develop new technologies and advanced products, including in the AI arena and thereby expand beyond individual design IP elements to providing a more complete system.
Although our efforts in this regard are still in the nascent stages, in the future we may invest greater financial and other resources in furtherance of those efforts, explore investment and/or acquisition opportunities, and engage with one or more partners to provide technical, financial and/or other support.
We continue to implement and enhance additional procedures and processes for the purpose of addressing the standards and requirements applicable to public companies. We expect our finance, legal and employee-related expenses to increase as we continue to establish and enhance more comprehensive compliance and governance functions and hire additional personnel to support such functions, maintain and review internal controls over financial reporting in accordance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and prepare and distribute periodic reports in accordance with SEC rules. Our financial statements will reflect the impact of these expenses. We also expect higher premiums for the costs of our insurance, including directors’ and officers’ insurance.
Share-based Compensation
As of March 31, 2024, 100% of the awards granted under our All Employee Plan 2019 and Executive IPO Plan 2019 have vested and were settled in shares. Equity compensation has been, and will continue to be, an important part of our future compensation strategy and a significant component of our future expenses, which we expect to increase over time.
Components of Results of Operations
Total Revenue
Most of our licenses have two components: license fees and support and maintenance fees (recognized as license and other revenue) and per-chip royalties (recognized as royalty revenue). However, some licenses can have multiple payment milestones that are date-based or event-based (e.g., six months after the effective date of the contract or upon tape-out of the first chip design).
We disaggregate revenue into the following categories for major product offerings:
License and Other Revenue
License and other revenue include revenue from licensing, software development tools, design services, training, support, and all other fees that do not constitute royalty revenue. The products licensed by us consists of design information and related documentation to enable a customer to design and manufacture semiconductor chips and related technology. Over the term of a license, contractual payments can generally range from hundreds of thousands of dollars to hundreds of millions of dollars, depending on the type of license, its duration, and the type of product that is being licensed. A license may be perpetual, use-limited or time-limited in its application. Delivery (i.e., providing the customer access to the licensed products) generally occurs within a short period after executing a license agreement. In some cases, we may license products that are still under development, in which case delivery can be many months, or even years, after executing a license agreement. We generate a significant proportion of our Licensing and other revenue from a relatively small number of customers.
License fees are invoiced pursuant to an agreed schedule. Typically, the first invoice is generated upon signing of the license agreement, and licensing and other revenue is recognized upon delivery of the products. In addition to the license fees, our license agreements generally provide for customer support services, which consist of telephonic or e-mail support. Fees for customer support services are generally specified in the contract. Typically, no upgrades to the licensed products are provided, except those updates and upgrades provided on a when-and-if-available basis. Revenue from customer service support is recorded within other revenue.
Arm Flexible Access agreements provide our customers with access to a wide range of processor, graphics, and systems products, especially older and less performant products. Arm Flexible Access agreements have two components: an annual low-cost portfolio license fee payable in installments and a license fee once they have reached “tape-out,” which occurs when the final result of our customer’s semiconductor chip design incorporating our products is sent for manufacturing, at which point they decide which of our products they wish to deploy in their chip. We believe that Arm Flexible Access agreements are most suitable for smaller companies, including start-ups and business units of larger companies, that want to experiment with different configurations of our products before committing to a chip design.
Arm Total Access agreements also provide our customers with access to a package of our products, including processor, graphics, and systems products. Arm Total Access customers have the option to license our most advanced processors as part of the package. Arm Total Access customers pay a periodic portfolio license fee to maintain access to our products. There are no additional fees payable by our customers under our Arm Total Access agreements upon tape-out because manufacturing design rights are included within the portfolio license fee and are reflected in the license pricing. We believe that Arm Total Access agreements are most suitable for larger, established, semiconductor companies who expect to deploy our products in a wide range of their products.
We provide software development tools and a range of services to companies developing chips based on our products. These tools and services include, among others: (i) software development tools for engineers to write and debug software on Arm processors, (ii) design license and development services to customize technology IP tailored towards customers’ specific needs, (iii) training on our products and how to write software to utilize their functionality and capability, and (iv) support and maintenance, for which we generally require an annual fee for a minimum of one year.
Royalty Revenue
Royalties are generally either set as a percentage of the licensee’s average selling price per chip or as a fixed amount per chip. The royalty rates per chip typically reduce over time as the total volume of chips incorporating our products shipped increases; notwithstanding such reductions in royalty rates and fees per chip, license agreements with component manufacturing customers typically include a minimum royalty percentage or fee per chip. Royalty payment schedules in individual license agreements vary depending on the nature of the license and the degree of market acceptance of our products on the date the license agreement is executed. In addition, the amount of royalty payments in respect of our products can increase as the customer integrates more of our products into the chip. See “—Key Factors and Trends Affecting Our Operating Results—Ability to Provide Our Customers with More Value Per Chip” above for examples of how customers may incorporate multiple products in a single chip. License contracts require the licensee to issue royalty reports, including details of chip sales, to us on a quarterly basis.
Royalty revenue is recognized on an accrual basis in the quarter in which the customers ship chips containing our products, using estimates from sales trends and judgment for several key attributes, including industry estimates of expected shipments, the mix of products sold, the percentage of markets using our products, and average selling price. Adjustments to revenue are required in subsequent periods to reflect changes in estimates as new information becomes available, primarily resulting from actual amounts subsequently reported by the licensees in the period following the accrual, including royalty audit resolutions.
Revenue from External Customers and Related Parties
We also separately present revenue derived from contracts with our external customers and those derived from related parties. Revenue from related parties is derived from Arm China, customers in which we have an equity method investment, and other entities related to us by virtue of common control by SoftBank Group.
Cost of Sales
Cost of sales (“COS”) is comprised primarily of the costs of providing technical support and training to our customers. Occasionally, some research and development costs are classified as COS if one of our IP products is being customized as part of professional and design services. COS expenses consist primarily of employee-related expenses, project costs associated with professional services and the provision of support and maintenance to customers, along with expenses related to license development services revenue, amortization of developed technology, and allocated overhead. Employee-related expenses include salaries, bonuses, share-based compensation and associated benefits.
Research and Development
Research and development is at the heart of our business and critical to our future success. Accordingly, we have always invested, and will continue to invest, significant resources in our research and development program. Our vision to invest and develop new products is driven by our desire to maintain or increase our market share and create value for our customers. By developing and licensing innovative products, we allow our customers to focus their resources on competitive differentiation, unique to their own ability to differentiate.
We have substantially increased our research and development investment to focus on long-term returns and to replicate the strong position that we maintain in smartphones and in other markets, such as automotive, networking equipment, cloud compute and industrial IoT. Each generation of processor is typically more advanced and more complex than the previous generation, which requires increased development efforts that may be partially offset by improvements in productivity. Consequently, each year we increase our research and development investment in line with the increased development needs of the next generation of products. Engineers are in high demand and well remunerated, and accordingly our increased research and development activity will continue to result in an increase in costs, principally driven by salaries for such technical employees and the costs of tools they need.
Research and development expenses consist primarily of employee-related expenses, including salaries, bonuses, share-based compensation, and benefits associated with employees in research and development functions, along with project materials costs, third-party fees paid to consultants, depreciation and amortization, allocated overhead, information technology and other development expenses. We receive government grants to compensate for certain research activities and we recognize the benefit as a reduction of the related expenses included in research and development expenses.
Selling, General and Administrative
Our engineering teams are well supported by vital selling, general and administrative functions. Selling, general and administrative expenses consist primarily of employee-related expenses, including salaries, bonuses, share-based compensation, and benefits associated with employees in sales and marketing, along with corporate and administrative functions, including accounting and legal professional services fees, depreciation and amortization, advertising expenses, allocated overhead, information technology and other corporate-related expenses.
Income (loss) from Equity Investments, Net
Income (loss) from equity investments, net includes changes in the fair value of certain equity method investments for which we elect to apply fair value accounting or at the NAV, our proportionate share of equity method investee income or loss for certain equity method investments, and gains and losses on other marketable and non-marketable securities. Our proportionate share of income or loss from equity method investments accounted for under the equity method is recognized in the subsequent quarter of which such income or loss is recognized by our investee.
Interest Income, Net
Interest income consists primarily of interest received on cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments that we hold with various financial institutions, and loans receivable. Interest expense consists primarily of interest on finance leases.
Other Non-Operating Income (Loss), Net
Other non-operating income (loss), net consists of one-time gains and losses and other miscellaneous income and expense items unrelated to our core operations, including gains or losses arising from changes in the fair value of derivative financial instruments, gains or losses on realized and unrealized foreign exchange contracts and changes in the fair value of convertible loans receivable.
Income Tax Benefit (Expense)
We account for income taxes using the asset and liability method under GAAP, whereby deferred income taxes are recognized for the tax consequences of temporary differences between financial statement carrying amounts and the tax basis of assets and liabilities. Income tax expense reflects income earned and taxed, in jurisdictions in which we conduct business, which mainly include U.K. and U.S. federal and state income taxes. We benefit from the U.K.’s “patent box” regime, which allows certain profits attributable to revenue from patented products (and other qualifying income) to be taxed at an effective corporation tax rate of 10%.
The following table sets forth the components of operations from our unaudited Condensed Consolidated Income Statements and such data as a percentage of total revenue on an absolute basis, for the periods indicated:
Three Months Ended September 30,
Six Months Ended September 30,
(in millions, except percentages)
2024
% of revenue
2023
% of revenue
2024
% of revenue
2023
% of revenue
Revenue:
Revenue from external customers
$
652
77
%
$
644
80
%
$
1,467
82
%
$
1,179
80
%
Revenue from related parties
192
23
%
162
20
%
316
18
%
302
20
%
Total revenue
844
100
%
806
100
%
1,783
100
%
1,481
100
%
Cost of sales
(32)
4
%
(46)
6
%
(65)
4
%
(77)
5
%
Gross profit
812
96
%
760
94
%
1,718
96
%
1,404
95
%
Operating expenses:
Research and development
(507)
60
%
(626)
78
%
(992)
56
%
(963)
65
%
Selling, general and administrative
(241)
29
%
(290)
36
%
(480)
27
%
(486)
33
%
Total operating expense
(748)
89
%
(916)
114
%
(1,472)
83
%
(1,449)
98
%
Operating income (loss)
64
8
%
(156)
19
%
246
14
%
(45)
3
%
Income (loss) from equity investments, net
(10)
1
%
(5)
1
%
14
1
%
(12)
1
%
Interest income, net
29
3
%
28
3
%
61
3
%
52
4
%
Other non-operating income (loss), net
(19)
2
%
14
2
%
(13)
1
%
13
1
%
Income (loss) before income taxes
64
8
%
(119)
15
%
308
17
%
8
1
%
Income tax benefit (expense)
43
5
%
9
1
%
22
1
%
(13)
1
%
Net income (loss)
$
107
13
%
$
(110)
14
%
$
330
19
%
$
(5)
—
%
Percentages are calculated from the amounts presented and may not add to their respective totals due to rounding
Total revenue increased $38 million, or 5%, to $844 million during the three months ended September 30, 2024, from total revenue of $806 million during the three months ended September 30, 2023, and increased $302 million, or 20%, to $1,783 million during the six months ended September 30, 2024, from total revenue of $1,481 million during the six months ended September 30, 2023.
License and other revenue decreased $58 million, or 15%, during the three months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the three months ended September 30, 2023, and increased $139 million, or 21%, during the six months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the six months ended September 30, 2023. The performance for both periods was impacted by normal fluctuation in timing and sizeof multiple high-value license agreements and contributions from backlog into the current period from arrangements entered in prior periods.
Royalty revenue increased $96 million, or 23%, during the three months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the three months ended September 30, 2023, and increased $163 million, or 20%, during the six months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the six months ended September 30, 2023. Growth rates for both periods were driven by smartphone market recovery and an improved mix of products with higher royalty rates per chip, such as Armv9 technology.
Revenue from external customers increased $8 million, or 1%, during the three months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the three months ended September 30, 2023, and increased $288 million, or 24%, during the six months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the six months ended September 30, 2023. Revenue from related parties increased $30 million, or 19%, during the three months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the three months ended September 30, 2023, and increased $14 million, or 5%, during the six months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the six months ended September 30, 2023. The growth drivers for the changes in revenue from external customers and related parties for both periods were generally consistent with the trends for changes in license and other revenue and royalty revenue described above.
During the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, revenue from sales to customers outside of the U.S. accounted for approximately 65% and approximately 59% of total revenue, respectively. During the six months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, revenue from sales to customers outside of the U.S. accounted for approximately 52% and approximately 58% of total revenue, respectively. Less than 2% of our total revenue is denominated in currencies other than U.S. dollars, and the impact of changes in foreign exchange rates on our revenue for the three and six months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023 was immaterial.
Cost of sales decreased by $14 million, or 30%, during the three months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the three months ended September 30, 2023, and decreased by $12 million, or 16%, during the six months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the six months ended September 30, 2023, primarily due to decreases in share-based compensation costs and activities associated with professional and design services, partially offset by increases in salaries and related expenses.
Research and development
Three Months Ended September 30,
Six Months Ended September 30,
(in millions, except percentages)
2024
2023
% Change
2024
2023
% Change
Research and development
$
(507)
$
(626)
(19)%
$
(992)
$
(963)
3%
Research and development expenses decreased by $119 million, or 19%, during the three months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the three months ended September 30, 2023, primarily due to decreases in share-based compensation costs, partially offset by increases in investments in next generation products. The increase in research and development expenses related to investments in next generation products was primarily due to salaries and related expenses as a result of headcount increases from hiring and increases in engineering expenses, including cloud services, which were partially offset by increases in research and development tax credits. Research and development expenses increased by $29 million, or 3%, during the six months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the six months ended September 30, 2023, primarily due to increases in research and development expenses related to investments in next generation products as described above, partially offset bydecreases in share-based compensation costs.
Selling, general and administrative
Three Months Ended September 30,
Six Months Ended September 30,
(in millions, except percentages)
2024
2023
% Change
2024
2023
% Change
Selling, general and administrative
$
(241)
$
(290)
(17)
%
$
(480)
$
(486)
(1)
%
Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased by $49 million, or 17%, during the three months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the three months ended September 30, 2023, primarily due to decreases in share-based compensation costs and public company readiness costs. Other offsetting factors included increases in legal fees, software expenses, professional service expenses and related charges, marketing expenses, travel expenses and costs associated with disposal activities. Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased by $6 million, or 1%, during the six months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the six months ended September 30, 2023, primarily due to decreases in share-based compensation costs and public company readiness costs, partially offset by the reversal of a liability for litigation which occurred during the six months ended September 30, 2023. Other offsetting factors included increases in salaries and related expenses driven by employer taxes arising in connection with vested awards, provision for current expected credit losses on accounts receivables, professional service expenses and related charges, software expenses, legal fees, marketing expenses, travel expenses and costs associated with disposal activities.
Income (loss) from equity investments, net decreased by $5 million, or 100%, for the three months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the three months ended September 30, 2023, primarily due to unrealized losses related to equity method investments accounted for at fair value and non-marketable securities. Income (loss) from equity investments, net increased by $26 million, or 217%, for the six months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the six months ended September 30, 2023, primarily due to unrealized gains related to an equity investment in a publicly listed company.
Interest income, net
Three Months Ended September 30,
Six Months Ended September 30,
(in millions, except percentages)
2024
2023
% Change
2024
2023
% Change
Interest income, net
$
29
$
28
4
%
$
61
$
52
17
%
Interest income, net increased by $1 million, or 4%, for the three months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the three months ended September 30, 2023, and increased by $9 million, or 17%, for the six months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the six months ended September 30, 2023, primarily due to favorable interest rate yields recognized on higher short-term investments and cash equivalents.
Other non-operating income (loss), net
Three Months Ended September 30,
Six Months Ended September 30,
(in millions, except percentages)
2024
2023
% Change
2024
2023
% Change
Other non-operating income (loss), net
$
(19)
$
14
(236)
%
$
(13)
$
13
(200)
%
Other non-operating income (loss), net decreased by $33 million, or 236% for the three months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the three months ended September 30, 2023, and decreased by $26 million for the six months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the six months ended September 30, 2023, primarily due to realized and unrealized foreign exchange losses.
Income tax benefit (expense)
Three Months Ended September 30,
Six Months Ended September 30,
(in millions, except percentages)
2024
2023
% Change
2024
2023
% Change
Income tax benefit (expense)
$
43
$
9
378
%
$
22
$
(13)
(269)
%
Income (loss) before income taxes
$
64
$
(119)
$
308
$
8
Income tax benefit (expense) as a percentage of income before taxes
67.2
%
(7.6)
%
7.1
%
(162.5)
%
Income tax benefit (expense) and the effective tax rate for the three and six months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the three and six months ended September 30, 2023 changed primarily due to windfall tax benefits associated with share-based compensation arising in the three and six months ended September 30, 2024. Additionally, a contingency was released in the three months ended September 30, 2024, following the resolution of a tax inquiry.
The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (“OECD”) reached an agreement among various countries to implement a minimum 15% rate on certain multinational enterprises, commonly referred to as Pillar Two. In July 2023, the U.K. enacted legislation to implement the OECD framework for Pillar Two, part of which went into effect January 1, 2024. A number of other countries where we do business, including the U.S., Japan, and many countries in the European Union, have implemented, or are considering implementing, changes in relevant tax, accounting and other laws, regulations and interpretations. We will continue to monitor the implementation of Pillar Two in the jurisdictions in which we operate. Given the numerous proposed tax law changes and the uncertainty regarding such proposed tax legislative changes, the impact of Pillar Two could adversely impact our effective tax rate. Pillar Two did not have a material impact on the financial statements or results of operations for the three and six months ended September 30, 2024.
We measure liquidity in terms of our ability to fund our cash obligations as they become due, including requirements of our business operations, working capital requirements, capital expenditures, contractual obligations, acquisitions and investments, and other commitments. Our primary sources of liquidity include cash, cash equivalents, cash generated from operations, partially supported by government research grant and tax credits. As of September 30, 2024, we had cash and cash equivalents of $1,498 million and short-term investments of $860 million. For the six months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, the government research grant and tax credits benefits recognized were $72 million and $63 million, respectively.
We believe that our cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments will be adequate to meet our liquidity requirements for at least the next 12 months and in the longer term. We continuously evaluate our liquidity and capital resources to ensure we can finance future capital requirements. Our future capital requirements will depend on several factors, including our revenue growth, the timing and extent of spending on research and development efforts and other growth initiatives, the timing of new products and services introductions, market acceptance of our products, and overall economic conditions. We could be required, or could elect, to seek additional funding through debt or equity financing; however, additional funds may not be available on terms acceptable to us, if at all. If we are unable to raise additional capital or generate cash flows necessary to expand our operations and invest in continued innovation, we may not be able to compete successfully, which would harm our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.
The following table summarizes our cash flows for the periods indicated.
Six Months Ended September 30,
(in millions)
2024
2023
Net cash provided by (used for) operating activities
$
(284)
$
113
Net cash provided by (used for) investing activities
$
1
$
(223)
Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities
$
(149)
$
(39)
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents
$
7
$
1
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents
$
(425)
$
(148)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period
$
1,923
$
1,554
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period
$
1,498
$
1,406
Net Cash Provided by (Used for) Operating Activities
Net cash used for operating activities increased by $397 million to $284 million for the six months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to net cash provided by operating activities during the six months ended September 30, 2023, primarily due to changes in working capital offset by the timing of certain non-cash items. Changes in working capital were primarily driven by an increase in accounts receivable due to timing of payments from customers, a decrease in other liabilities due to more cash used for employment taxes payable on vested shares, an increase in prepaid expenses and other assets primarily related to increases in R&D tax credit receivables, an increase in contract assets due to timing of revenue recognition, partially offset by relatively less cash used for accrued compensation and benefits due to changes related to liability-classified awards and cash bonuses, and a favorable movement in contract liabilities due to an increase in billings in advance of revenue recognition.
Net Cash Provided by (Used for) Investing Activities
Net cash used for investing activities decreased by $224 million to $1 million for the six months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the six months ended September 30, 2023, primarily due to a $320 million decrease in cash used for purchases of short-term investment, partially offset by reduction in proceeds from maturity of short-term investments and relatively more cash used for purchases of equity investments, purchases of property and equipment, and purchases of intangible assets.
Net cash used for financing activities increased by $110 million to $149 million for the six months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the six months ended September 30, 2023, primarily due to a $85 million increase in cash used for payments of withholding tax on vested shares, other financing activities, and payments of intangible assets obligations.
Our condensed consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of these condensed consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, costs, and expenses, and related disclosures. We base our estimates on historical and anticipated results and trends and on various other assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, including assumptions as to future events. By their nature, estimates are subject to an inherent degree of uncertainty. Although we believe that the estimates and the assumptions supporting our assessments are reasonable, actual results could differ materially (either positively or negatively, as applicable) from our estimates, which could have a material effect on our condensed consolidated financial statements.
We believe that our most significant accounting policies include revenue recognition, valuation of equity investments measured at fair value, ordinary share valuations for the period prior to the IPO, share-based compensation, impairment of goodwill, and income taxes. These policies and the estimates and judgements involved are discussed further in the Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations section in our Annual Report. We have other significant accounting policies that either do not generally require estimates and judgments that are as difficult or subjective, or it is less likely that such accounting policies would have a material impact on our reported results of operations for a given period.
Except for the accounting policies and estimates outlined under Note 1 - Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies in the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Quarterly Report, there have been no material changes during the six months ended September 30, 2024 to the items that we disclosed as our significant accounting policies and estimates in the Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations section in our Annual Report.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.