Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS), a provider of industry-leading chips and IP making data faster and safer, today reported financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2025. GAAP revenue for the fourth quarter was $190.2 million, licensing billings were $71.5 million, product revenue was $96.8 million, and contract and other revenue was $21.8 million. The Company also generated $99.8 million in cash from operating activities in the fourth quarter.
“2025 was a record-breaking year for Rambus, delivering strong growth in revenue and earnings, and new quarterly and annual highs for product revenue and cash from operations,” said Luc Seraphin, president and chief executive officer of Rambus. “Our sustained leadership in DDR5 RCDs and growing contributions from new products drove substantial year-over-year product growth. With a robust roadmap and deep expertise aligned to the secular trends transforming data center and AI, we are well positioned to meet industry needs and drive long-term profitable growth.”
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GAAP |
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Non-GAAP (1) |
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Quarterly Financial Review |
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Three Months Ended December 31, |
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Three Months Ended December 31, |
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(In millions, except for percentages and per share amounts) |
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2025 |
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2024 |
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2025 |
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2024 |
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Revenue |
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Product revenue |
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$ |
96.8 |
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$ |
73.4 |
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$ |
96.8 |
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$ |
73.4 |
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Royalties |
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71.6 |
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58.2 |
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71.6 |
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58.2 |
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Contract and other revenue |
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21.8 |
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29.5 |
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21.8 |
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29.5 |
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Total revenue |
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190.2 |
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161.1 |
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190.2 |
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161.1 |
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Cost of product revenue |
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37.3 |
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28.5 |
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37.1 |
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28.3 |
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Cost of contract and other revenue |
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1.2 |
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0.7 |
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1.2 |
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0.7 |
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Amortization of acquired intangible assets (included in total cost of revenue) |
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1.7 |
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2.3 |
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— |
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— |
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Total operating expenses |
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79.2 |
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71.7 |
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64.9 |
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60.1 |
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Operating income |
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$ |
70.8 |
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$ |
57.9 |
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$ |
87.0 |
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$ |
72.0 |
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Operating margin |
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37 |
% |
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36 |
% |
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46 |
% |
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45 |
% |
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Net income |
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$ |
63.8 |
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$ |
62.2 |
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$ |
74.7 |
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$ |
59.6 |
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Diluted net income per share |
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$ |
0.58 |
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$ |
0.58 |
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$ |
0.68 |
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$ |
0.55 |
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Licensing billings (operational metric) (2) |
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$ |
71.5 |
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$ |
63.6 |
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$ |
71.5 |
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$ |
63.6 |
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| _______________ | ||
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(1) |
See “Supplemental Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Results” table included below. Note that the applicable non-GAAP measures are presented and that revenue and cash provided by operating activities are solely presented on a GAAP basis. Additionally, licensing billings is presented as an operational metric, which is defined below. |
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(2) |
Licensing billings is an operational metric that reflects amounts invoiced to our licensing customers during the period, as adjusted for certain differences relating to advanced payments for variable licensing agreements. |
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GAAP revenue for the quarter was $190.2 million, which was above the Company's expectations. The Company also had licensing billings of $71.5 million, product revenue of $96.8 million, and contract and other revenue of $21.8 million. The Company had total GAAP cost of revenue of $40.2 million and operating expenses of $79.2 million. The Company also had total non-GAAP operating expenses of $103.2 million (including non-GAAP cost of revenue of $38.3 million). The Company’s provision for income taxes for the three months ended December 31, 2025 of $13.4 million was significantly higher than in the same period in 2024 partially due to the tax legislation enacted in the third quarter of 2025. The Company had GAAP diluted net income per share of $0.58 and non-GAAP diluted net income per share of $0.68. The Company’s basic share count was 108 million shares and its diluted share count was 110 million shares.
Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities as of December 31, 2025 were $761.8 million, an increase of $88.5 million as compared to September 30, 2025, mainly due to $99.8 million in cash provided by operating activities, offset by $8.6 million paid for capital expenditures.
2026 First Quarter Outlook
The Company will discuss its full revenue guidance for the first quarter of 2026 during its upcoming conference call. The following table sets forth the first quarter outlook for other measures.
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(In millions) |
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GAAP |
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Non-GAAP (1) |
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Licensing billings (operational metric) (2) |
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$66 - $72 |
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$66 - $72 |
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Product revenue (GAAP) |
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$84 - $90 |
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$84 - $90 |
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Contract and other revenue (GAAP) |
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$21 - $27 |
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$21 - $27 |
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Total operating costs and expenses |
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$121 - $117 |
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$104 - $100 |
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Interest and other income (expense), net |
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$6 |
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$6 |
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Diluted share count |
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110 |
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110 |
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(1) |
See “Reconciliation of GAAP Forward-Looking Estimates to Non-GAAP Forward-Looking Estimates” table included below. |
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(2) |
Licensing billings is an operational metric that reflects amounts invoiced to our licensing customers during the period, as adjusted for certain differences relating to advanced payments for variable licensing agreements. |
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For the first quarter of 2026, the Company expects licensing billings to be between $66 million and $72 million. The Company also expects royalty revenue to be between $61 million and $67 million, product revenue to be between $84 million and $90 million, and contract and other revenue to be between $21 million and $27 million. Revenue is not without risk and achieving revenue in this range will require that the Company sign customer agreements for various product sales and solutions licensing, among other matters.
The Company also expects operating costs and expenses to be between $121 million and $117 million. Additionally, the Company expects non-GAAP operating costs and expenses to be between $104 million and $100 million. These expectations also assume a tax rate of 16% and a diluted share count of 110 million, and exclude stock-based compensation expense of $15 million and amortization of acquired intangible assets of $2 million.