Arm Holdings vs Berkshire Hathaway: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Arm Holdings reported $4.9B of revenue in FY2026 and $904M of net income. Berkshire Hathaway reported $371.4B of revenue in FY2025 and $67B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Arm Holdings
- Latest revenue
- $4.9B (FY2026)
- Net income
- $904M
- Net margin
- 18.4%
- Revenue growth
- +19.4% a year, FY2021–FY2026
Berkshire Hathaway
- Latest revenue
- $371.4B (FY2025)
- Net income
- $67B
- Net margin
- 18.0%
- Revenue growth
- +6.3% a year, FY2016–FY2025
Financial summary
Arm Holdings
Arm makes nearly all of its gross profit from intellectual property, so its cost of sales is small: fiscal 2026 revenue of $4,920 million produced $4,799 million of gross profit, a margin above 97%. Revenue comes in two lines. License and other revenue, $2,307 million in fiscal 2026 and up 25%, is charged upfront or across milestones when a customer takes access to Arm designs. Royalty revenue, $2,613 million and up 21%, is collected per chip once partners ship, which makes it a long tail from designs licensed years earlier. Spending is concentrated in engineering: research and development cost $2,776 million in fiscal 2026, about 56% of revenue, which held operating income to $900 million and net income to $904 million. Arm ended the year with $2,751 million of cash and cash equivalents plus $850 million of short-term investments, and $2,071 million of remaining performance obligations, about 28% of which it expects to recognise as revenue within twelve months. The most recent reported quarter, the three months to June 30, 2026, was a record: revenue rose 22% year over year to $1.29 billion on record first-quarter royalty and licensing revenue, with data center royalties again more than doubling.
Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire reported 2025 revenue of $371.444 billion, operating earnings of $44.486 billion (down from $47.437 billion in 2024 and above the five-year average of about $37.5 billion), and net earnings attributable to shareholders of $66.968 billion. GAAP net earnings swing with the equity portfolio: 2025 included $30.737 billion of after-tax investment gains and $8.255 billion of after-tax impairments on Kraft Heinz and Occidental. The businesses produced $46 billion of net cash from operating activities. Insurance earned $9.460 billion of pre-tax underwriting profit, with GEICO contributing $6.824 billion, and insurance float grew to $176 billion from $171 billion a year earlier. Shareholders' equity ended 2025 at $717.4 billion, up $68.1 billion, and the insurance and other businesses held $369.0 billion of cash, cash equivalents and US Treasury Bills. Berkshire repurchased no stock in 2025 and has paid no dividend since 1967.
Revenue and profit by year
Arm Holdings
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $4.9B | $904M | 18.4% | +22.8% | Source |
| FY2025 | $4B | $792M | 19.8% | +23.9% | Source |
| FY2024 | $3.2B | $306M | 9.5% | +20.7% | Source |
| FY2023 | $2.7B | $524M | 19.6% | -0.9% | Source |
| FY2022 | $2.7B | $549M | 20.3% | +33.3% | Source |
| FY2021 | $2B | $388M | 19.1% | — | Source |
Berkshire Hathaway
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $371.4B | $67B | 18.0% | +0.0% | Source |
| FY2024 | $371.4B | $89B | 24.0% | +1.9% | Source |
| FY2023 | $364.5B | $96.2B | 26.4% | +20.7% | Source |
| FY2022 | $302B | -$22.8B | -7.5% | +9.4% | Source |
| FY2021 | $276.2B | $89.9B | 32.6% | +12.5% | Source |
| FY2020 | $245.6B | $42.5B | 17.3% | -3.5% | Source |
| FY2019 | $254.6B | $81.4B | 32.0% | +2.7% | Source |
| FY2018 | $247.8B | $4B | 1.6% | +3.3% | Source |
| FY2017 | $239.9B | $44.9B | 18.7% | +11.5% | Source |
| FY2016 | $215.1B | $24.1B | 11.2% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Arm Holdings
- Royalty Revenue53%
Royalties were $2,613 million of Arm's $4,920 million fiscal 2026 revenue, up 21% year over year. Arm collects a per-unit royalty on substantially every chip its partners ship that uses its designs, so the line reflects designs licensed in earlier years; rates generally step down as unit volumes rise, subject to an agreed minimum per chip. Mobile application processors supplied about 43% of fiscal 2026 royalty revenue, while data center royalties more than doubled year over year. Arm attributes part of the growth to a mix shift toward Armv9 designs, which carry higher rates per chip.
- License and Other Revenue47%
License and other revenue was $2,307 million in fiscal 2026, up 25%, and covers licensing, software development tools, design services, training and support. Customers choose among Compute Subsystems, Arm Total Access, which bundles the current portfolio for an annual fee, Arm Flexible Access, which gives cheaper access to older designs with a fee due at tape-out, technology licence agreements and architecture licences. The line is lumpy because a small number of high-value agreements can land in any quarter: revenue from related parties alone rose 141% in fiscal 2026. Remaining performance obligations were $2,071 million at March 31, 2026, about 28% of which Arm expects to recognise within twelve months.
Berkshire Hathaway
- Insurance premiums earned23.9%
GEICO, Berkshire Hathaway Primary Group and Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group earned $88.902B of premiums in 2025 and produced $9.460B of pre-tax underwriting earnings.
- Sales and service revenues53.7%
Manufacturing, service and retailing businesses, plus McLane and Pilot distribution, generated $199.524B of sales and service revenue in 2025, the largest revenue line and a thin-margin one.
- Interest, dividend and other investment income6.3%
Investment income of $23.261B in 2025 came mostly from US Treasury Bills and dividends on the equity portfolio.
- Freight rail transportation6.3%
BNSF produced $23.330B of freight revenue in 2025 hauling consumer products, industrial products, agricultural and energy products and coal.
- Utility and energy operating revenues5.9%
Berkshire Hathaway Energy's regulated utilities and pipelines produced $21.856B in 2025, serving about 5.4 million retail customers.
- Leasing revenues2.7%
Leasing businesses including XTRA trailer leasing and other equipment lessors produced $10.034B in 2025.
- Railroad, utilities and energy service revenues and other income1.2%
Service revenues and other income inside the railroad, utilities and energy group added $4.537B in 2025.
Business model and strategy
Arm Holdings
How it makes money
Arm licenses intellectual property. It spends heavily on R&D to design power-efficient processor architectures, then licenses the designs to companies such as Apple, Qualcomm and Samsung, which customize them and have them manufactured by a foundry such as TSMC. Arm charges an upfront license fee and an ongoing royalty on each chip shipped.
Growth strategy
With more than 99% of mobile application processors already on its architecture, Arm is pushing into markets where the chip value per unit is higher. Neoverse designs target cloud and AI infrastructure and are the basis of Amazon Graviton, Google Axion, Microsoft Cobalt and Nvidia Grace; Arm says data center royalties more than doubled in fiscal 2026.
Competitive advantage
Arm's moat is the software built around its architecture. iOS, Android and millions of mobile apps are written for the Arm instruction set, so a rival architecture such as Intel's x86 would need developers to rework that software to enter smartphones. Decades of focus on power efficiency, which extends battery life, also give Arm a technical lead in mobile.
Berkshire Hathaway
How it makes money
Berkshire's business model is capital allocation on top of a decentralized group of operating companies. Subsidiary managers run their own businesses, with no corporate budget submissions and no committee structure at headquarters, and send surplus cash to Omaha.
Growth strategy
Berkshire's size limits what can move its results, so growth comes from large purchases, reinvestment inside existing businesses and buying back its own stock. Buffett described the 2009 BNSF agreement, a $34 billion investment in the railroad, as an all-in wager on the economic future of the United States.
Competitive advantage
Berkshire's advantages are permanent capital, a balance sheet that stays liquid by design, and a reputation that brings sellers to it.
Questions about Arm Holdings vs Berkshire Hathaway
Which company has higher revenue — Arm Holdings or Berkshire Hathaway Inc.?
Arm Holdings reported $4.9B (FY2026), while Berkshire Hathaway Inc. reported $371.4B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is the larger business, with Arm Holdings reporting a smaller revenue base. Note: these are from different fiscal years and are not a direct like-for-like comparison.
What is the market cap of Arm Holdings vs Berkshire Hathaway Inc.?
Arm Holdings's market capitalisation stands at $309.4B, while Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s is $1.07T. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Arm Holdings.
Which is more financially efficient — Arm Holdings or Berkshire Hathaway Inc.?
Arm Holdings generates $513k / employee in revenue per employee, while Berkshire Hathaway Inc. generates $958k / employee. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Arm Holdings and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. make money?
Arm Holdings and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Arm Holdings: Arm licenses intellectual property. Berkshire Hathaway Inc.: Berkshire's business model is capital allocation on top of a decentralized group of operating companies.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Arm Holdings or Berkshire Hathaway Inc.?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Arm Holdings trades at 62.9x P/S and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. at 2.9x P/S. Arm Holdings commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Berkshire Hathaway Inc.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Arm Holdings bigger than Berkshire Hathaway Inc.?
By last reported revenue, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. ($371.4B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Arm Holdings ($4.9B (FY2026)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Arm Holdings vs Berkshire Hathaway overview