Arm Holdings vs PepsiCo: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Arm Holdings reported $4.9B of revenue in FY2026 and $904M of net income. PepsiCo reported $93.9B of revenue in FY2025 and $8.2B 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
PepsiCo
- Latest revenue
- $93.9B (FY2025)
- Net income
- $8.2B
- Net margin
- 8.8%
- Revenue growth
- +4.6% 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.
PepsiCo
PepsiCo grew net revenue from $62.8 billion in 2016 to $93.9 billion in 2025, but growth slowed to 0.4% in 2024 and 2.3% in 2025 (1.7% organic) as North American snack volumes declined. Fiscal 2025 net income was $8.24 billion, down 14%, reflecting a roughly $2 billion impairment mainly on Rockstar. In 2026 the picture improved on the top line: Q1 net revenue rose 8.5% and Q2 rose 6.4% to $24.18 billion, helped by acquisitions, currency and international volume. Q2 2026 net income was $2.98 billion versus $1.26 billion a year earlier. For full-year 2026 PepsiCo guided to 2-4% organic revenue growth and 4-6% core constant-currency EPS growth.
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 |
PepsiCo
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $93.9B | $8.2B | 8.8% | +2.3% | Source |
| FY2024 | $91.9B | $9.6B | 10.4% | +0.4% | Source |
| FY2023 | $91.5B | $9.1B | 9.9% | +5.9% | Source |
| FY2022 | $86.4B | $8.9B | 10.3% | +8.7% | Source |
| FY2021 | $79.5B | $7.6B | 9.6% | +12.9% | Source |
| FY2020 | $70.4B | $7.1B | 10.1% | +4.8% | Source |
| FY2019 | $67.2B | $7.3B | 10.9% | +3.9% | Source |
| FY2018 | $64.7B | $12.5B | 19.4% | +1.8% | Source |
| FY2017 | $63.5B | $4.9B | 7.6% | +1.2% | Source |
| FY2016 | $62.8B | $6.3B | 10.1% | — | 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.
PepsiCo
- PepsiCo Foods North America (Frito-Lay and Quaker)~30%
Savory snacks, oats, bars and dips sold to US and Canadian retailers and foodservice; about $27.7 billion combined in 2024.
- PepsiCo Beverages North America~30%
Finished drinks, fountain syrup and concentrate, including Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade and partner brands; about $27.8 billion in 2024.
- International (Latin America, Europe, AMESA, Asia Pacific)~40%
Locally made snacks such as Sabritas, Walkers and Kurkure plus beverage concentrate sold to franchise bottlers and company-run beverage operations.
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.
PepsiCo
How it makes money
PepsiCo makes money by manufacturing and selling branded snacks, packaged foods and beverages to retailers, foodservice operators and independent bottlers. It reports through regional segments: PepsiCo Foods North America (Frito-Lay and Quaker, combined in 2025), PepsiCo Beverages North America (PBNA), Latin America, Europe, Africa/Middle East/South Asia (AMESA) and Asia Pacific.
Growth strategy
PepsiCo's current growth strategy has four parts: affordability (price cuts of up to 15% on Lay's, Tostitos, Doritos and Cheetos in February 2026), portfolio shift toward better-for-you and functional brands through acquisitions such as Siete (2025), poppi ($1.95 billion, closed May 2025) and Sabra, cost reduction (three US plant closures, SKU rationalization and a review of North American supply chain and go-to-mark…
Competitive advantage
PepsiCo's advantage is scale in savory snacks combined with a large beverage business and a direct-store-delivery network. Frito-Lay brands such as Lay's, Doritos and Cheetos lead the US salty snack aisle, and DSD lets PepsiCo control merchandising and restocking in grocery, mass and convenience stores.
Questions about Arm Holdings vs PepsiCo
Which company has higher revenue — Arm Holdings or PepsiCo, Inc.?
Arm Holdings reported $4.9B (FY2026), while PepsiCo, Inc. reported $93.9B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, PepsiCo, 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 PepsiCo, Inc.?
Arm Holdings's market capitalisation stands at $309.4B, while PepsiCo, Inc.'s is $175.0B. Arm Holdings carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to PepsiCo, Inc..
Which is more financially efficient — Arm Holdings or PepsiCo, Inc.?
Arm Holdings generates $513k / employee in revenue per employee, while PepsiCo, Inc. generates $307k / employee. Arm Holdings 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 PepsiCo, Inc. make money?
Arm Holdings and PepsiCo, Inc. generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Arm Holdings: Arm licenses intellectual property. PepsiCo, Inc.: PepsiCo makes money by manufacturing and selling branded snacks, packaged foods and beverages to retailers, foodservice operators and independent bottlers.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Arm Holdings or PepsiCo, Inc.?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Arm Holdings trades at 62.9x P/S and PepsiCo, Inc. at 1.9x P/S. Arm Holdings commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to PepsiCo, Inc.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Arm Holdings bigger than PepsiCo, Inc.?
By last reported revenue, PepsiCo, Inc. ($93.9B (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 PepsiCo overview