Netlist, Inc. NLST
OTCQB Venture MarketSemiconductorsFinancials to Sep 26, 2026 · Updated Nov 11, 2026
Moat ranks
Balance sheet
| $M | Dec 27 | Sep 26 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash | 31.8 | 317.7 |
| Securities | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Restricted cash | 10.3 | 10.0 |
| Debt | 1.8 | 0.0 |
| Net cash | 30.0 | 317.7 |
| Equity | -5.2 | 157.9 |
- Debt / EBITDA
- 0.00×
- Debt / equity
- 0.00×
- Leases (9/26/26)
- $1M
- Diluted shares
- 393M
- Book value / share
- $0.40
- Price / book
- 15.4×
- Net cash / share
- $0.81
- Market cap
- $2.4B
- Enterprise value
- $2.1B
Per-share record
Key indicators
| Indicator | Latest | Vs year ago | Last 8 quarters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 148.9% | +143.8 pts | |
| Operating margin | 38.6% | +55.5 pts | |
| FCF margin | 250.6% | +274.9 pts | |
| Capex / revenue | 0.1% | +0.1 pts | |
| Intellectual property legal fees | $16M | +222% | |
| Patent license fees | $45M | – | |
| Net product sales | $60M | – | – |
| Proprietary memory subsystem sales · 6/27/26 | $6M | +309% | |
| Gross margin | 65.5% | +61.2 pts |
Margins and growth from reported quarters; company KPIs as reported in results releases.
About NLST
Netlist sells memory products and licenses patents. Q3 2026 combined product sales were $60.194m and Samsung license fees $44.910m.
- IP Choke Point
Samsung signed a five-year cross-license with a gross $239m upfront fee and formula-based quarterly payments, proving contracted monetization.
- Design In Qualification
Proprietary memory products face lengthy customer qualification, but Netlist does not disclose current design wins, retention, or qualified revenue by customer.
- Oct 5, 2026
Micron and Netlist settled their litigation and entered a patent license and supply arrangement. Q3 Samsung monetization produced $44.910m license revenue and substantial deferred revenue; a discrete $48.6m tax valuation-allowance release also increased earnings. The November 6 board awards add $25m CEO and $4m CFO retention commitments.
- Sep 29, 2026
Netlist announced a new HBM patent complaint against Micron, Nvidia, Broadcom and Google, extending enforcement to advanced AI memory without establishing collectible income.
- Sep 26, 2026 · Tax benefit +$49M
Discrete release of valuation allowance on beginning-of-year deferred tax assets after Samsung monetization changed the realizability assessment. The total allowance release was $56.5m; only $48.6m is explicitly identified as the discrete beginning-of-year benefit. Total reported Q3 tax benefit is $43.982m after other tax effects.
- Sep 23, 2026
The USITC opened Micron investigation 337-TA-1523. The case can affect licensing leverage, but institution decides no infringement or remedy.
- Sep 2, 2026
The Federal Circuit affirmed the unpatentability of the challenged claims of Netlist's 339 patent in case 2024-1707, reducing protection for memory-module technology against unlicensed rivals.
Ownership
Go deeper on NLST
- Compare stock research toolsFundamentals, valuation and screening platforms for NLST.19 tools
- See NLST's price chartNo price chart here yet. See price history and indicators.17 tools
- Read NLST's earnings callsTranscripts and audio of results calls, with management's own words.15 tools
- Investing tool dealsCurrent discounts on research, charting and tracking tools.89 deals
On this page
Financial record
| Fiscal year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | TTM | Trend | Change 2016–25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per share ($) | |||||||||||||
| Revenue | 0.37 | 0.58 | 0.31 | 0.18 | 0.26 | 0.63 | 0.70 | 0.28 | 0.57 | 0.66 | 1.01 | +6.8%/yr | |
| Cash flow | -0.39 | -0.17 | -0.10 | -0.08 | -0.04 | 0.03 | -0.06 | -0.17 | -0.13 | -0.05 | 0.66 | – | |
| Earnings | -0.21 | -0.20 | -0.16 | -0.08 | -0.04 | 0.02 | -0.14 | -0.25 | -0.21 | -0.09 | 0.24 | – | |
| Free cash flow | -0.39 | -0.17 | -0.10 | -0.08 | -0.04 | 0.02 | -0.07 | -0.17 | -0.13 | -0.05 | 0.66 | – | |
| Capex | 0.01 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | -34.3%/yr | |
| Dividends | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | – | |
| Book value | -0.01 | -0.08 | -0.05 | -0.06 | -0.01 | 0.24 | 0.12 | 0.10 | -0.02 | -0.02 | 0.40 | – | |
| Diluted shares (M) | 54 | 66 | 107 | 148 | 184 | 226 | 231 | 244 | 260 | 287 | 393 | +20.4%/yr | |
| Totals ($M) | |||||||||||||
| Revenue | 19.7 | 38.3 | 33.5 | 26.1 | 47.2 | 142.4 | 161.6 | 69.2 | 147.1 | 188.6 | 395.6 | +28.6%/yr | |
| Operating income | -11.0 | -12.9 | -16.4 | -11.5 | -6.8 | 11.4 | -33.5 | -61.8 | -55.2 | -25.5 | 48.1 | – | |
| Net income | -11.2 | -13.4 | -17.1 | -12.5 | -7.3 | 4.8 | -33.4 | -60.4 | -53.9 | -24.8 | 93.2 | – | |
| Free cash flow | -21.1 | -11.4 | -10.6 | -11.6 | -8.2 | 5.5 | -15.5 | -41.6 | -34.7 | -14.8 | 258.0 | – | |
| Buybacks | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | – | |
| Dividends | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | – | |
| Net cash | -5.6 | -10.1 | -5.2 | -10.2 | -7.6 | 40.1 | 19.6 | 36.6 | 21.3 | 30.0 | 317.7 | +$35.6M | |
| Margins & returns (%) | |||||||||||||
| Gross margin | 37.6 | 6.4 | 6.9 | 9.8 | 14.3 | 34.3 | 7.4 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 6.1 | 30.6 | -31.6 pts | |
| Operating margin | -56.1 | -33.5 | -48.8 | -44.0 | -14.5 | 8.0 | -20.7 | -89.2 | -37.5 | -13.5 | 12.2 | +42.6 pts | |
| Net margin | -57.1 | -35.0 | -51.1 | -47.7 | -15.4 | 3.4 | -20.6 | -87.3 | -36.6 | -13.2 | 23.6 | +44.0 pts | |
| FCF margin | -107.6 | -29.8 | -31.7 | -44.3 | -17.3 | 3.9 | -9.6 | -60.1 | -23.6 | -7.8 | 65.2 | +99.7 pts | |
| ROIC | -161.4 | -201.0 | – | – | -102.8 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Return on equity | – | – | – | – | – | 8.9 | -122.5 | -254.2 | – | – | 59.0 | – | |
| R&D % of revenue | 32.0 | 13.7 | 8.6 | 9.1 | 6.3 | 5.1 | 6.6 | 13.2 | 5.5 | 1.9 | 1.0 | -30.1 pts | |
| Stock pay % of revenue | 7.5 | 3.2 | 2.2 | 3.8 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 6.3 | 3.0 | 1.8 | 2.4 | -5.7 pts | |
| Capex % of revenue | 1.8 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -1.7 pts | |
Change uses 2016 and 2025 only: compound annual growth for amounts, points for margins and returns, and the change in amount for net cash. A dash means no 2016 base. Trend shows the fiscal years.
Moat
Moat scorecard
- Strength
- Confidence
- Structure
- Competitive
- Durability
- medium
- Trajectory
- narrowing
- Pricing power
- weak
- Third-Party Memory and Storage Product Resales95.5%No moat
- Modular Memory Subsystems and Memory IP4.5%2 claims
Moat claims
- Applies to
- Modular Memory Subsystems and Memory IP
- Confidence
- Durability
- medium
- Trajectory
- narrowingas of Nov 11, 2026
Samsung signed a five-year cross-license with a gross $239m upfront fee and formula-based quarterly payments, proving contracted monetization. On September 2, the Federal Circuit upheld unpatentability findings covering the 339, 918, 054, 060 and 160 patents. Those decisions reduce protection against unlicensed rivals; the license covers a wider portfolio and is not proof that every asserted patent survives. New Micron cases remain contested, and Samsung fees face withholding, adjustments, refund rights and counsel fees.
September patent appeal losses still narrow enforceable protection. Samsung Q3 recognition and the October Micron settlement demonstrate monetization of existing counterparties, but do not restore invalidated claims or establish stronger protection against unlicensed rivals.
- Intellectual property legal fees$16M+222%
- Patent license fees$45M
- Samsung quarterly payments fall below the stated maximum or become subject to adjustments and refunds
- Further adverse validity decisions remove claims that support unlicensed-customer negotiations, as the September 2 appeals already did for five patents
- Other asserted counterparties settle for lower-than-expected economics
- Large memory makers design around asserted claims
- The Samsung license expires after five years without comparable renewals or new licensees
- CourtFederal Circuit 2024-2240 and 2024-2241: all claims of the 060 and 160 patents remain unpatentableSep 2, 2026
- CourtFederal Circuit 2024-1707: challenged claims of the 339 patent remain unpatentableSep 2, 2026
- CourtFederal Circuit 2024-1859 and 2024-1863: challenged claims of the 918 and 054 patents remain unpatentableSep 2, 2026
- SourceUSITC institutes investigation 337-TA-1523; no merits decisionSep 23, 2026
- Applies to
- Modular Memory Subsystems and Memory IP
- Confidence
- Durability
- medium
- Trajectory
- stableas of Nov 11, 2026
Proprietary memory products face lengthy customer qualification, but Netlist does not disclose current design wins, retention, or qualified revenue by customer. The protection is therefore narrow and conditional.
Q3 now combines proprietary and resale products into $60.194m net product sales. No new design-win or retention disclosure supports stronger qualification lock-in; the previous proprietary-product mix is not extrapolated.
- Proprietary memory subsystem sales$6M+309%
- Net product sales$60M
- Customers select standard modules from larger memory vendors
- AI/server architecture shifts reduce need for Netlist-specific designs
- Qualification delays prevent timely capture of demand cycles
- Small revenue base limits reinvestment versus competitors
Profile change log
- Nov 11, 2026 · business change
Micron and Netlist settled their litigation and entered a patent license and supply arrangement. Q3 Samsung monetization produced $44.910m license revenue and substantial deferred revenue; a discrete $48.6m tax valuation-allowance release also increased earnings. The November 6 board awards add $25m CEO and $4m CFO retention commitments.
- Oct 6, 2026 · analyst revision
The market profiles now distinguish short customer orders from lasting channel protection and actual adverse patent rulings from new enforcement complaints. The debate includes the five-patent setback and the disclosed Samsung counsel fee.
- Oct 6, 2026 · analyst revision
The September 2 court decisions narrow the IP claim and reduce its strength from 4 to 3 despite Samsung's signed license. The resale business is now verified no moat: the annual filing confirms cancellable customer orders and direct supplier competition, while the June filing confirms expired SK hynix term protection. This includes resale sales in the score at zero rather than excluding them.
- Oct 6, 2026 · business change
The Federal Circuit affirmed that all claims of Netlist's 060 and 160 patents are unpatentable in cases 2024-2240 and 2024-2241, reducing its protection for stacked-memory technology.
- Oct 6, 2026 · business change
The Federal Circuit affirmed unpatentability findings for the challenged claims of Netlist's 918 and 054 patents in cases 2024-1859 and 2024-1863, weakening its voltage-regulation patent protection.
- Oct 6, 2026 · business change
The Federal Circuit affirmed the unpatentability of the challenged claims of Netlist's 339 patent in case 2024-1707, reducing protection for memory-module technology against unlicensed rivals.
- Oct 6, 2026 · analyst revision
Market evidence now distinguishes broad component distributors from memory-only market share, and compares customer advance funding, supplier remedies, borrowing-rate exposure and new manufacturer capacity. Reported legal expenses remain operating costs rather than exceptional adjustments.
- Oct 6, 2026 · analyst revision
The August 2026 Samsung supply disclosure limits breach remedies, while SK hynix now supplies on purchase orders. The resale distribution-control claim is removed and its evidence status is insufficient evidence because the newly reviewed supply-risk disclosure establishes access without proving protected channel economics. IP confidence moves from 5 to 4 because a paid license obligation does not establish industry-wide patent control.
- Oct 6, 2026 · analyst revision
The case now includes founder leadership, working-capital pressure, recurring legal expense, Samsung tax and refund terms, dilution and the memory cycle; shared end-market profiles explain channel and product competition.
- Oct 6, 2026 · analyst revision
Revenue weights now use the complete 2025 product split: $180.070m of resales and $8.560m of proprietary subsystems. The industry stays Semiconductors: resold memory, its own modules and its patents are all memory products, so memory makers are the relevant peers; distributor peers are separated from chip makers.
- Oct 6, 2026 · analyst revision
The profile now distinguishes purchase-order SK hynix supply from the expired contract and uses the disclosed Q2 product split. Distribution and qualification remain conditional advantages; Samsung widens the commercial support for the IP claim.
- Oct 6, 2026 · business change
Netlist announced a new HBM patent complaint against Micron, Nvidia, Broadcom and Google, extending enforcement to advanced AI memory without establishing collectible income.
- Oct 6, 2026 · business change
The USITC opened Micron investigation 337-TA-1523. The case can affect licensing leverage, but institution decides no infringement or remedy.
- Oct 6, 2026 · business change
Netlist filed a DDR5 memory ITC complaint against Micron and downstream system vendors, seeking import restrictions to support further patent enforcement.
- Oct 6, 2026 · business change
Netlist and Samsung signed a five-year cross-license and settlement with a gross $239m upfront fee and adjustable quarterly fees, plus up to $300m of annual supply rights and a 10m-share Samsung investment. This converts part of the patent case into contractual income and broadens sourcing.
- Oct 6, 2026 · business change
Netlist reserved 33.6m shares for a performance equity plan without stockholder approval, creating a further source of possible dilution.
- Oct 6, 2026 · business change
Netlist signed the SK hynix license and supply agreement with a $40m upfront fee, proving patent monetization but making company FY2021 profit depend on a non-recurring payment.
Industry & peers
Peer map
Hover a point for its values; click a peer to compare. Dashed lines: industry medians.
Memory and storage component distribution
Resale of DRAM, NAND, memory modules and solid-state drives to OEMs, system builders, enterprise storage and cloud buyers. Excludes chip fabrication, proprietary memory design and patent-license income. Large broad-line distributors are reference competitors, not a measured ranking of memory-only resale sales; no verified source sizes this exact channel market.
- Avnet
- Arrow Electronics
- WT Microelectronics, including Future Electronics
- World Peace Group
| Stocks | Moat | Gross m. | Op. m. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NLST | 2 | 30.6% | 12.2% | |
| Industry median | 13 | 75 | 53.7% | 20.1% |
| Sector median | 77 | 75 | 64.7% | 23.8% |
| All stocks median | 398 | 76 | 53.1% | 20.0% |
Moat medians cover every stock. Margin medians count only stocks with collected numbers and need at least three.
Drivers & risks
- Strong sensitivity to AI and general-server investment: more memory per system and more enterprise storage raise component demand.
- Strong sensitivity to memory supply and prices: shortages make access valuable, but higher resale revenue may reflect price rather than unit growth.
- Local inventory, product selection and small-order fulfillment give specialists a role outside manufacturers’ direct channels, even when customers make no long-term purchase commitment.
- Medium sensitivity to interest rates: financing inventory costs more at higher rates, and slower customer investment can delay orders.
- Manufacturers can allocate scarce parts to larger buyers or sell directly, reducing a specialist distributor’s supply and spread.
- Memory prices can fall sharply after capacity additions or customer inventory cuts, leaving expensive stock to sell at lower prices.
- A few suppliers and customers can dominate cash flows; late collections, reduced advance payments or inventory builds can consume cash despite reported profit.
- Strong exposure to export controls and tariffs on China-related trade can restrict customers or raise landed costs. Billing geography does not identify the final end user.
- Large distributors have wider product ranges and greater purchasing scale; specialist access does not establish exclusive distribution rights.
Bulls & bears
Can collectible, repeat license income and profitable product sales fund Netlist through a memory downturn after legal fees, tax and working-capital needs?
Arguments
What to watch
- 1Samsung recognized license revenue, gross cash received, Korean withholding and contingent legal fees
- 2Product gross profit and operating cash flow alongside inventory and customer advances
- 3Proprietary subsystem sales, largest supplier share and new signed licenses beyond Samsung
Next check: FY2026 reporting: reconcile Samsung and Micron cash receipts, deferred license revenue and contingent legal fees with repeatable revenue, after Q3 recorded $44.910m license fees and a $43.982m total tax benefit. Test supply execution, remaining patent appeals and the cost and dilution of executive retention awards.
Sources: company filings and dated sources collected for Find My Moat; market cap as of Nov 9, 2026. Not investment advice.
Free to reuse, commercially too, with a credit link. See the data license.
Moat Score 2/100 by <a href="https://www.findmymoat.com/stocks/OTCM:NLST">Find My Moat</a> (as of September 2026)Curation & Accuracy
This directory blends AI‑assisted discovery with human curation. Entries are reviewed, edited, and organized with the goal of expanding coverage and sharpening quality over time. Your feedback helps steer improvements (because no single human can capture everything all at once).
Details change. Pricing, features, and availability may be incomplete or out of date. Treat listings as a starting point and verify on the provider’s site before making decisions. If you spot an error or a gap, send a quick note and I’ll adjust.