DLB NYSE Application Software Financials FY2016βFY2025
Dolby invents audio and video technologies and earns most of its money by licensing them. Its best-known are Dolby Atmos, a three-dimensional surround sound format, and Dolby Vision, a high dynamic range picture format. Device makers such as television, smartphone, PC and soundbar companies pay Dolby to build these technologies, and its audio codecs (which compress and decode sound), into their products. Dolby says about 1,000 manufacturers license its technology. Content creators and distributors use its tools to make and deliver films, shows, music and sports in these formats.
Hi! I read Dolbyβs latest annual report (fiscal 2025). Here is what stands out:
Good So-so Weak
Are sales growing?
+5.9%
Yes. Sales grew 5.9% last year.
Does it make a profit?
18.9%
Yes. It keeps 18.9% of every sale as profit.
Does profit turn into cash?
32.3%
Yes. 32.3% of sales ends up as free cash.
Is debt under control?
Net cash
Yes. It has more cash than debt.
How healthy are the accounts?
5 / 9
Mixed. It passes 5 of 9 health tests.
How is the share priced?
26.7x
One share costs 26.7 times its yearly profit per share. Typical for its sector: 33.5x.
Rules of thumb on reported numbers. A starting point, not a recommendation.
About these figures. Dolby has no borrowings, so debt is counted as zero.
Is it selling more, and how much does it keep?
KIRA Β· Dolby had $1.3B of revenue in fiscal 2025, up 5.9% on the year before. Over five years, revenue changed +3.0% a year on average. Its operating margin was 19.6%, down 0.6Β pts: of every 100 in sales, about 20 is left after running the business.
In plain words: Revenue is all the money customers paid. The margins show how many cents of each dollar of sales are left over at each step: after making the product (gross), after running the business (operating) and after everything, tax included (net).
Revenue
Revenue
Margins, % of revenue
Margins, % of revenue
KIRA Β· Dolby made $255M of net profit in fiscal 2025. From fiscal 2016 to 2025, diluted EPS grew 4.2% a year.
Loss periods are shown in red.
In plain words: Net income is the profit left after every cost and tax. Earnings per share (EPS) splits that profit across every share, so it shows what one share earned.
Net income
Net income
Diluted EPS
Diluted EPS
How much cash comes in, and where does it go?
KIRA Β· Free cash flow was $436M in fiscal 2025, 32.3% of revenue.
Cash from operations minus capital spending.
In plain words: Profit on paper is not the same as cash in the bank. Free cash flow is the cash left after paying to run and maintain the business: the money it can hand back to shareholders, save or invest.
Free cash flow
Free cash flow
Cash from operations vs capital spending
Cash from operations vs capital spending
KIRA Β· Dolby returned $252M to shareholders in fiscal 2025, 58% of free cash flow. The diluted share count rose 0.2%.
In plain words: Companies hand cash back in two ways: dividends (cash paid to shareholders) and buybacks (buying back their own shares, so each remaining share owns a bigger slice).
Dividends and buybacks
Dividends and buybacks
Diluted shares outstanding (annual)
KIRA Β· In the last 12 months, insiders sold $14.7M of shares on the open market and bought none.
Open-market purchases and sales by officers, directors and 10% owners, from Form 4 filings. βPlanβ marks trades under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
In plain words: Insiders are the people who run or own a big part of the company. Buying with their own money can signal confidence; selling often has personal reasons, like taxes or diversifying.
Bought, 12 months
$0.0M
0 insiders
Sold, 12 months
$14.7M
9 insiders
Of sales under plans
87%
$12.8M
| Date | Insider | Trade | Shares | Price | Value | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | John D CoulingSVP, Entertainment | Sold plan | 7,667 | $58.78 | $0.5M | Form 4 |
| Sep 1, 2026 | John D CoulingSVP, Entertainment | Sold plan | 7,667 | $61.05 | $0.5M | Form 4 |
| Aug 25, 2026 | Ryan NicholsonVP, CAO and Corp. Controller | Sold | 1,183 | $65.28 | $0.1M | Form 4 |
| Aug 14, 2026 | Shriram RevankarSVP, Advanced Technology Group | Sold plan | 3,000 | $62.71 | $0.2M | Form 4 |
| Aug 10, 2026 | Ryan NicholsonVP, CAO and Corp. Controller | Sold | 1,348 | $62.04 | $0.1M | Form 4 |
| Aug 4, 2026 | Ryan NicholsonVP, CAO and Corp. Controller | Sold | 357 | $60.63 | $0.0M | Form 4 |
| Aug 3, 2026 | John D CoulingSVP, Entertainment | Sold plan | 7,667 | $60.00 | $0.5M | Form 4 |
| Jul 1, 2026 | John D CoulingSVP, Entertainment | Sold plan | 7,667 | $53.20 | $0.4M | Form 4 |
| Jun 1, 2026 | John D CoulingSVP, Entertainment | Sold plan | 7,666 | $55.63 | $0.4M | Form 4 |
| May 22, 2026 | Todd PendletonSVP, Chief Marketing Officer | Sold | 11,876 | $54.55 | $0.6M | Form 4 |
| May 15, 2026 | Shriram RevankarSVP, Advanced Technology Group | Sold plan | 3,000 | $54.90 | $0.2M | Form 4 |
| May 12, 2026 | Robert J ParkSVP & Chief Financial Officer | Sold plan | 4,895 | $56.68 | $0.3M | Form 4 |
| May 5, 2026 | John D CoulingSVP, Entertainment | Sold plan | 7,666 | $57.55 | $0.4M | Form 4 |
| May 4, 2026 | John D CoulingSVP, Entertainment | Sold plan | 4,688 | $58.47 | $0.3M | Form 4 |
| Apr 1, 2026 | Emily RollinsDirector | Sold plan | 1,000 | $60.08 | $0.1M | Form 4 |
| Feb 17, 2026 | Shriram RevankarSVP, Advanced Technology Group | Sold plan | 3,000 | $66.14 | $0.2M | Form 4 |
| Feb 13, 2026 | Ryan NicholsonVP, CAO and Corp. Controller | Sold | 2,667 | $66.38 | $0.2M | Form 4 |
| Feb 2, 2026 | John D CoulingSVP, Entertainment | Sold | 6,667 | $64.89 | $0.4M | Form 4 |
| Dec 17, 2025 | Mark Andrew ShermanEVP, Gen. Counsel & Secretary | Sold plan | 2,491 | $67.26 | $0.2M | Form 4 |
| Dec 17, 2025 | Kevin J YeamanPresident and CEO, Director | Sold plan | 6,751 | $67.24 | $0.5M | Form 4 |
| Dec 16, 2025 | Mark Andrew ShermanEVP, Gen. Counsel & Secretary | Sold plan | 9,109 | $66.73 | $0.6M | Form 4 |
| Dec 16, 2025 | Kevin J YeamanPresident and CEO, Director | Sold plan | 26,766 | $66.74 | $1.8M | Form 4 |
| Dec 11, 2025 | John D CoulingSVP, Entertainment | Sold plan | 7,273 | $68.75 | $0.5M | Form 4 |
| Dec 9, 2025 | Kevin J YeamanPresident and CEO, Director | Sold plan | 34,367 | $67.08 | $2.3M | Form 4 |
| Dec 1, 2025 | Mark Andrew ShermanEVP, Gen. Counsel & Secretary | Sold plan | 4,500 | $67.56 | $0.3M | Form 4 |
| Nov 25, 2025 | Tony A ProphetDirector | Sold plan | 3,300 | $67.85 | $0.2M | Form 4 |
| Nov 24, 2025 | Kevin J YeamanPresident and CEO, Director | Sold plan | 36,699 | $66.91 | $2.5M | Form 4 |
| Nov 21, 2025 | Shriram RevankarSVP, Advanced Technology Group | Sold plan | 3,000 | $65.55 | $0.2M | Form 4 |
| Nov 20, 2025 | John D CoulingSVP, Entertainment | Sold | 6,164 | $66.12 | $0.4M | Form 4 |
| Oct 14, 2025 | Kevin J YeamanPresident and CEO, Director | Sold plan | 25,000 | $68.87 | $1.7M | Form 4 |
Can it carry its debts, and how well does it use its money?
KIRA Β· Dolby has $703M more cash than debt.
Cash, debt and the ratios that show how comfortably Dolby can carry it.
In plain words: What the company owns and what it owes. More cash than debt is a cushion for bad times; a lot of debt leaves less room when business slows down.
Cash vs debt (incl. leases)
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | $1.3B | $809M | $885M | $482M | $703M |
| Debt incl. finance leases | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | β2.9x | β2.7x | β3.0x | β1.4x | β2.0x |
| Debt / equity | 0.0x | 0.0x | 0.0x | 0.0x | 0.0x |
| Interest coverage | 719.0x | 524.4x | β | β | β |
| Current ratio | 5.6x | 4.7x | 3.5x | 2.9x | 3.2x |
| Quick ratio | 5.5x | 4.6x | 3.4x | 2.8x | 3.1x |
| Total assets | $3.1B | $2.7B | $3.0B | $3.1B | $3.2B |
| Total liabilities | $502M | $439M | $608M | $623M | $596M |
| Shareholders' equity | $2.6B | $2.2B | $2.4B | $2.5B | $2.6B |
| Net debt (β = net cash) | β$1.3B | β$809M | β$885M | β$482M | β$703M |
KIRA Β· Its return on capital was 11.4%: every 100 invested in the business earned about 11 in a year.
After-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash.
In plain words: How much profit the business makes on the money put into it. A higher percentage means each dollar invested works harder.
Return on capital, equity and assets (annual)
KIRA Β· Dolby passes 5 of 9 financial health tests (Piotroski F-score).
Nine pass/fail tests of profitability, funding and efficiency. 8β9 is strong, 0β2 weak.
In plain words: Nine yes/no tests of financial health, one point each. A green tick is a pass: 7 to 9 points is solid, 0 to 3 is weak.
| Test | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | β | β | β |
| Cash from operations is positive | β | β | β |
| Return on assets rose | β | β | β |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | β | β | β |
| Debt fell relative to assets | β | β | β |
| Current ratio rose | β | β | β |
| Share count didn't rise | β | β | β |
| Gross margin rose | β | β | β |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | β | β | β |
| F-score | 6 / 9 | 6 / 9 | 5 / 9 |
| Accruals ratio | β5.9% | β2.2% | β6.9% |
| Altman Z'' | 9.55 | 9.00 | 9.78 |
What does the share cost, and how does it compare?
KIRA Β· At $62.85 a share, the company is worth $5.9B: 26.7 times its earnings of the last four quarters.
Change the assumptions and see what they imply per share. These are models, not forecasts or price targets β the answer depends entirely on what you put in.
In plain words: Move the sliders to try your own guesses about growth. The result is what one share would be worth if those guesses came true. Different guesses give very different answers.
Value per share
β
Adds net cash of $703M and divides by 97.5M diluted shares. Ten years of cash flows plus a terminal value, discounted to today.
Value per share
β
Reference multiples: today 26.7x Β· peers 79.8x Β· sector 33.5x.
KIRA Β· Dolby grew sales faster than 0 of its 4 similar companies. Its P/E is higher than 0 of 1.
Each companyβs latest fiscal year. Fiscal years end in different months, so periods donβt line up exactly.
In plain words: The same numbers for similar companies, so you can tell whether a figure is high or low for this kind of business.
| Company | Market cap | Growth | Op. margin | FCF margin | ROIC | P/E | F-score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dolby DLB | $5.9B | 5.9% | 19.6% | 32.3% | 11.4% | 26.7x | 5 | |
| Guidewire Software GWRE | $16.1B | 22.7% | 10.2% | 25.6% | 12.1% | β | 8 | Compare β |
| Bentley Systems BSY | $12.7B | 11.0% | 24.2% | 34.6% | 12.3% | 43.6x | 9 | Compare β |
| Samsara IOT | $26.5B | 29.6% | β3.3% | 12.8% | β | β | β | Compare β |
| Bill BILL | $5.1B | 13.0% | β4.4% | 25.0% | β1.7% | β | 4 | Compare β |
Every number, year by year.
Amounts in USD. Hover a ratioβs name for its definition.
In plain words: Every number we have, year by year. Download it as a spreadsheet if you want to dig deeper.
| Fiscal year | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | $1.0B | $1.1B | $1.1B | $1.2B | $1.2B | $1.3B | $1.3B | $1.3B | $1.3B | $1.3B |
| Gross profit | $917M | $962M | $927M | $1.1B | $1.0B | $1.2B | $1.1B | $1.1B | $1.1B | $1.2B |
| Research and development | $220M | $233M | $237M | $238M | $239M | $254M | $261M | $272M | $264M | $262M |
| Operating income | $232M | $247M | $184M | $257M | $219M | $344M | $207M | $216M | $258M | $265M |
| Interest expense | $0.1M | $0.1M | $0.2M | $0.2M | $0.2M | $0.5M | $0.4M | β | β | β |
| Pretax income | $236M | $255M | $196M | $282M | $240M | $355M | $215M | $250M | $313M | $304M |
| Income tax | $49.5M | $48.0M | $154M | $26.8M | $8.1M | $36.7M | $31.4M | $48.4M | $48.2M | $47.0M |
| Net income | $186M | $207M | $41.7M | $255M | $231M | $310M | $184M | $201M | $262M | $255M |
| Diluted EPS | $1.81 | $2.00 | $0.39 | $2.44 | $2.25 | $2.97 | $1.81 | $2.05 | $2.69 | $2.62 |
| Diluted shares | 0.10B | 0.10B | 0.11B | 0.10B | 0.10B | 0.10B | 0.10B | 0.10B | 0.10B | 0.10B |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | $360M | $378M | $352M | $328M | $344M | $448M | $319M | $367M | $327M | $472M |
| Capital expenditure | $101M | $99.6M | $72.8M | $96.3M | $66.3M | $54.5M | $47.9M | $30.3M | $30.0M | $36.3M |
| Free cash flow | $259M | $278M | $279M | $231M | $278M | $393M | $271M | $337M | $297M | $436M |
| Depreciation and amortization | $85.2M | $84.3M | $81.3M | $85.1M | $90.9M | $95.9M | $88.5M | $82.6M | $75.6M | $87.8M |
| Stock-based compensation | $67.0M | $65.3M | $71.2M | $76.6M | $86.6M | $99.7M | $115M | $119M | $120M | $129M |
| Acquisitions | $0.0M | $0.0M | $22.9M | $14.9M | $0.0M | $4.5M | $38.2M | $25.7M | $488M | $1.4M |
| Share buybacks | $101M | $100M | $151M | $341M | $174M | $246M | $531M | $149M | $160M | $125M |
| Dividends paid | $48.4M | $57.1M | $66.2M | $77.5M | $88.6M | $89.2M | $100M | $103M | $115M | $127M |
| Dividends and buybacks | $149M | $157M | $217M | $418M | $262M | $335M | $631M | $253M | $275M | $252M |
| Balance sheet | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | $641M | $882M | $1.1B | $916M | $1.1B | $1.3B | $809M | $885M | $482M | $703M |
| Total debt | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M |
| Finance lease liabilities | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M |
| Current assets | $760M | $1.0B | $1.5B | $1.4B | $1.5B | $1.8B | $1.3B | $1.5B | $1.2B | $1.4B |
| Current liabilities | $213M | $246M | $285M | $307M | $267M | $316M | $278M | $422M | $418M | $438M |
| Inventory | $16.4M | $25.1M | $26.2M | $32.3M | $25.5M | $11.0M | $23.5M | $35.6M | $33.7M | $30.4M |
| Property and equipment, net | $444M | $485M | $514M | $537M | $542M | $534M | $514M | $482M | $479M | $471M |
| Total assets | $2.3B | $2.5B | $2.9B | $2.8B | $2.9B | $3.1B | $2.7B | $3.0B | $3.1B | $3.2B |
| Total liabilities | $331M | $390M | $495M | $509M | $479M | $502M | $439M | $608M | $623M | $596M |
| Shareholders' equity | $2.0B | $2.1B | $2.4B | $2.3B | $2.4B | $2.6B | $2.2B | $2.4B | $2.5B | $2.6B |
| Margins | ||||||||||
| Gross margin | 89.4% | 89.0% | 87.9% | 87.0% | 87.4% | 89.9% | 88.7% | 88.3% | 89.0% | 88.1% |
| Operating margin | 22.6% | 22.9% | 17.4% | 20.7% | 18.8% | 26.9% | 16.5% | 16.6% | 20.3% | 19.6% |
| EBITDA margin | 30.9% | 30.7% | 25.1% | 27.6% | 26.7% | 34.4% | 23.5% | 23.0% | 26.2% | 26.2% |
| Net margin | 18.1% | 19.1% | 4.0% | 20.6% | 19.9% | 24.2% | 14.7% | 15.4% | 20.6% | 18.9% |
| FCF margin | 25.3% | 25.8% | 26.5% | 18.6% | 23.9% | 30.7% | 21.6% | 25.9% | 23.3% | 32.3% |
| Returns | ||||||||||
| Return on capital | 13.4% | 12.9% | 6.6% | 17.4% | 15.6% | 23.2% | 12.7% | 11.9% | 12.5% | 11.4% |
| Return on capital employed | 11.5% | 11.3% | 7.5% | 10.1% | 8.5% | 12.7% | 7.9% | 8.7% | 9.8% | 9.7% |
| Return on equity | 9.8% | 10.1% | 1.9% | 10.9% | 9.8% | 12.3% | 7.6% | 8.7% | 10.8% | 10.0% |
| Return on assets | 8.4% | 8.5% | 1.6% | 9.0% | 8.1% | 10.3% | 6.4% | 7.1% | 8.6% | 8.1% |
| Growth | ||||||||||
| Revenue growth | 5.7% | 5.3% | β2.4% | 17.7% | β6.4% | 10.3% | β2.1% | 3.7% | β2.0% | 5.9% |
| Net income growth | 2.5% | 11.1% | β79.8% | 511.2% | β9.3% | 34.1% | β40.7% | 9.0% | 30.5% | β2.6% |
| EPS growth | 3.4% | 10.5% | β80.5% | 525.6% | β7.8% | 32.0% | β39.1% | 13.3% | 31.2% | β2.6% |
| FCF growth | 70.8% | 7.3% | 0.4% | β17.2% | 19.9% | 41.7% | β31.2% | 24.4% | β11.7% | 46.6% |
| Share count change | β1.4% | 0.8% | 3.6% | β2.3% | β1.6% | 1.6% | β2.5% | β4.2% | β0.4% | 0.2% |
| Financial health | ||||||||||
| Net debt / EBITDA | β2.0x | β2.7x | β4.1x | β2.7x | β3.6x | β2.9x | β2.7x | β3.0x | β1.4x | β2.0x |
| Debt / equity | 0.0x | 0.0x | 0.0x | 0.0x | 0.0x | 0.0x | 0.0x | 0.0x | 0.0x | 0.0x |
| Interest coverage | 1,854.4x | 1,945.9x | 926.8x | 1,512.2x | 1,176.0x | 719.0x | 524.4x | β | β | β |
| Current ratio | 3.6x | 4.1x | 5.3x | 4.5x | 5.8x | 5.6x | 4.7x | 3.5x | 2.9x | 3.2x |
| Quick ratio | 3.5x | 4.0x | 5.2x | 4.4x | 5.7x | 5.5x | 4.6x | 3.4x | 2.8x | 3.1x |
| Capital allocation | ||||||||||
| Capex / revenue | 9.8% | 9.2% | 6.9% | 7.8% | 5.7% | 4.3% | 3.8% | 2.3% | 2.4% | 2.7% |
| Stock comp / revenue | 6.5% | 6.1% | 6.8% | 6.2% | 7.5% | 7.8% | 9.2% | 9.1% | 9.4% | 9.5% |
| Payouts / FCF | 57.6% | 56.5% | 77.5% | 180.7% | 94.5% | 85.2% | 233.0% | 75.0% | 92.4% | 57.7% |
| Quality scores | ||||||||||
| Piotroski F-score | 4.0 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 4.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 5.0 |
| Altman Z'' | 12.0 | 11.8 | 10.9 | 10.6 | 11.5 | 12.0 | 11.2 | 9.6 | 9.0 | 9.8 |
| Accruals ratio | β7.8% | β7.1% | β11.5% | β2.6% | β3.9% | β4.6% | β4.6% | β5.9% | β2.2% | β6.9% |
Source: SEC EDGAR XBRL filings (CIK 0001308547). Data updated October 11, 2026. Quarterly fourth quarters are the full year minus the first nine months. For information only β not investment advice. Check the original filings before relying on any figure.
