NXPI · Technology(semiconductors & related devices) · 10 years of annual accounts filed with the SEC · latest fiscal year ended 2025-12-31
NXP Semiconductors N.V. reported revenue of $12.3 billion in fiscal 2025. Of the $27.8 billion its operations generated over 10 years, 58.1% went to buybacks and 21.1% back into the business. On the accounting screens, it passes 5 of 9 Piotroski tests, its Altman Z'' of 2.25 is in the grey zone and its Beneish M-score is below the -1.78 line; 1 of the six cross-checks between its statements fires.
Revenue, fiscal 202512.3B
Operating margin24.8%gross margin 54.7%
Return on invested capital11.0%14.2% on average over 5 years
Free cash flow after stock pay2.0B16.0% of revenue
Net debt ÷ EBITDA2.3×net debt 9.0B
Piotroski F-score5/9tests of improvement passed
Is it growing?
Revenue and the operating income it turns into. Growth that does not reach operating income is growth bought with margin.
RevenueOperating income
05.0B10.0B15.0B
2016
2017Revenue 9.3BOperating income 2.1B
2018Revenue 9.4BOperating income 2.7B
2019Revenue 8.9BOperating income 641.0M
2020Revenue 8.6BOperating income 418.0M
2021Revenue 11.1BOperating income 2.6B
2022Revenue 13.2BOperating income 3.8B
2023Revenue 13.3BOperating income 3.7B
2024Revenue 12.6BOperating income 3.4B
2025Revenue 12.3BOperating income 3.0B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Compound growth a year
3 yrs
5 yrs
9 yrs
Revenue
-2.4%
+7.3%
—
Operating income
-7.1%
+48.8%
—
Net income
-10.2%
+107.9%
—
Earnings per share
-9.0%
+112.5%
—
Free cash flow per share
-3.9%
+5.3%
—
Dividend per share
+9.3%
+22.2%
—
Shares
-1.2%
-2.2%
—
Falling shares are buybacks: each remaining share owns more of the company.
Does it earn more than its capital costs?
Margins say how much of each sale is kept; return on invested capital says how much the business earns on the money it needs to operate. Growth only creates value when that return is above the cost of the capital.
Return on invested capitalCost of capital today · 6.9%
-300.0%-200.0%-100.0%0.0%100.0%
2016
2017
2018Return on invested capital 21.6%
2019Return on invested capital 3.5%
2020Return on invested capital -206.6%
2021Return on invested capital 13.2%
2022Return on invested capital 17.1%
2023Return on invested capital 15.6%
2024Return on invested capital 14.1%
2025Return on invested capital 11.0%
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Economic profit
Economic profit
-40.0B-30.0B-20.0B-10.0B010.0B
2016
2017
2018Economic profit 1.7B
2019Economic profit -561.2M
2020Economic profit -35.4B
2021Economic profit 1.1B
2022Economic profit 1.9B
2023Economic profit 1.7B
2024Economic profit 1.4B
2025Economic profit 914.3M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
(return on capital − cost of capital) × capital invested: the profit left after paying for the money used. Today's cost of capital is applied to every year, since a past one cannot be rebuilt honestly.
Return on equity
20.1%
Return on assets
7.6%
Asset turnover
0.46×
Research & development
19.2% of revenue
Overheads (SG&A)
9.8% of revenue
Is the profit cash, and where does the cash go?
Net income is an accounting opinion; free cash flow is what was left in the bank after investing. Stock-based pay does not leave the bank — shareholders pay it through dilution — so it is shown taken off as well.
Net incomeFree cash flowAfter stock-based pay
01.0B2.0B3.0B4.0B
2016
2017Net income 2.2BFree cash flow 1.9BAfter stock-based pay 1.6B
2018Net income 2.2BFree cash flow 3.8BAfter stock-based pay 3.4B
2019Net income 243.0MFree cash flow 1.8BAfter stock-based pay 1.5B
2020Net income 52.0MFree cash flow 2.1BAfter stock-based pay 1.7B
2021Net income 1.9BFree cash flow 2.3BAfter stock-based pay 2.0B
2022Net income 2.8BFree cash flow 2.8BAfter stock-based pay 2.5B
2023Net income 2.8BFree cash flow 2.7BAfter stock-based pay 2.3B
2024Net income 2.5BFree cash flow 2.1BAfter stock-based pay 1.6B
2025Net income 2.0BFree cash flow 2.4BAfter stock-based pay 2.0B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Where 10 years of operating cash went, 2016–2025
27.8B generated by the business. Each band is its share of that total.
Reinvested in the business 21%5.9B
Acquisitions 11%3.0B
Dividends 19%5.3B
Share buybacks 58%16.1B
More than it generated: funded with cash or new debt -9%-2.5B
Over the same years it paid 3.4B in stock. 12.8B of the buybacks went beyond offsetting that dilution.
Per share
Earnings per shareFree cash flow per shareDividend per share
$0.00$5.00$10.00$15.00
2016
2017Earnings per share $6.41Free cash flow per share $5.48Dividend per share $0.00
2018Earnings per share $6.72Free cash flow per share $11.44Dividend per share $0.23
2019Earnings per share $0.85Free cash flow per share $6.46Dividend per share $1.12
2020Earnings per share $0.18Free cash flow per share $7.36Dividend per share $1.48
2021Earnings per share $6.79Free cash flow per share $8.38Dividend per share $2.04
2022Earnings per share $10.55Free cash flow per share $10.73Dividend per share $3.09
2023Earnings per share $10.70Free cash flow per share $10.28Dividend per share $3.85
2024Earnings per share $9.73Free cash flow per share $7.97Dividend per share $4.03
2025Earnings per share $7.95Free cash flow per share $9.53Dividend per share $4.03
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Shares outstanding
Diluted shares
250.0M275.0M300.0M325.0M350.0M
2016
2017Diluted shares 345.8M
2018Diluted shares 328.6M
2019Diluted shares 285.9M
2020Diluted shares 283.8M
2021Diluted shares 275.6M
2022Diluted shares 264.1M
2023Diluted shares 261.4M
2024Diluted shares 257.8M
2025Diluted shares 254.3M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
How strong is the balance sheet?
Debt is not bad in itself; debt the business cannot service in a bad year is. Net debt is debt minus cash, and below zero the company holds more cash than it owes.
Net debt
-5.0B05.0B10.0B
2016
2017
2018Net debt -1.7B
2019Net debt 6.4B
2020Net debt 5.4B
2021Net debt 7.8B
2022Net debt 7.4B
2023Net debt 7.3B
2024Net debt 7.6B
2025Net debt 9.0B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Net debt ÷ EBITDA
2.3×
Interest coverage
7× operating income ÷ interest
Current ratio
2.05 current assets ÷ current liabilities
Cash conversion cycle
135 days collects in 31d, stock 169d, pays in 66d
Three classic screens of the accounts
Each asks a different question of the same statements — is it improving, does it look like a company heading for distress, do the accounts resemble ones that were manipulated. None is a verdict; each shows what moves it.
Piotroski F-score
Is the business improving? Nine yes-or-no tests, this year against last.
5of 9 tests passed
✓ProfitableReturn on assets above zeropassed
✓Cash from operationsOperating cash flow above zeropassed
✕Profitability improvedReturn on assets higher than a year beforefailed
✓Profit backed by cashOperating cash flow above net income (low accruals)passed
✓Less long-term debtLong-term debt as a share of assets fellpassed
✕More liquidCurrent ratio higher than a year beforefailed
✓No new sharesShare count did not growpassed
✕Better gross marginGross margin higher than a year beforefailed
✕Sells more per assetAsset turnover higher than a year beforefailed
Where it misleads: it measures change, not level. An excellent business that stood still for a year scores low; a poor one recovering from a disaster scores high.
Altman Z''-score
Does the balance sheet look like those of companies that went bankrupt?
2.25grey zone
1.12.6
Working capital ÷ assets 0.15 × 6.56+1.00
Retained earnings ÷ assets -0.05 × 3.26-0.17
Operating income ÷ assets 0.11 × 6.72+0.77
Equity ÷ liabilities 0.61 × 1.05+0.64
Where it misleads: buybacks. A company that returns so much cash that its equity turns small or negative sinks the last two ratios without being anywhere near bankruptcy. Banks and insurers do not fit the model at all.
Beneish M-score
Do the accounts resemble those of companies that manipulated their earnings?
-2.58below the -1.78 line
-1.78
Receivables vs sales 1.05+0.97
Gross margin slipping 1.03+0.54
Soft assets 1.04+0.42
Sales growth 0.97+0.87
Slower depreciation 1.01+0.12
Overheads vs sales 1.06-0.18
Profit not in cash -0.03-0.14
Leverage rising 1.01-0.33
Where it misleads: fast growth and acquisitions. Sales growth carries a heavy weight, so a company growing 50% a year scores like a suspect without having done anything. It is a screen from a 1999 study, not an accusation.
Where the statements disagree
Cross-checks between the income statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow for the latest year, each with the benign reading and the worrying one.
Capital spending (397M) is well below depreciation (832M).
Benign
Mature assets, or a business that has become less capital-intensive.
Worrying
Under-investing: today's profit is being held up by consuming tomorrow's capacity.
What is it worth, under which assumptions?
A company is worth the cash it will generate, brought back to today. This model projects revenue with growth that fades over the years, applies a free cash flow margin, and discounts the result at the cost of capital. Every assumption says where it came from, and all of them can be changed.
Value per share, with these assumptions$216.72discounted at 6.9% a year · 67% of it from after year 10
Type a share price on the left to ask the reverse questions: what growth, what margin or what discount rate that price implies.
What the value implies, in the usual multiples
At this model's value
Price ÷ earnings
27.3×
Enterprise value ÷ EBITDA
16.5×
Enterprise value ÷ revenue
5.2×
Free cash flow yield
3.6%
From cash flows to a value per share
10 years of cash flow, today20.9B
Everything after, today43.2B
The whole business64.1B
Minus net debt-9.0B
What belongs to shareholders55.1B
Divided among 254.3M shares: <strong>$216.72</strong> each.
The projection next to its history
Reported free cash flow after stock pay, then the model's. A projection that looks nothing like the past needs a reason.
ReportedProjected
01.0B2.0B3.0B4.0B
2016
2017Reported 1.6B
2018Reported 3.4B
2019Reported 1.5B
2020Reported 1.7B
2021Reported 2.0B
2022Reported 2.5B
2023Reported 2.3B
2024Reported 1.6B
2025Reported 2.0B
2026Projected 2.4B
2027Projected 2.5B
2028Projected 2.7B
2029Projected 2.9B
2030Projected 3.0B
2031Projected 3.1B
2032Projected 3.3B
2033Projected 3.4B
2034Projected 3.5B
2035Projected 3.6B
2016201820202022202420262028203020322034
Year by year
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
Revenue
13.2B
14.1B
15.0B
15.9B
16.7B
17.5B
18.2B
18.9B
19.5B
20.0B
Growth
7.5%
6.9%
6.4%
5.8%
5.3%
4.7%
4.2%
3.6%
3.1%
2.5%
Cash margin
18.0%
18.0%
18.0%
18.0%
18.0%
18.0%
18.0%
18.0%
18.0%
18.0%
Free cash flow
2.4B
2.5B
2.7B
2.9B
3.0B
3.1B
3.3B
3.4B
3.5B
3.6B
Worth today
2.2B
2.2B
2.2B
2.2B
2.2B
2.1B
2.1B
2.0B
1.9B
1.8B
If the least-known inputs move
Value per share as two inputs change at a time. Neighbouring cells that differ a lot are the conclusion: the value depends on numbers nobody knows to a point.
The discount rate and growth forever
discount ↓ · forever →
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
3.0%
3.5%
5.9%
226
255
293
344
416
6.4%
198
221
250
287
337
6.9%
176
194
217
245
281
7.4%
157
172
190
212
240
7.9%
142
154
169
186
208
Year-one growth and the final margin
margin ↓ · growth →
3.5%
5.5%
7.5%
9.5%
11.5%
14.4%
141
157
174
192
212
16.2%
159
176
195
216
238
18.0%
177
196
217
239
263
19.8%
194
215
238
262
289
21.6%
212
235
259
286
315
All the inputs moving at once
4,987 valuations, each with growth, final margin, discount rate and growth forever drawn at random around the values on the left (spreads of 3.0%, 2.7%, 1.0% and 0.5%). Not a probability — the spreads are assumptions too — but an honest picture of how wide the answer is.
10th percentile$141.06
Median$216.60
90th percentile$359.19
$200.00$400.00$600.00
Half of the simulations land between <b>$172.98</b> and <b>$279.61</b>; one in ten below $141.06, one in ten above $359.19.
Does the long run make sense?
13.3×The terminal value prices the business in year 10 at 13.3 times that year's EBITDA.
25%To grow 2.5% forever while reinvesting 10% of its after-tax operating profit, the business must earn 25% on the new capital — it has earned 14% on average over the last five years.
67%of the value comes from after year 10. The more of it, the more the answer depends on the part nobody can see.
Accounts from the company's own SEC filings; lines some companies do not report are shown as a dash rather than estimated. The risk-free rate is the 10-year US Treasury yield. A DCF is a way of making assumptions explicit, not a forecast: it states what the company would be worth if the assumptions held. The scores are screens that point where to look, not verdicts. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell.