Arm Holdings (ARM) just wrapped up a record first quarter, and the numbers are turning heads. After Wednesday's closing bell, the chip designer reported earnings of 45 cents per share, beating the consensus estimate of 40 cents by a solid 12.5%. Revenue came in at $1.29 billion, also ahead of the $1.26 billion analysts were looking for.
Digging into the details, royalty revenue grew 22% to $715 million, with data center royalties more than doubling year over year. That's a big deal — it shows Arm's architecture is becoming the go-to for AI workloads in the cloud. Licensing revenue wasn't far behind, rising 23% to $574 million.
CEO Rene Haas summed it up in a letter to shareholders: "Arm delivered a record first quarter, reflecting strong execution across our business and growing demand for the Arm compute platform as AI expands across cloud infrastructure, edge devices and the physical world."
Looking ahead, Arm expects second-quarter adjusted earnings per share between 43 and 51 cents, right in line with the 43-cent analyst estimate. Revenue is projected to land somewhere between $880 million and $1.88 billion — a wide range, but the midpoint sits above the $1.34 billion consensus.
As for the stock, Arm shares dipped 0.52% to $223.23 in extended trading Wednesday. Not a dramatic move, but investors are clearly digesting the numbers and the outlook.
