Netlist (NLST) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $528.58M
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Average Volume (3M): 1.12M
• Price to Earnings (P/E): ―
• Beta (1Y): 0.35
• Revenue Growth: 0.64%
• EPS Growth: 39.90%
• Country: US
• Employees: 60
• Sector: Technology
• Sector Strength: 88
• Industry: Semiconductors
• EPS (TTM): >-0.01
• Shares Outstanding: 316,515,350
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 1,473,465
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 1,122,711
• PEG Ratio: 0.18
• Price to Book (P/B): -50.61
• Price to Sales (P/S): 1.40
• P/FCF Ratio: -17.87
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 0.91
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 2.56
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 42.23
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: -26.27
• 1Y Price Target: $2.00
• Price Target Upside: 19.76% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Moderate Buy
• Number of Analyst Covering: 1
• EPS Forecast (FY): -0.04
• Revenue Forecast (FY): $166.00M

• Rating: 54 Neutral
• Price Target: $1.50 ▼(-10.18% Downside)
• Action: Reiterated Date: 03/20/26
• Date: Action: Reiterated 03/20/26

The score is held back primarily by weak financial quality (ongoing losses, cash burn, and negative equity), partially offset by constructive technical momentum and a positive earnings-call outlook citing improving revenue trends, cost reductions, liquidity gains, and IP/legal progress. Valuation remains constrained by lack of profitability.

Positive Factors

Revenue Growth

The significant revenue growth indicates strong market demand for Netlist's products and suggests successful execution of its business strategy, positioning the company for continued expansion in the memory market.

Product Innovation

New product introductions in high-growth areas like AI memory markets demonstrate Netlist's commitment to innovation and its ability to capitalize on emerging technology trends, enhancing its competitive position.

Intellectual Property Strength

Expanding the patent portfolio strengthens Netlist's IP position, providing a competitive edge and potential revenue through licensing, while protecting its innovations from competitors.

Negative Factors

Profitability Challenges

Persistent profitability issues indicate operational inefficiencies and high costs, which could hinder long-term financial stability and limit the company's ability to reinvest in growth opportunities.

High Financial Leverage

High financial leverage and negative equity suggest potential financial instability, which could restrict Netlist's ability to secure additional financing and impact its long-term operational flexibility.

Cash Flow Issues

Ongoing cash flow challenges highlight difficulties in generating sufficient cash from operations, which could affect Netlist's ability to fund its growth initiatives and meet financial obligations.

Netlist Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

Netlist, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets memory subsystems for the server, high-performance computing, and communications markets in the United States and internationally. It offers HybriDIMM, a storage class memory product, which unifies dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) and NAND flash in a plug-and-play module delivering terabyte storage capacities operating at nanosecond memory speeds. The company also provides nonvolatile (NV) memory products, such as NVvault DDR4 NVDIMM that provides data acceleration and protection in a joint electron device engineering council standard DDR4 interface; and specialty DIMMs and embedded flash products for use in data center and industrial applications. It resells component products, including solid state drive (SSDs), NAND flash, and DRAM products to storage customers, appliance customers, system builders, and cloud and datacenter customers; and sells component inventory to distributors and other users of memory integrated circuits. The company markets and sells its products through a direct sales force and a network of independent sales representatives. Netlist, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.

How the Company Makes Money

Netlist generates revenue primarily from (1) product sales of memory and storage-related hardware—such as specialized DRAM memory modules and memory subsystem products—sold to OEMs, integrators, and other customers in the computing and datacenter ecosystem, and (2) intellectual property monetization, including licensing its patented memory technologies and seeking payments tied to alleged infringement. Licensing-related revenue can include upfront license fees and/or ongoing royalties when agreements are reached; litigation outcomes and settlements can also contribute to earnings when applicable. Specific counterparties, contract terms, and the relative contribution of each stream vary over time; if a particular partnership or customer detail is not publicly disclosed in the referenced materials, it is null.

Netlist Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Revenue rebounded strongly and losses narrowed in 2025, but the business remains unprofitable with very low gross margin, persistent negative operating/free cash flow, and negative shareholder equity in 2024–2025 that weakens balance-sheet flexibility.

Income Statement

Revenue rebounded strongly in 2025 (annual revenue up ~28% vs. 2024), but profitability remains weak. Gross margin improved to ~6.1% in 2025 from ~2.0% in 2024, yet it is still low for the industry and leaves limited room to cover operating costs. Losses narrowed meaningfully in 2025 (net margin ~-13% vs. ~-37% in 2024), but the company is still operating at a loss and has been volatile year-to-year (profit in 2021, sizable losses from 2022–2025).

Balance Sheet

Debt levels are low in absolute terms (total debt ~$1.8M in 2025), which reduces near-term financial pressure. However, shareholder equity is negative in 2024 and 2025, a key balance-sheet weakness that can constrain flexibility and signals accumulated losses. Total assets increased in 2025, but the shift from positive equity in 2022–2023 to negative equity in 2024–2025 is a material deterioration in balance-sheet strength.

Cash Flow

Cash generation is the primary concern: operating cash flow and free cash flow are negative in each of the last four years (2022–2025). While cash burn improved in 2025 (operating cash flow about -$14.7M vs. about -$34.6M in 2024), free cash flow growth is still negative in 2025 and the business remains reliant on external funding or balance-sheet liquidity to sustain operations. Cash flow has not yet stabilized enough to support a higher-quality earnings profile.

Breakdown	Dec 2025	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue	188.63M	147.10M	69.20M	161.64M	142.35M
Gross Profit	11.44M	2.88M	2.39M	11.89M	48.90M
EBITDA	-24.97M	-54.88M	-60.03M	-32.39M	12.53M
Net Income	-24.82M	-53.87M	-60.40M	-33.37M	4.83M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	49.48M	41.84M	72.80M	67.32M	91.18M
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	31.78M	22.51M	40.45M	25.01M	47.68M
Total Debt	1.81M	2.52M	5.06M	7.13M	9.15M
Total Liabilities	54.68M	47.89M	49.04M	40.09M	37.13M
Stockholders Equity	-5.20M	-6.05M	23.76M	27.24M	54.04M
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	-14.73M	-34.66M	-41.60M	-15.46M	5.49M
Operating Cash Flow	-14.73M	-34.59M	-41.60M	-14.99M	6.01M
Investing Cash Flow	-42.00K	-71.00K	0.00	-467.00K	-520.00K
Financing Cash Flow	22.25M	16.42M	50.84M	594.00K	36.47M

Netlist Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Positive
• Last Price: 1.67
• 50DMA: Positive
• 100DMA: Positive
• 200DMA: Positive
• MACD: Negative
• RSI: Negative
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For NLST, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 1.67 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 1.37, above the 50-day MA of 1.21, and above the 200-day MA of 0.85, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of 0.14 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 72.90 is Negative, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 78.68 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for NLST.

Netlist Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
NVEC	81 Outperform	$321.14M	21.20	23.47%	6.28%	-9.48%	-14.28%
XPER	66 Neutral	$271.96M	-11.32	1.74%	―	-10.74%	―
Sector *	61 Neutral	$37.18B	12.37	-10.20%	1.83%	8.50%	-7.62%
MRAM	60 Neutral	$210.86M	-357.39	-0.80%	―	-0.41%	-134.49%
NLST	54 Neutral	$528.58M	-10.61	253.79%	―	0.64%	39.90%
ALMU	49 Neutral	$234.28M	-41.41	-9.33%	―	307.44%	14.77%
VLN	48 Neutral	$128.98M	-4.64	-27.53%	―	7.53%	-15.00%

Netlist Corporate Events

Netlist Extends Corporate Headquarters Lease in Irvine

On March 4, 2026, Netlist, Inc. renewed its lease for its corporate headquarters at 111 Academy, Suite 100, in Irvine, California, with landlord University Research Park LLC. The amendment extends the lease term through December 31, 2029, with no renewal option, locking in the company’s presence at its current offices for nearly four additional years.

Under the revised terms, Netlist will pay base rent of $27,396.65 per month starting January 1, 2027, with annual increases of about 3% for each subsequent lease year. The agreement clarifies the company’s long-term occupancy costs and provides operational stability for stakeholders reliant on its established headquarters location.

The most recent analyst rating on (NLST) stock is a Buy with a $2.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Netlist stock, see the NLST Stock Forecast page.