At a glance
Dolby Laboratories is worth $5.78B, about 24 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue grew 5.9% to $1.35B in fiscal 2025, with 18.9% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 3.0% a year. It pays a 2.34% dividend yield, raised every year for at least 9 years, and returned $1.74B to shareholders in dividends and buybacks over FY2021–FY2025. The stock returned −5.2% over the past year with dividends reinvested and −5.2% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 35.7% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 33.5% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%).
The business in plain English
Dolby Laboratories was founded in 1965. It invents technology that improves how movies, TV shows, music and sports are recorded, delivered and played back. It makes most of its money by licensing that technology, its brand and its patents to electronics makers. In the fiscal year ended September 26, 2025, licensing produced 93% of Dolby's $1.35 billion in revenue. The other 7% came from selling cinema equipment and services to movie theater operators.
Its core products are audio codecs, such as DD+ and Dolby AC-4. A codec is software that compresses sound for streaming or broadcast, then decodes it for playback. Dolby Atmos places sound around and above the listener. Dolby Vision is a high-contrast (HDR) video format that shows more detail in bright and dark scenes. About 1,000 device makers license these technologies, usually paying a royalty on each unit sold. The royalty per device falls as volumes rise, so Dolby earns more per car than per TV, and more per TV than per phone. Dolby also licenses patents that are essential to industry-wide audio and video standards.
By end market, broadcast made up 31.8% of fiscal 2025 revenue, mobile devices 19.9%, PCs 11.3% and consumer electronics 11.2%, with 18.4% from other markets. About 63% of revenue came from outside the United States.
Price history
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DLB -5.2% over the year to Oct 28, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
How it makes money
By product or service
| Broadcast | $428.5M | 31.8% |
| Mobile | $268.6M | 19.9% |
| Other | $248.4M | 18.4% |
| PC | $151.9M | 11.3% |
| CE | $150.7M | 11.2% |
| Products and services | $101.1M | 7.5% |
By geography
| International | $852.1M | 63.2% |
| United States | $497.0M | 36.8% |
Latest results
- In Q3 FY2026 (ended Jun 26, 2026), revenue was $305.0M, down 3.3% from a year earlier, and net income was $28.6M (-37.9%).
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $1.35B (+5.9% year over year; +3.0% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 18.9% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2020–FY2025) | +3.0% watch |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 19.6% good |
| Free cash flow margin | 32.3% good |
| Return on equity (FY2025) | 9.7% watch |
| Return on assets (FY2025) | 7.9% watch |
| Cash and investments | $756.5M (no borrowings found in the filings) good |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $1.16B | $231.4M | $277.5M |
| FY2021 | $1.28B | $310.2M | $393.3M |
| FY2022 | $1.25B | $184.1M | $270.6M |
| FY2023 | $1.30B | $200.7M | $336.7M |
| FY2024 | $1.27B | $261.8M | $297.2M |
| FY2025 | $1.35B | $255.0M | $435.9M |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $5.78B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 23.5 |
| Dividend yield | 2.34% |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DLB price data to Oct 28, 2026 | -2.3% | -5.2% | -6.1% | -5.2% | +4.1% |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | -2.3% |
| 2025 | -16.3% |
| 2024 | -7.9% |
| 2023 | +23.8% |
| 2022 | -24.9% |
| 2021 | -1.0% |
| 2020 | +43.0% |
| 2019 | +12.6% |
| 2018 | +0.8% |
| 2017 | +38.7% |
| 2016 | +35.8% |
| 2015 | -21.1% |
| 2014 | +12.1% |
| 2013 | +31.5% |
| 2012 | +8.4% |
| 2011 | -54.3% |
| 2010 | +39.7% |
| 2009 | +45.7% |
| 2008 | -34.1% |
| 2007 | +60.3% |
| 2006 | +81.9% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Lost 22.7% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 52.9%, back to its old high 14.7 months after the low |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Lost 33.1% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 35.7%, back to its old high 7.4 months after the low |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 33.1% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 33.5%, not recovered by the end of the data |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-29 to 2026-10-29 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 22 sales ($4.8M), 17 of them under pre-arranged 10b5-1 trading plans.
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 22, 2026 | Todd Pendleton SVP, Chief Marketing Officer | sell | $648K |
| Sep 1, 2026 | John D Couling SVP, Entertainment | sell (plan) | $468K |
| Aug 3, 2026 | John D Couling SVP, Entertainment | sell (plan) | $414K |
| Jul 1, 2026 | John D Couling SVP, Entertainment | sell (plan) | $408K |
| Oct 1, 2026 | John D Couling SVP, Entertainment | sell (plan) | $401K |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| BlackRock, Inc. | 10% | May 31, 2026 |
| Bank of New York Mellon Corp | 8.6% | Sep 30, 2026 |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | 8.24% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | 8.2% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Vanguard Capital Management | 5.24% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| First Trust Portfolios L.P. | 5.09% | Sep 30, 2026 |
ETFs with the most weight in DLB
| TDV ProShares S&P Technology Dividend Aristocrats ETF | 2.75% |
| OUSM ALPS | O’Shares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend ETF | 2.27% |
| BKDV BNY Mellon Dynamic Value ETF | 1.28% |
| USMF WisdomTree US Multifactor Fund | 1.09% |
| PEXL Pacer US Export Leaders ETF | 1.02% |
| VFMV Vanguard U.S. Minimum Volatility ETF | 0.71% |
| XSW SPDR S&P Software & Services ETF | 0.71% |
| HSMV First Trust Horizon Managed Volatility Small/Mid ETF | 0.49% |
What could go wrong
- Expiring patents could cut licensing revenue. Dolby's licensing relies on its patents, including ones built into industry standards. Patents eventually expire, so revenue could fall if Dolby can't keep winning new patents and getting its technology into new standards.
- Phone makers can drop Dolby easily. Mobile devices were 19.9% of fiscal 2025 revenue. Phones usually don't require Dolby's technology, short product cycles make it easy to remove, and Dolby relies on a few key partners.
- Microsoft change puts PC revenue at risk. Starting with Windows 11 version 24H2, Dolby supplies its DD and DD+ decoders to PC makers directly rather than through Windows. PC revenue, 11.3% of the total, could shrink if makers leave Dolby out.
- Cord-cutting reduces demand for cable boxes. As viewers drop cable and satellite TV for streaming, Dolby has seen demand for set-top boxes (the cable or satellite box connected to a TV) fall in some regions. Other viewing shifts could also hurt.
- Royalty estimates make quarterly results uneven. Dolby books royalties from estimates, then corrects them when licensees report actual sales, usually a quarter later. Up-front revenue from minimum-volume deals adds swings, and licensees may underreport sales.
- The Dolby family controls shareholder votes. The Dolby family and its affiliates control a majority of the voting power. Outside shareholders have little ability to change the board or block decisions the family supports.
Recent events
- Executive or board change; Investor presentation or announcement; Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released; Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released; Other company announcement
- Shareholder vote results
- Quarterly results released; Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released; Other company announcement
- Executive or board change
For income and retirement investors
Dolby has raised its regular dividend for at least nine straight fiscal years through fiscal 2025. Dividends per share rose from $0.88 in fiscal 2020 to $1.32 in fiscal 2025, about 8.4% a year. Fiscal 2025 dividends equaled 49.6% of earnings and 29% of free cash flow (cash left after running and investing in the business). The yield was 2.34% as of October 28, 2026. Share buybacks have been bigger: $1.21 billion from fiscal 2021 to 2025, against $534 million in dividends.
The shares have fallen hard in downturns. In 2008 they dropped 52.9% from peak to low and took about 15 months to recover. In the 2020 COVID crash they fell 35.7% and recovered in about seven months. After a 33.5% drop in the 2022 bear market, they still hadn't regained their early-2022 high as of October 28, 2026. Single stocks carry more risk than diversified funds.
Questions investors ask
How does Dolby make money?
Mostly by licensing. In the fiscal year ended September 26, 2025, licensing made up 93% of Dolby's $1.35 billion in revenue. About 1,000 device makers pay to use technologies such as Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision and its audio codecs, usually through a royalty on each unit sold. Dolby also licenses patents built into industry standards. Broadcast was its largest market, at 31.8% of revenue. The remaining 7% came from selling cinema equipment and services to theater operators.
Does Dolby raise its dividend every year?
It has for at least nine straight fiscal years, through fiscal 2025. Dividends per share grew from $0.88 in fiscal 2020 to $1.32 in fiscal 2025, about 8.4% a year. Fiscal 2025 dividends equaled 49.6% of earnings and 29% of free cash flow, which leaves a cushion. The yield was 2.34% as of October 28, 2026. Dolby's 10-K lists its dividend program as a risk, and future increases aren't guaranteed.
Is Dolby's revenue growing?
Slowly and unevenly. Revenue rose 5.9% to $1.35 billion in fiscal 2025, but grew only about 3% a year over the five years from fiscal 2020. Net income slipped 2.6% to $255 million. In the third quarter of fiscal 2026, which ended June 26, 2026, revenue fell 3.3% from a year earlier to $305 million, and net income dropped 37.9% to $28.6 million. Gross margin is the share of revenue left after direct costs. Dolby's was a high 88.1% in fiscal 2025.
How has Dolby stock performed?
Weakly over the past five years. As of October 28, 2026, the share price was down 23% over five years and 17% over three years, but up 49% over ten years, about 4.1% a year. The price fell 16.3% in 2025 and 7.9% in 2024, after rising 23.8% in 2023. These figures leave out dividends. On that date the stock traded at 23.5 times fiscal 2025 earnings. This measure is called the price-to-earnings ratio.
Does Dolby have any debt?
Little or none, based on its filings. Dolby's balance sheet as of June 26, 2026 showed no borrowings. It held $756 million in cash and investments and $2.58 billion in shareholders' equity. Having little or no debt gives a company more room in a downturn. Dolby does keep a credit facility, which is a pre-arranged loan it can draw on. Its 10-K warns that future debt could weigh on the business.