Peraso Inc. (PRSO) Q3 2026 earnings review
Peraso's third-quarter sales collapse, but new funding extends its life
Peraso's third-quarter sales nearly vanished, but post-quarter funding and a large order rescued the wireless chipmaker from a cash crunch. Revenue dropped 91% from a year ago to $284,000 as broadband equipment customers paused orders, leaving cash at just $630,000 by September. After the quarter closed, chief executive Ron Glibbery announced a $10 million stock placement with Nant Capital and a broadband chip order above $2 million.
| Revenue | $0.28M -91% from a year ago |
|---|---|
| Gross margin, excluding one-offs | 59% 78.5% reported (lifted by accrual reversal) |
| Post-quarter financing and orders | $10M raised plus a >$2M October broadband order |
| Fourth-quarter revenue outlook | Raised expects growth from Q3's $0.28M base |
⚖️ Verdict: ⚪ Neutral
The story is unchanged because the post-quarter cash rescue and broadband order offset a near-total collapse in third-quarter shipments. The $10 million cash injection removes the immediate risk of running out of money and allowed the board to end its strategic review, while the October order points to a fourth-quarter sales rebound. The bad news: drone and military pitches still generate almost no money, and the company did not disclose how many shares it gave Nant Capital.
The question now is whether the October order starts a lasting recovery or is just another one-off shipment while drone sales stay distant. If additional broadband customers reorder and drone trials convert into production contracts, quarterly sales can cover the $2.7 million cash burn; otherwise, the new $10 million will fund another year of losses. Fourth-quarter shipment numbers and the filing's financing terms will tell.
🐂 Bull Case
Nant Capital Funding Lifts Near-Term Cash Risk
Peraso ended September with $630,000 in cash, down from $3.3 million in June. Burning roughly $2.4 million a quarter, the wireless chipmaker faced an immediate cash crunch before year-end. Chief executive Ron Glibbery said a new private stock sale to Nant Capital brought in about $10 million before fees, which "meaningfully strengthens our financial position" and funds daily operations.
Because the new money removes the immediate threat of running out of cash, the board "concluded its previously disclosed review of strategic alternatives" that began in July 2025. At the third-quarter burn rate, $10 million covers about four quarters of operations. However, the release mentions Nant Capital's "significant ownership position and board designation rights" without disclosing the share price or total shares issued.
What to watch: the financing footnote in the third-quarter filing for the exact share count, warrant terms, and governance rights granted to Nant Capital. Those terms will show how much of the company existing shareholders gave up to secure another year of cash.
A $2 Million Broadband Order Points to a Rebound
Shipments to fixed wireless access (FWA) customers, which use Peraso's 60 GHz chips to beam internet connections to homes and businesses, almost stopped in the third quarter. After the quarter closed in October, the chipmaker received a production order "exceeding $2 million for a 60 GHz fixed wireless access deployment", its largest broadband order in six quarters.
That single booking is more than seven times third-quarter revenue of $284,000, so Glibbery expects the business to "return to revenue growth beginning in the fourth quarter". One large order shows that at least one broadband equipment maker has worked through its parts shortage, but it also leaves Peraso reliant on single, irregular deals rather than steady quarterly reorders.
What to watch: how much of the $2 million order ships in the fourth quarter versus slipping into 2027, and whether other broadband customers place follow-on orders. A single shipment would lift one quarter without fixing the uneven order pattern.
Positives this quarter didn't test
One operational effort from earlier in the year received no update in the third-quarter release.
- Adding backup parts suppliers: after a late shipment from a single vendor delayed a major customer order in the first quarter, Peraso began qualifying additional suppliers; the third-quarter release gave no update, and the upcoming fourth-quarter order deliveries will test whether component bottlenecks are resolved.
🐻 Bear Case
Broadband Chip Shipments Dried Up in the Third Quarter
Peraso sells millimeter-wave (mmWave) wireless chips primarily to broadband equipment makers. In the second quarter, a single customer accounted for 71% of sales when a delayed first-quarter order finally shipped. With no repeat order of that size in the third quarter, revenue collapsed to $284,000.
- Total net revenue: $284,000, down 78.3% from last quarter and down 91.2% from a year ago by our math
- Product revenue: $263,000, down 91.4% from $3.06 million a year ago by our math
- Operating loss: widened to $2.67 million from $1.19 million a year ago as operating margin dropped 902 percentage points by our math
The company blamed "irregular order patterns" among broadband customers. Because research and overhead costs stayed near $2.9 million while revenue nearly vanished, research and development jumped by 492 percentage points of revenue and selling, general and administrative expenses rose by 432 percentage points of revenue from a year ago by our math. The quarter proves that without large, one-off broadband shipments, existing recurring demand cannot cover basic operating costs.
What to watch: the customer concentration footnote in the third-quarter filing and fourth-quarter revenue outside the $2 million October order. Those figures will show whether broader broadband demand is recovering or if one customer still carries the company.
Drone Demonstrations Still Bring Almost No Revenue
Peraso has pitched military and drone communications as its main growth driver as broadband orders stumbled. During the third quarter, the wireless group launched its PRM2145 radio module "specifically designed for UAV and defense applications" to prevent enemy signal jamming, displayed its gear at a drone conference, and demonstrated high-speed wireless links for humanoid robots.
Those announcements have yet to show up in the income statement. Total product sales across the entire business — broadband, drones, and military combined — reached only $263,000. Services and other revenue, which captures custom engineering fees paid by customers developing new military and drone gear, fell 87.8% from a year ago to $21,000 by our math, down from $63,000 in the second quarter and $296,000 in the first.
What to watch: services and engineering revenue in the fourth quarter, plus any disclosed production orders for the PRM2145 drone module in early 2027. Falling engineering fees mean new military trials are not yet replacing completed projects, delaying volume production further into 2027.
Share Sales Hid a Deeper Third-Quarter Loss
Before closing the Nant Capital deal, Peraso funded its losses by steadily issuing new stock. Weighted average diluted shares rose 109.2% from a year ago to 15.18 million in the third quarter, up 8.0% from 14.06 million in the second quarter by our math.
That rising share count masks the worsening dollar losses when looking only at per-share figures. The net loss more than doubled to $2.66 million from $1.21 million a year ago, and the loss excluding one-offs widened to $2.45 million from $1.06 million. Yet the reported net loss per share barely changed at $0.18 versus $0.17 a year ago, because twice as many shares split the loss.
What to watch: total shares outstanding on the cover of the fourth-quarter report after incorporating the $10 million Nant Capital placement. A jump in the share count will reduce each existing shareholder's slice of any future broadband or drone recovery.
👓 Other Themes
An Accounting Reversal Lifted Gross Margin
Reported gross margin jumped 22.3 percentage points from a year ago to 78.5%, cutting cost of revenue as a share of sales from 43.8% to 21.5% by our math. However, the company noted a one-time $55,000 benefit from reversing an old inventory charge. On $284,000 of sales, that single accounting credit added 19.4 percentage points; without it, gross margin was 59.2% by our math.
💲 Other KPIs
Unsold chip inventory rose for a third straight quarter. Inventories climbed 14.2% from June and 24.0% from a year ago by our math, rising from $1.17 million at the end of 2025 to $1.95 million while quarterly sales fell. That stockpile ties up working capital ahead of the fourth-quarter broadband order shipments.
Total operating costs dipped slightly from $3.07 million in the second quarter and fell 4.0% from $3.01 million a year ago by our math. Excluding stock-based pay, operating expenses dropped to $2.67 million from $2.90 million last quarter, as selling and overhead cuts offset flat research spending of $1.53 million.
Uncollected customer bills fell 40.5% from June to $182,000 by our math as the wireless specialist collected cash from its second-quarter shipments. Deferred revenue — cash customers have paid upfront for products or services not yet delivered — dropped 16.2% from June to $62,000 by our math.
🔮 Guidance
Raised. Management withdrew numerical revenue targets in the second quarter and previously warned that customer order delays would stretch into the fourth quarter. Glibbery now expects revenue to grow from the third quarter's $284,000 base, backed by the $2 million October broadband order. By our math, merely beating the third quarter without shipping most of that new order would still leave sales down up to 90% from $2.87 million a year ago.
Unchanged. Last quarter, the chipmaker stated in its filing that second-half research spending would stay flat with the first half's $3.21 million, and the third-quarter release gave no revision. After spending $1.53 million in the third quarter, that plan leaves $1.68 million for the fourth quarter by our math, a 9.5% step-up from the third quarter and 14.0% above a year ago.
❓ Key Questions
What ownership and board rights did Nant Capital receive?
The $10 million private stock sale closed after quarter-end, and the risk factors warn of Nant Capital's significant ownership and board seat rights. Shareholders need the exact share price, share count, and control terms.
When will the $2 million broadband order actually ship?
Peraso received the $2 million order in October and expects fourth-quarter sales growth, but it did not give a numerical fourth-quarter revenue range or say how much of the order ships before year-end.
Why did engineering services revenue drop to $21,000?
Custom engineering fees fund early military and drone development before volume chip orders begin. That line dropped from $296,000 in the first quarter to $21,000 in the third, raising questions about active military trials.
How many customers generated the $263,000 in product sales?
One customer accounted for 71% of second-quarter revenue when a delayed order shipped. The third-quarter release did not disclose customer concentration or whether the October order came from that same buyer.