Apple’s annual report for fiscal 2026, filed on 3 November, puts its manufacturing purchase obligations at $89.7 billion and its other purchase obligations at $27.3 billion on 26 September. Together that is $117.0 billion, against $71.0 billion a year earlier, up 65%, by our arithmetic.
The part payable more than 12 months out grew faster. It was $24.4 billion, against $8.6 billion a year earlier, about 2.8 times, by our arithmetic from the amounts the filings say are payable within 12 months.
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The key insight: By our arithmetic, Apple’s manufacturing and other purchase obligations reached $117.0 billion on 26 September, up 65% in a year, and the part payable after 12 months rose to $24.4 billion from $8.6 billion, about 2.8 times.
On the 2 November earnings call, chief executive John Ternus said manufacturing purchase obligations had risen $33 billion from June to September, which we covered. The June 10-Q put them at $57.0 billion. The 10-K’s $89.7 billion is $32.7 billion higher, our arithmetic.
The 10-K says $82.7 billion of the $89.7 billion is payable within 12 months, 92.2%, our arithmetic. In June, $56.2 billion of $57.0 billion was, 98.6%. So the amount due after 12 months rose to $7.0 billion from $0.8 billion in June and $0.8 billion a year earlier, our arithmetic.
Apple’s manufacturing and other purchase obligations on 27 September 2025, 27 June 2026 and 26 September 2026, split by the amount its filings say is payable within 12 months. The after-12-months amounts, totals and the 2.8x multiple are our arithmetic.
Other Purchase Obligations
Apple’s other purchase obligations, which the 10-K says primarily consist of noncancelable obligations related to “supplier arrangements, licensed content and intellectual property, distribution rights, and the acquisition of capital assets”, were $27.3 billion, with $9.9 billion payable within 12 months.
A year earlier they were $14.8 billion, with $7.0 billion due within 12 months, according to the fiscal 2025 10-K. In June they were $29.3 billion, with $9.2 billion due within 12 months, so the total eased by $2.0 billion in the September quarter, our arithmetic.
A separate note lists unconditional purchase obligations with more than a year to run, which Apple says primarily consist of “supplier arrangements, distribution rights, and licensed intellectual property and content”. They total $24.844 billion, against $13.308 billion a year earlier and $27.628 billion in June. The 10-K schedules $6.712 billion for fiscal 2027 and $5.494 billion for fiscal 2030; the fiscal 2025 10-K scheduled $3.708 billion and $0.788 billion for those years.
Licensed Intangibles, Split Out
Apple’s June-quarter 10-Q gave one gross total for intangible assets. The 10-K splits them into licensed and owned assets, by our check. Licensed intangible assets were $29.582 billion gross and $20.943 billion net of amortization, against $16.061 billion and $9.179 billion a year earlier. Owned amortizable intangibles were $3.218 billion net, from $2.747 billion.
Amortization of intangibles was $4.9 billion in fiscal 2026, against $3.7 billion in 2025, and the 10-K expects $6.617 billion in fiscal 2027. The current portion of licensed intangibles rose to $5.422 billion from $2.208 billion. The 10-K does not say what the licensed assets are. Our earlier piece covered the 10-Q total.
Component Inventory Up 4.9 Times
The inventory note splits the $14.541 billion balance. Components were $10.447 billion, against $2.124 billion a year earlier, 4.9 times, our arithmetic. Finished goods were $4.094 billion, against $3.594 billion. Our earlier piece covered the total.
The supply-concentration section of the 10-K’s commitments note says: “For example, the Company is experiencing supply constraints and rising costs driven by industry-wide supply-demand imbalances for key components, including advanced semiconductors, memory and storage”.
The Lines the Notes Do Not Itemise
Other non-current liabilities rose to $54.332 billion from $41.549 billion, up $12.783 billion. The lease note puts $11.358 billion of operating and $0.756 billion of finance lease liabilities in that line, $0.511 billion more than a year earlier, our arithmetic. We did not find a breakdown of the rest of the increase in the notes.
In the cash flow statement, the change in other current and non-current assets used $21.117 billion of cash in fiscal 2026, against $9.197 billion in 2025 and $11.731 billion in 2024. The change in other current and non-current liabilities added $13.703 billion, after using $11.076 billion in 2025.
Other current assets were $18.881 billion, against $14.585 billion. Within other non-current assets, the unspecified ‘other’ line rose to $57.737 billion from $51.857 billion. Within other current liabilities, the ‘other’ line rose to $53.843 billion from $44.452 billion, while income taxes payable fell to $5.287 billion from $13.016 billion.
Headcount and Deferred Revenue
Apple had approximately 167,000 full-time equivalent employees on 26 September, against approximately 166,000 a year earlier. Total deferred revenue was $14.8 billion, against $13.7 billion, and Apple expects 65% of it to be realized in less than a year. We covered the deferral of device revenue.
What the Risk Factors Say
The 10-K’s risk factors also say: “Investment in data center capacity involves significant expenditures and long-term commitments, including for components and equipment, which increase the Companyโs capital expenditures, liabilities and obligations”. Its AI risk factor grew to 628 words from 199 in May, by our count, which we cover here.
The Structural Read
As we read the 10-K, the share of manufacturing purchase obligations payable within 12 months fell to 92.2% from 98.6% in June, our arithmetic; our earlier piece named that split as the figure that would show whether the new commitments run longer.
As we read the notes, both the commitments and the licensed intangible assets grew, and the 10-K does not say what either covers.
Apple Inc., Form 10-K for fiscal 2026, Note 13
“The Company expects these trends to intensify for memory and storage components.”
Three Implications
FOR THE CASH FLOW STATEMENT The change in other current and non-current assets used $21.117 billion of cash in fiscal 2026, against $9.197 billion a year earlier.
FOR THE BALANCE SHEET Other non-current liabilities rose $12.783 billion; the notes we read itemise $0.511 billion of that rise, in leases, by our arithmetic.
FOR MEMORY Component inventory was $10.447 billion, 4.9 times a year earlier, by our arithmetic, and the 10-K says Apple expects supply constraints and rising costs to intensify for memory and storage components.
The framework, published in December 2025 about high bandwidth memory for AI chips, includes, in bold, the sentence “Memory is becoming the new compute.”
As we read it, Apple’s 10-K shows the device-maker side of the same squeeze: component inventory up 4.9 times and a note saying it expects memory and storage constraints to intensify. The framework does not discuss Apple.
This piece is based on Apple’s fiscal 2026 10-K, its June-quarter 10-Q and its fiscal 2025 10-K, read on SEC EDGAR on 3 November. The 10-K does not say what the added purchase obligations are for, which suppliers hold them, what the licensed intangible assets cover, or what drove the rise in other non-current liabilities beyond leases. Totals, differences, shares and multiples are our arithmetic. We did not contact Apple.
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Apple’s fiscal 2026 10-K shows $117.0 billion of manufacturing and other purchase obligations, up 65% in a year, with $24.4 billion due after 12 months, about 2.8 times a year earlier, by our arithmetic. It also splits out $20.9 billion of licensed intangible assets and shows component inventory up 4.9 times.
A note on sourcing. Figures come from Apple’s fiscal 2026 10-K (accepted by SEC EDGAR at 13:05 UTC on 3 November 2026), its 10-Q for the quarter ended 27 June 2026 and its fiscal 2025 10-K, read on SEC EDGAR on 3 November. Method: amounts payable after 12 months = the stated total minus the stated amount payable within 12 months; totals, differences, shares and multiples are our arithmetic. The $33 billion is Apple’s figure from its 2 November earnings call. We did not contact Apple.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
