美股研究社·2025-10-24 11:27Core Insights - The article emphasizes the importance of Remaining Performance Obligations (RPO) as a key indicator of future revenue in the AI investment landscape, highlighting the complexities and uncertainties behind this seemingly positive metric [5][6][8]. RPO Overview - RPO represents the portion of legally binding contracts that a company has yet to fulfill and recognize as revenue, excluding optional renewals or contracts with minimal penalties for termination [8]. - A growing RPO balance typically indicates strong new orders and solid customer relationships, while a declining RPO may signal slowing sales momentum or shorter contract durations [8]. RPO Growth Among Key Players - Significant RPO growth has been observed among major companies in the AI ecosystem over the past six quarters: - Microsoft: RPO increased by 55% - Coreweave: RPO surged by 218% - Oracle: RPO skyrocketed by 411%, with a notable increase of approximately $65 billion from just four customers [9]. RPO Quality Analysis - Not all RPOs are equal; the quality and composition of RPO vary significantly among companies. For instance, Oracle and Coreweave's large RPOs stem from long-term contracts, while Microsoft, Amazon, and Google have shorter contract durations [13]. - The ratio of RPO to the last 12 months' revenue reveals that Coreweave and Oracle have ratios of 14.4x and 8.5x, respectively, compared to Microsoft's 1.3x and Amazon's and Google's approximately 0.3x [14][16]. Valuation Implications - Comparing RPO to market capitalization provides insights into valuation impacts. Coreweave and Oracle's RPO accounts for 81% and 60% of their market value, respectively, while Microsoft's ratio is only 9% [18][19]. - This disparity indicates that investors attribute a significant portion of Coreweave and Oracle's value to their contracted future revenues, whereas Microsoft, Amazon, and Google are valued based on broader growth opportunities [20]. Nvidia's Unique Model - In contrast to the RPO surges of other companies, Nvidia's RPO has remained at a lower average of $1.8 billion over the past year, reflecting its unique "optional procurement" business model, which does not involve binding commitments before order submission [24]. - This model provides Nvidia with flexibility but limits revenue visibility through RPO metrics [26]. Conclusion - RPO serves as a powerful tool for assessing future growth certainty in the AI sector, but it is crucial to analyze the underlying contract durations, profit margins, execution risks, and customer concentration [26][29].