Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Issues Earnings Results

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The technology company reported ($0.64) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.09) by $0.45, reports. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 208.70% and a negative net margin of 19.72%.The firm had revenue of $240.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $243.82 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.91) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Here are the key takeaways from Cogent Communications’ conference call:

• Cogent’s wavelength business accelerated, with Q4 wavelength revenue of $12.1 million (up 74% YoY), a full‑year 2025 total of $38.5 million (100% YoY), and an expanded service footprint to 1,096 enabled locations and 2,064 connections.
• Margins and EBITDA improved materially as management cut costs and shifted mix to higher‑margin on‑net products; EBITDA Classic rose to $192.8 million (vs. $122.8M in 2024) and adjusted EBITDA margin expanded sequentially to 31.9% for the quarter.
• The Sprint‑acquired wireline business has sharply run off, falling from a $118M/quarter run rate at close to $43M this quarter (a 64% decline), which has been the main drag on consolidated revenue despite growth in legacy Cogent.
• Management is pursuing deleveraging — planning a dollar‑for‑dollar refinance of the $750M 2027 unsecured notes with new secured notes, targeting net leverage ~4x before resuming material shareholder returns — and is actively marketing ~24 surplus data centers after an LOI fell through due to buyer financing demands.
• IPv4 leasing is a growing cash contributor, with full‑year 2025 IPv4 leasing revenue up 44% to $64.5 million and 15.3 million addresses leased (title to 37.8 million addresses), supporting near‑term cash generation.

Cogent Communications Stock Down 29.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:CCOI opened at $18.58 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $912.65 million, a P/E ratio of -4.55 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $23.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06. Cogent Communications has a 12-month low of $15.96 and a 12-month high of $82.00.

Cogent Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently -1.96%.

Cogent Communications News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Cogent Communications this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 EPS beat consensus — Cogent reported a smaller loss (GAAP EPS of -$0.64) that was better than Street expectations, and the year‑over‑year EPS trend improved vs. last year, which can be a near‑term positive for earnings outlook. PR Newswire: Q4 & Full Year Results
• Positive Sentiment: Unusual call‑option buying — extremely high call volume suggests some traders were placing bullish bets or hedges, which can create asymmetric upside interest and intraday volatility. Article: Unusually High Options Volume
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings materials and call transcript available — management released the press release, slide deck and an earnings‑call transcript (useful for details on guidance, churn, customers and cost actions). These provide context but are neutral until investors parse guidance and commentary. Earnings Call Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data in feeds appears inconsistent/erroneous (entries show 0 shares / NaN changes) — current short‑interest figures should be treated with caution until exchanges/reporting firms correct the data. (No actionable link — data feed anomaly reported in aggregated entries.)
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue missed estimates and is down year‑over‑year — service revenue fell slightly vs. the prior quarter and was below consensus for Q4; full‑year service revenue also declined vs. 2024, raising growth concerns for a company valued as a network services provider. Zacks: Q4 Loss, Revenue Lags
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple securities‑law investigations announced — at least two law firms have opened probes into whether Cogent or certain executives made misleading statements, which typically increases legal/settlement risk and investor uncertainty. GlobeNewswire: RGRD Investigation Newsfile: Johnson Fistel Notice
• Negative Sentiment: Headlines and heavy selling pressure — mainstream headlines characterized the drop sharply and NASDAQ trading showed a large volume spike, driving negative sentiment and momentum selling beyond fundamentals. MSN: Why Shares Are Getting Obliterated

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total transaction of $81,360.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,267 shares in the company, valued at $391,890.78. This trade represents a 17.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cogent Communications

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 60.0% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 18,857 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $407,000 after buying an additional 7,071 shares during the period. Twinbeech Capital LP bought a new stake in Cogent Communications in the 4th quarter worth $398,000. Man Group plc increased its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 2,685.1% in the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 326,168 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,032,000 after acquiring an additional 314,457 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Cogent Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, Park West Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $30,380,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on CCOI. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $40.00 to $23.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 price target (down from $50.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Zacks Research raised Cogent Communications from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Cogent Communications from $37.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.71.

About Cogent Communications

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) is a multinational Internet service provider specializing in high-speed Internet access and data transport services. The company operates one of the largest Tier 1 IP networks in the world, offering wholesale and enterprise customers reliable, low-latency connectivity. Cogent’s core services include dedicated Internet access, Ethernet transport, wavelength services, and MPLS-based IP Virtual Private Networks, all delivered over its privately owned, fiber-optic backbone.

In addition to network connectivity, Cogent provides data center colocation and managed services designed to support businesses with demanding bandwidth and redundancy requirements.