Cable One (NYSE:CABO) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $80.17 EPS

Cable One (NYSE:CABO) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported ($75.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.51 by ($80.17), FiscalAI reports. Cable One had a negative net margin of 72.83% and a negative return on equity of 3.97%. The company had revenue of $332.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $341.27 million.

Here are the key takeaways from Cable One’s conference call:

• Broadband net losses narrowed to approximately 7,500 from 17,100 in Q2, the company’s best net-add result in seven quarters, but subscribers continued to decline. Customer acquisition improved, while retention remains a priority.
• Revenue fell 11.6% year over year to $332.2 million, and Adjusted EBITDA declined to $159.8 million from $201.9 million. Free cash flow, defined as Adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures, was $81.9 million versus $130.1 million a year earlier; competitive pricing and lower broadband ARPU weighed on results.
• Business-services sold revenue rose 17% sequentially, with gains across primary sales channels and particularly strong results in enterprise and carrier. The company said it is focused on converting sold revenue into installed, billable revenue.
• Net leverage was 4.1 times at quarter-end after a net $500 million revolver draw, and the company said it is evaluating financing alternatives to maintain flexibility. It reported $674.8 million in cash and $3.55 billion in gross debt.

Cable One Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CABO traded down $0.83 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $4.33. 493,901 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 938,259. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.27, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $13.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.12. The firm has a market cap of $24.55 million, a P/E ratio of -0.02 and a beta of 0.61. Cable One has a twelve month low of $4.01 and a twelve month high of $137.99.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CABO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Cable One from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Zacks Research raised shares of Cable One from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Cable One from $111.00 to $86.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on shares of Cable One from $40.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Cable One from a “sell (e)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $80.00.

About Cable One

Cable One, Inc is a broadband communications provider serving residential and business customers in smaller cities and rural communities across the United States. The company operates primarily under the Sparklight brand and provides connectivity services over its cable and fiber networks.

Its consumer offerings include high-speed internet, video entertainment and traditional voice services, along with related products such as Wi-Fi solutions and streaming-oriented television options. For business customers, Cable One provides internet access, data connectivity, communications services and other technology solutions designed for organizations of various sizes.

Cable One traces its history to the cable operations of Graham Holdings Company and became an independent publicly traded company in 2015.