Cable One Q1 2026 Earnings Call Insights
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: 4 days ago
0mins
Should l Buy CABO?
Source: seekingalpha
- Customer Retention Challenges: Cable One reported a net loss of 12,600 residential broadband customers in Q1 2026, primarily concentrated in competitive markets, indicating ongoing pressure on customer retention that negatively impacts revenue stability.
- Revenue Decline: Total revenues for the first quarter were $353 million, down from $380.6 million in Q1 2025, primarily driven by lower residential video and data revenues, reflecting the adverse effects of intensified market competition on financial performance.
- EBITDA Performance: Adjusted EBITDA stood at $183.3 million, or 51.9% of revenues, and despite a 6% year-over-year decrease in operating expenses, it was insufficient to offset the revenue decline, highlighting challenges in cost control for the company.
- Future Outlook: Management expects ARPU trends to remain stable, while acknowledging potential downward pressure from go-to-market initiatives and retention efforts, emphasizing multi-product relationships and network upgrades as key strategic drivers for future growth.
Trade with 70% Backtested Accuracy
Stop guessing "Should I Buy CABO?" and start using high-conviction signals backed by rigorous historical data.
Sign up today to access powerful investing tools and make smarter, data-driven decisions.
Analyst Views on CABO
Wall Street analysts forecast CABO stock price to rise
2 Analyst Rating
0 Buy
2 Hold
0 Sell
Hold
Current: 64.790
Low
145.00
Averages
202.50
High
260.00
Current: 64.790
Low
145.00
Averages
202.50
High
260.00
About CABO
Cable One, Inc. is a broadband communications provider. The Company is an integrated provider of data, video and voice services to residential and business customers across various geographic regions in the United States, with a primary focus on residential data and business data services. It provides services that are similar to those provided by cable companies, telephone companies, wireless companies and fiber providers, among others. Its broadband offers a download speed of up to 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps) for residential customers. It also offers a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) solution to residential customers, allowing them to rent one or more modems. It provides up to 1 Gbps download speeds over hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC), up to 5 Gbps symmetrical speeds over shared fiber and up to 100 Gbps symmetrical speeds over dedicated enterprise fiber. Its products include Residential Data Services, Business Data and Other Services, Residential Video Services and Residential Voice Services.
About the author

Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
- New Stock Additions: Tom Gayner added a total of four stocks in Q1 2026, with the largest being Sunbelt Rentals Holdings Inc (NYSE:SUNB), acquiring 963,361 shares valued at $62.7 million, which represents 0.53% of the portfolio, indicating confidence in the infrastructure rental market.
- Significant Increases: Gayner increased his stake in Franco-Nevada Corp (NYSE:FNV) by 25,000 shares, bringing the total to 708,500 shares, a 3.66% increase, reflecting optimism in the precious metals sector while impacting the portfolio by 0.05%.
- Complete Exits: In Q1 2026, Gayner fully exited his positions in Target Corp (NYSE:TGT) and Choice Hotels International Inc (NYSE:CHH), selling 133,000 and 115,500 shares respectively, resulting in portfolio impacts of -0.1% and -0.09%, demonstrating a cautious stance towards retail and hospitality sectors.
- Position Reductions: Gayner reduced his holdings in S&P Global Inc (NYSE:SPGI) by 33,000 shares, a 21.9% decrease impacting the portfolio by -0.14%, while also cutting UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) by 7,800 shares, a 29.43% reduction, reflecting a risk management strategy in the healthcare sector.
See More
- Customer Retention Challenges: Cable One reported a net loss of 12,600 residential broadband customers in Q1 2026, primarily concentrated in competitive markets, indicating ongoing pressure on customer retention that negatively impacts revenue stability.
- Revenue Decline: Total revenues for the first quarter were $353 million, down from $380.6 million in Q1 2025, primarily driven by lower residential video and data revenues, reflecting the adverse effects of intensified market competition on financial performance.
- EBITDA Performance: Adjusted EBITDA stood at $183.3 million, or 51.9% of revenues, and despite a 6% year-over-year decrease in operating expenses, it was insufficient to offset the revenue decline, highlighting challenges in cost control for the company.
- Future Outlook: Management expects ARPU trends to remain stable, while acknowledging potential downward pressure from go-to-market initiatives and retention efforts, emphasizing multi-product relationships and network upgrades as key strategic drivers for future growth.
See More
- Earnings Release Date: Cable One is set to announce its Q1 earnings on April 30 after market close, with a consensus EPS estimate of $10.23, reflecting a staggering year-over-year increase of 2123.9%, indicating a significant improvement in profitability.
- Revenue Expectations: Despite the strong EPS forecast, the revenue estimate stands at $359.59 million, representing a 5.5% year-over-year decline, which suggests challenges in revenue growth that could impact investor confidence.
- Historical Performance Review: Over the past year, Cable One has only beaten EPS estimates 25% of the time and revenue estimates 50% of the time, indicating considerable volatility in earnings predictions that warrants close monitoring of future performance.
- Estimate Revision Dynamics: In the last three months, there has been one upward revision and no downward revisions for EPS estimates, reflecting increased analyst confidence in the company's profitability, while revenue estimates have seen two downward revisions, highlighting growing concerns about revenue growth.
See More
- First Earnings Report: Versant Media Group is set to release its inaugural earnings report as a public company on Tuesday, providing Wall Street with its first insight into a company primarily composed of pay-TV networks, despite a revenue decline to $7.1 billion in 2024 from $7.4 billion in 2023, indicating market pressures.
- Stock Performance Decline: Since its January debut, Versant's stock has dropped approximately 25%, with a current market capitalization of around $4.8 billion, reflecting investor concerns regarding the traditional pay-TV business amid the rise of streaming alternatives.
- Revenue Structure Transition: CEO Mark Lazarus indicated that the company aims to transition its business model by 2026, targeting a future where 50% of revenue comes from digital and ad-supported ventures, highlighting a strategic focus on growth opportunities.
- Long-term Partnership Agreements: Versant's long-term agreements with major distributors will extend through 2028 and beyond, providing crucial stability for the company despite upcoming contract renewals, which are expected to be challenging.
See More
- Price Target Reduction: TD Cowen has lowered Cable One's price target from $260 to $142 while maintaining a Hold rating, indicating that the company's performance was mostly in line with expectations, but the Broadband ARPU fell short, suggesting a sacrifice in pricing to mitigate subscriber losses.
- Earnings Performance: Cable One reported Q4 EPS of $1.35, a significant drop from $18.71 last year, highlighting pressure on profitability that could impact investor confidence moving forward.
- User Trends Improvement: While Cable One has seen improvements in gross adds and churn trends, increasing competitive threats could negatively affect future market share and profitability.
- Market Reaction: BNP Paribas downgraded Cable One from Neutral to Underperform, reflecting market concerns about the company's future outlook, which may lead investors to reassess their investment strategies.
See More
- Subscriber Growth Challenges: Cable One reported a decline of approximately 10,700 residential data customers in Q4 2025, despite improved connection activity, indicating ongoing pressure in a competitive market environment.
- Declining Financial Performance: Total revenues for Q4 were $363.7 million, a 6.1% year-over-year decrease, with residential and business data revenues falling by 4.2% and 1.3%, respectively, reflecting challenges in revenue growth.
- Stable Capital Expenditures: Capital expenditures for 2026 are expected to remain consistent with 2025 levels, as management plans to achieve cost and tax efficiencies through the integration of the $480 million MBI acquisition, demonstrating confidence in future growth.
- Mobile Business Pilot: The company launched a mobile pilot in six markets, with a broader rollout expected in late Q1, aiming to enhance customer relationships and increase ARPU, despite facing a highly competitive landscape.
See More










