Internet, cable TV, and phone provider Cable One (NYSE: CABO) missed Wall Street’s revenue expectations in Q4 CY2025, with sales falling 6.1% year on year to $363.7 million. Its GAAP loss of $1.35 per share was significantly below analysts’ consensus estimates.
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Cable One (CABO) Q4 CY2025 Highlights:
- Revenue: $363.7 million vs analyst estimates of $368.3 million (6.1% year-on-year decline, 1.2% miss)
- EPS (GAAP): -$1.35 vs analyst estimates of $6.64 (significant miss)
- Adjusted EBITDA: $193.9 million vs analyst estimates of $193.3 million (53.3% margin, in line)
- Operating Margin: 25.2%, down from 26.2% in the same quarter last year
- Free Cash Flow Margin: 19.7%, down from 24.7% in the same quarter last year
- Residential Data Subscribers: 899,700, down 55,300 year on year
- Market Capitalization: $512.4 million
Company Overview
Founded in 1986, Cable One (NYSE: CABO) provides high-speed internet, cable television, and telephone services, primarily in smaller markets across the United States.
Revenue Growth
Reviewing a company’s long-term sales performance reveals insights into its quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but many enduring ones grow for years. Over the last five years, Cable One grew its sales at a weak 2.5% compounded annual growth rate. This was below our standards and is a tough starting point for our analysis.
Long-term growth is the most important, but within consumer discretionary, product cycles are short and revenue can be hit-driven due to rapidly changing trends and consumer preferences. Cable One’s performance shows it grew in the past but relinquished its gains over the last two years, as its revenue fell by 5.4% annually. 
We can dig further into the company’s revenue dynamics by analyzing its number of residential data subscribers and residential video subscribers, which clocked in at 899,700 and 55,900 in the latest quarter. Over the last two years, Cable One’s residential data subscribers averaged 3.4% year-on-year declines while its residential video subscribers averaged 30.8% year-on-year declines. 
This quarter, Cable One missed Wall Street’s estimates and reported a rather uninspiring 6.1% year-on-year revenue decline, generating $363.7 million of revenue.
Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to decline by 3.1% over the next 12 months. Although this projection is better than its two-year trend, it’s tough to feel optimistic about a company facing demand difficulties.
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Operating Margin
Cable One’s operating margin has been trending down over the last 12 months and averaged 7.6% over the last two years. The company’s profitability was mediocre for a consumer discretionary business and shows it couldn’t pass its higher operating expenses onto its customers.
In Q4, Cable One generated an operating margin profit margin of 25.2%, down 1.1 percentage points year on year. This reduction is quite minuscule and indicates the company’s overall cost structure has been relatively stable.
Earnings Per Share
Revenue trends explain a company’s historical growth, but the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) points to the profitability of that growth – for example, a company could inflate its sales through excessive spending on advertising and promotions.
Sadly for Cable One, its EPS declined by 26.6% annually over the last five years while its revenue grew by 2.5%. This tells us the company became less profitable on a per-share basis as it expanded due to non-fundamental factors such as interest expenses and taxes.
In Q4, Cable One reported EPS of negative $1.35, up from negative $18.71 in the same quarter last year. Despite growing year on year, this print missed analysts’ estimates. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street is optimistic. Analysts forecast Cable One’s full-year EPS of negative $64.33 will flip to positive $28.25.
Key Takeaways from Cable One’s Q4 Results
We struggled to find many positives in these results. Its EPS missed and its revenue fell slightly short of Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, this was a weaker quarter. The stock remained flat at $91.55 immediately following the results.
So do we think Cable One is an attractive buy at the current price? If you’re making that decision, you should consider the bigger picture of valuation, business qualities, as well as the latest earnings. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).
