Cable One (CABO) Q4 2024 earnings summary

Executive summary

• 2024 marked the first phase of a long-term plan for balanced broadband growth, with residential subscribers held steady (excluding ACP losses) and ARPU stabilized in the second half.

• Revenue declined 6% year-over-year to $387.2M in Q4 2024 and 5.9% to $1.58B for the full year, driven by lower residential data and video revenues, partially offset by growth in business data.

• Net loss of $105.2M in Q4 2024 (vs. net income of $103.5M prior year) and net income of $14.5M for 2024 (down 93.6% year-over-year), mainly due to non-cash, non-operating charges and impairment related to the MBI investment.

• Adjusted EBITDA for 2024 was $854M (down 6.9%), with a margin of 54.1%.

• Major operational initiatives included rebranding acquired companies, migrating customers to a unified billing system, and implementing advanced technology platforms.

Financial highlights

• Q4 2024 revenues were $387.2M, down 6% year-over-year; residential data revenues fell 5.4%, business data revenues rose 2.3%.

• Adjusted EBITDA for Q4 was $211M, down 7% year-over-year; margin was 54.5%.

• Adjusted EBITDA less CapEx was $567.6M, up 4% year-over-year.

• Capital expenditures for 2024 were $286.4M (33.5% of Adjusted EBITDA), trending downward due to prior network investments.

• Dividends paid totaled $67.9M for 2024.

Outlook and guidance

• Broadband revenue growth is the top priority for 2025, with a market- and segment-specific approach to drive unit growth and ARPU expansion.

• ARPU expected to remain stable or grow slightly, leveraging product enhancements and targeted pricing.

• Capital expenditures projected to trend toward low $300M in 2025.

• Management expects the foundation set in 2024 to support long-term, sustainable growth, with residential data ARPU stabilizing and a modest increase in residential data subscribers after adjusting for ACP expiration and a small acquisition.