CABO

Sparklight Internet Performance Results Based on Ookla Speedtest Intelligence Data Sparklight ranks first in 86 internet performance comparisons across 14 states Sparklight internet speeds were 50% faster than 5G Home Internet Recognitions span speed, responsiveness, network consistency, gaming and video performance Findings are based on millions of consumer-initiated tests conducted during the first half of 2026 PHOENIX, Sept. 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sparklight®, a leading internet and mobile provider, has ranked first in 86 internet performance comparisons across markets in 14 states during the first half of 2026, according to Ookla® Speedtest Intelligence® data. A custom analysis of Ookla® Speedtest Intelligence® data across Sparklight’s service footprint also found that Sparklight delivered 50% faster download speeds and 73% faster upload speeds than 5G Home Internet.** The findings are based on millions of consumer-initiated tests conducted from Jan. 1 through June 30, 2026, and reflect real-world network performance across download and upload speeds, responsiveness, network consistency, gaming experience and video experience. “Our focus is on delivering fast, reliable internet that can keep up with how our customers live, work and connect every day,” said Jim Holanda, Chief Executive Officer of Cable One, Sparklight’s parent company. “These results reinforce the value of the investments we continue to make in our network to expand capacity, broaden Multi-Gig availability and deliver a strong, consistent experience across everything from streaming and gaming to work, entertainment and connected devices.” KEY FACTS Sparklight earned 86 recognitions across Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina and Texas for internet performance during the first half of 2026.* Sparklight internet download speeds were 50% faster than 5G Home Internet across the company’s service footprint.** Sparklight internet upload speeds were 73% faster than 5G Home Internet across the company’s service footprint.** The results are from Ookla® Speedtest Intelligence® data from millions of consumer-initiated tests conducted Jan. 1 through June 30, 2026. Sparklight received 33 recognitions for Fastest Download Speeds. Sparklight received 27 recognitions for Most Responsive Internet Speeds and 16 for Most Reliable Internet Speeds. The company also received eight recognitions for Fastest Upload Speeds, one for Best Fixed Gaming Experience and one for Best Fixed Video Experience. Sparklight has invested nearly $1 billion over the past three years across its 24-state footprint to increase network capacity, expand Multi-Gig internet availability and enhance reliability. Speedtest Intelligence data recognizes Sparklight for internet performance Ookla® is a global leader in connectivity intelligence and the company behind Speedtest®. Speedtest Intelligence® data is derived from consumer-initiated testing and provides information about how internet connections perform in real-world use. The recognitions evaluate multiple aspects of fixed internet performance rather than speed alone, including responsiveness, reliability, gaming experience and video experience. In Arizona, Sparklight earned recognition for fastest download and upload speeds, responsiveness and reliability in the Show Low area; fastest upload speeds in Payson; and fastest download speeds and reliability in Prescott. In Idaho, the company received multiple recognitions for download speed, responsiveness and reliability in Boise, Lewiston and McCall. Fastest upload speed recognitions were also earned by Sparklight in Ontario, Oregon-Idaho and Sandoval County, New Mexico. Reliable speeds, gaming and video results broaden performance signals Overall speed is one measure of internet performance, but Speedtest Intelligence® results also assess other aspects of the connectivity experience. Sparklight earned 16 recognitions for Most Reliable Internet Speeds. The company also received recognition for Best Fixed Gaming Experience in North Dakota and Best Fixed Video Experience in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, area. Taken together, the categories provide six distinct internet performance measures: download speed, upload speed, responsiveness, reliability in speed, gaming experience and video experience. This gives consumers information beyond a single speed measurement when comparing how fixed internet services perform across different types of everyday use. Network investment expands capacity and Multi-Gig internet availability The Ookla results come as Sparklight continues to strengthen and expand its fiber-rich network across the communities it serves. Over the past three years, the company has invested nearly $1 billion across its 24-state footprint to increase network capacity, expand Multi-Gig internet availability and enhance reliability. Sparklight also offers Mobile service to its internet customers, providing connectivity at home and on the go. More information about Sparklight’s high-speed internet services is available at Sparklight.com. * Based on Ookla® Speedtest Intelligence® data for Q1–Q2 2026. Ookla trademarks used under license and reprinted with permission.** Based on analysis of Ookla® Speedtest Intelligence® data, 1H 2026, in Sparklight service footprint. All rights reserved. About Sparklight Sparklight is a leading broadband communications provider delivering exceptional service and enabling approximately 1 million residential and business customers across 24 states to thrive and stay connected to what matters most. Through Sparklight®, the brand our customers know and trust, we’re not just shaping the future of connectivity – we’re transforming it with a commitment to innovation, reliability and customer experience at our core. Our robust infrastructure and cutting-edge technology don’t just keep our customers connected; they help drive progress in education, business and everyday life. We’re dedicated to bridging the digital divide, empowering our communities and fostering a more connected world. When our customers choose Sparklight, they are choosing a team that is always working for them — one that believes in the relentless pursuit of reliability, because being a trusted neighbor isn’t just what we do — it’s who we are. CONTACT:Trish NiemannVice President, Communications [email protected] FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Question: How did Sparklight perform in Ookla’s internet performance results during the first half of 2026?Answer: Sparklight earned 86 Ookla recognitions across 14 states based on Speedtest Intelligence data for the first half of 2026. The largest categories were Fastest Download Speeds, with 33 recognitions, and Most Responsive Internet Speeds, with 27. Question: What are Sparklight’s 86 Ookla recognitions for?Answer: The recognitions span six internet performance categories: fastest download speeds, most responsive internet speeds, most reliable internet speeds, fastest upload speeds, best fixed gaming experience and best fixed video experience. The results are based on Speedtest Intelligence data from millions of consumer-initiated tests conducted between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2026. Question: Which internet performance categories earned Sparklight the most recognition?Answer: Fastest Download Speeds was Sparklight’s largest category with 33 recognitions. It was followed by Most Responsive Internet Speeds with 27 and Most Reliable Internet Speeds with 16. Together, those three categories accounted for 76 of the company’s 86 recognitions. Question: Where did Sparklight receive Ookla internet performance recognitions?Answer: The 86 recognitions span 14 states. The announcement identifies performance highlights in markets and areas across Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina and Texas. Question: How do Sparklight’s internet speeds compare with 5G Home Internet?Answer: Based on a custom analysis of Ookla® Speedtest Intelligence® data across Sparklight’s service footprint, Sparklight internet speeds were 50% faster than 5G Home Internet. Sparklight upload speeds were 73% faster than 5G Home Internet. Question: Did Sparklight receive recognition for gaming and streaming performance?Answer: Yes. Sparklight received Best Fixed Gaming Experience recognition in North Dakota and Best Fixed Video Experience recognition in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, area. Question: Are the Sparklight Ookla results based on customer internet tests?Answer: Yes. The recognitions are based on Speedtest Intelligence data drawn from millions of consumer-initiated tests conducted during the first half of 2026. The measurement period ran from Jan. 1 through June 30, 2026. PUBLISHED RESEARCH & RESOURCES Sparklight high-speed internet services: https://www.sparklight.com/ Sparklight Mobile: http://www.sparklight.com/mobile Ookla Speedtest Intelligence: https://www.ookla.com/resources/guides/speedtest-methodology A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9121d1db-572b-4d3a-a899-5d798099ac94

As the craze of earnings season draws to a close, here’s a look back at some of the most exciting (and some less so) results from Q2. Today, we are looking at consumer discretionary - wireless, cable and satellite stocks, starting with Cable One (NYSE:CABO). The Consumer Discretionary sector, by definition, is made up of companies selling non-essential goods and services. When economic conditions deteriorate or tastes shift, consumers can easily cut back or eliminate these purchases. For long-term investors with five-year holding periods, this creates a structural challenge: the sector is inherently hit-driven, with low switching costs and fickle customers. As a result, only a handful of companies can reliably grow demand and compound earnings over long periods, which is why our bar is high and High Quality ratings are rare. Wireless, cable, and satellite companies provide pay-TV, broadband internet, and mobile connectivity through large fixed-infrastructure networks. Tailwinds include growing bandwidth consumption, bundling opportunities across video, internet, and wireless services, and rural broadband subsidies from government programs. However, headwinds are pronounced: cord-cutting continues to erode traditional video subscriber bases, capital expenditure requirements for network upgrades (such as fiber overbuilds and 5G rollouts) are substantial, and aggressive promotional pricing among competitors compresses margins. Regulatory oversight on pricing and net neutrality adds uncertainty, while streaming platforms increasingly bypass traditional distributors, reducing the value of the legacy pay-TV bundle. The 7 consumer discretionary - wireless, cable and satellite stocks we track reported a mixed Q2. As a group, revenues were in line with analysts’ consensus estimates. Thankfully, share prices of the companies have been resilient as they are up 7.8% on average since the latest earnings results. Founded in 1986, Cable One (NYSE:CABO) provides high-speed internet, cable television, and telephone services, primarily in smaller markets across the United States. Cable One reported revenues of $348.9 million, down 8.4% year on year. This print was in line with analysts’ expectations, but overall, it was a slower quarter for the company with a significant miss of analysts’ EPS estimates and a miss of analysts’ EBITDA estimates. Cable One delivered the slowest revenue growth among its peers. The market seems disappointed with the results as the stock is down 36.3% since reporting and currently trades at $28.34. Read our full report on Cable One here, it’s free. Formerly known as American Cable Systems, Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is a multinational telecommunications company offering a wide range of services. Comcast reported revenues of $29.57 billion, up 4.7% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 1%. The business had a satisfactory quarter with a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates. Comcast pulled off the biggest analyst estimate beat and fastest revenue growth of the whole group. The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 14.3% since reporting. It currently trades at $26.88. Is now the time to buy Comcast? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free. Based in Long Island City, Optimum Communications (NYSE:OPTU) is a telecommunications company offering cable, internet, telephone, and television services across the United States. Optimum Communications reported revenues of $2.02 billion, down 5.8% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 0.5%. It was a slower quarter as it posted a significant miss of analysts’ EPS estimates and EBITDA in line with analysts’ estimates. Interestingly, the stock is up 29.4% since the results and currently trades at $1.02. Read our full analysis of Optimum Communications’s results here. Founded by Alexander Graham Bell, AT&T (NYSE:T) is a multinational telecomm conglomerate providing a range of communications and internet services. AT&T reported revenues of $31.56 billion, up 2.3% year on year. This number lagged analysts’ expectations by 0.6%. Zooming out, it was actually a satisfactory quarter as it recorded a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates. The stock is up 16.7% since reporting and currently trades at $25.98. Read our full, actionable report on AT&T here, it’s free. Formed in 1984 as Bell Atlantic after the breakup of Bell System into seven companies, Verizon (NYSE:VZ) is a telecom giant providing a range of communications and internet services. Verizon reported revenues of $34.25 billion, flat year on year. This print missed analysts’ expectations by 2.9%. Overall, it was a slower quarter for the company. Verizon had the weakest performance against analyst estimates in the group. The stock is up 14.7% since reporting and currently trades at $50.24. Read our full, actionable report on Verizon here, it’s free. Over the past year, investors have been forced to repeatedly answer the same question: what is the market’s biggest risk? The answer has changed several times, and each shift has reshaped market leadership. Late in 2025 and early 2026, artificial intelligence became the market’s primary uncertainty. Investors questioned whether AI would erode software pricing power and weaken competitive moats as AI made it easier to replicate once-differentiated products. By the spring, technology took a back seat to geopolitics. The U.S. conflict with Iran briefly became the market’s dominant narrative, raising concerns about oil prices, inflation, and global growth. But as energy markets remained orderly and fears of a prolonged supply disruption faded, investors quickly turned their focus back to fundamentals. Want to invest in winners with rock-solid fundamentals? Check out our Strong Momentum Stocks and add them to your watchlist. These companies are poised for growth regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate.

Cable One’s second quarter results were met with a negative market reaction, reflecting investor concerns about the company’s ongoing operating challenges and subscriber declines. Management attributed the weak performance primarily to continued losses in residential broadband customers and elevated churn, with CEO Jim Holanda stating that improving customer retention remains the company’s “most important operational priority.” Additionally, competitive pressures from fiber and fixed wireless providers contributed to reduced sales and customer attrition, as Cable One works to adjust its value proposition and channel strategy. Is now the time to buy CABO? Find out in our full research report (it’s free). Revenue: $348.9 million vs analyst estimates of $350.2 million (8.4% year-on-year decline, in line) EPS (GAAP): -$204.35 vs analyst estimates of $4.91 (significant miss) Adjusted EBITDA: $173.5 million vs analyst estimates of $176.1 million (49.7% margin, 1.5% miss) Residential Data Subscribers: down 62,000 year on year Market Capitalization: $190.7 million While we enjoy listening to the management’s commentary, our favorite part of earnings calls is the analyst questions. Those are unscripted and can often highlight topics that management teams would rather avoid or topics where the answer is complicated. Here is what has caught our attention. Brandon Nispel (KeyBanc): asked about concrete actions to improve penetration rates and specific steps being taken to change persistently low market share. CEO Jim Holanda detailed investments in digital sales and the launch of mobile offerings, emphasizing a more aggressive go-to-market strategy. Brandon Nispel (KeyBanc): pressed CFO Todd Koetje for updates on financing transactions amid reports of urgency. Koetje declined to provide specifics, citing active evaluation of alternatives and a need for future clarity. Greg Williams (TD Cowen): questioned the impact of direct and digital channel mix on overall customer acquisition costs. Holanda acknowledged a modest increase but stated it should not materially impact margins, with ongoing monitoring. Greg Williams (TD Cowen): inquired about ARPU trajectory given pricing actions and product mix. Koetje explained that ARPU is supported by new programs but may face pressure as the company trades some ARPU for customer growth. Steven Cahall (Wells Fargo): sought guidance on subscriber trend improvement and the trade-offs between price and volume. Koetje highlighted that retention is the highest priority and expects seasonal factors and bundled offerings to aid stabilization. In the coming quarters, our team will monitor (1) the pace of digital and direct sales channel adoption and its impact on subscriber trends, (2) progress in bundling broadband and mobile offerings to improve retention and customer value, and (3) the company’s execution on network upgrades and technology investments. We will also watch for updates on potential monetization of joint ventures and further debt reduction efforts. Cable One currently trades at $34.04, down from $44.48 just before the earnings. Is the company at an inflection point that warrants a buy or sell? The answer lies in our full research report (it’s free for active Edge members). ONE MORE THING: Top 6 Stocks for This Week. This market is separating quality stocks from expensive ones fast. AI is taking down whole sectors with no warning. In a rotation this fast, you need more than a list of good companies. Our AI system flagged Palantir before it ran 1,662% between October 2022 and February 2026. AppLovin before it ran 753% between February 2024 and February 2026. Nvidia before it ran 1,178% between January 2023 and February 2026. Each week it produces 6 new names that pass the same tests. Get Our Top 6 Stocks for Free HERE. Stocks that have made our list include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,460% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-small-cap company Comfort Systems (+1,154% between June 2020 and June 2025). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.

Image source: The Motley Fool. Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026 at 5 p.m. ET Vice President of Investor Relations-Jordan Morkert Chief Executive Officer-Jim Holanda Chief Financial Officer-Todd Koetje Operator: Thank you for joining us, and welcome to the Cable One second quarter Q2 earnings release. After today's prepared remarks, we will host a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. I will now hand the conference over to Jordan Morkert, Vice President of Investor Relations. Jordan, please go ahead. Jordan Morkert: Good afternoon, welcome to Cable One second quarter 2026 earnings call. We're glad to have you join us as we review our results. Before we proceed, I would like to remind you that today's discussion contains forward-looking statements relating to future events that involve risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding future revenue, customer growth, connects, churn rates, and ARPU, the future competitive structure of our markets, the long-term penetration opportunity in our markets, the anticipated benefits of our mobile service offering, new product rollouts, future customer retention trends, anticipated cost savings, and other benefits to be derived from our billing system migration and our other investments in growth enablement platforms. Our plans to expand our multi-gig capabilities in more markets, future cash flow and capital expenditures, potential uses for our cash flow, the MBI transaction, including the purchase price, MBI's future debt levels and other related matters, future tax savings, our expectations for monetizing our remaining equity investments, and our future financial performance, capital allocation policy, leverage ratios and related targets, and our potential financing plans. You can find factors that could cause Cable One's actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements discussed during today's call in today's earnings release and in our SEC filings, including our 2025 annual report on Form 10-K and our forthcoming second quarter 2026 quarterly report on Form 10-Q. Cable One is under no obligation and expressly disclaims any obligation except as required by law to update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Today's remarks will include a discussion of certain financial measures that are not presented in conformity with the U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. When we refer to free cash flow during today's call, we mean adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures as defined in our earnings release. Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures discussed on this call to the most directly comparable GAAP measures can be found in our earnings release or on our website at ir.cableone.net. Joining me on today's call is our CEO, Jim Holanda, and CFO Todd Koetje. With that, I'll turn the call over to Jim. Jim Holanda: Thank you, Jordan, and good afternoon, everyone. We appreciate you joining us today. Last quarter, I spoke about taking the time to listen, learn, and develop a clear understanding of where we are performing well and where we need to improve. Three months later, my view remains largely unchanged. This is a business with a strong network, attractive markets, meaningful cash flow generation, and significant potential to improve operating performance. I continue to believe the greatest opportunities in front of us are operational in nature, within our control, and ultimately solvable through consistent execution. Today, I'd like to spend my time discussing what we're seeing in residential broadband, the competitive environment, the investments we're making across the business, and why we remain confident in the long-term outlook. Turning to residential broadband, we reported losses of 17,000 customers during the quarter as elevated churn continued to pressure subscriber results. These results reinforce our belief that improving customer retention is our most important operational priority. Achieving that requires continued focus on both enhancing the customer experience and strengthening our overall value proposition. To support these efforts, we continue to augment initiatives across the business, including additional speed upgrades, more gradual promotional roll-offs, and a broader portfolio of products and services designed to deepen customer relationships and improve customer lifetime value, supported by enhanced retention tools. On the acquisition side, connect activity improved sequentially from the prior quarter and in each month of the second quarter, providing additional confidence that our customer acquisition initiatives are moving in the right direction. We are making progress toward building a more balanced acquisition approach as investments in our people, platforms, and go-to-market capabilities continue to gain traction. Over the past year, the contribution from door-to-door sales has more than doubled as a share of our quarterly connects, and we also continue to see encouraging momentum across our digital acquisition channels. These results reflect our efforts to diversify how we acquire new customers and build a more balanced mix of acquisition channels. Residential broadband ARPU increased sequentially during the quarter, benefiting from promotional roll-offs, the implementation of our AutoPay Plus program changes, and continued adoption of higher value products and services across the customer relationship, partially offset by customer retention initiatives and increased adoption of value-oriented offerings. Going forward, we expect to take an increasingly targeted and segmented approach to pricing and retention initiatives tailored to the competitive dynamics of each market we serve. This approach is designed to balance revenue objectives with long-term customer relationships and lifetime value. Competitive intensity remains across portions of our footprint, particularly in markets experiencing fiber overbuild activity. Looking ahead, we expect the broadband landscape to consist of a mix of wired, fixed wireless, mobile only, and satellite solutions, with wired broadband continuing to serve the majority of households because of its superior capacity, reliability, and economics. The number of wired gig-capable competitors varies across our footprint, and we increasingly tailor our products, marketing strategies, and competitive responses to the local dynamics of each market. While those competitive responses may differ by market, our commitment to the communities we serve and our local operating presence remain unchanged. Our objective is to deliver an experience that earns long-term customer loyalty and positions us to compete effectively over time. As we evaluate the competitive environments across our footprint and where we expect them to stabilize over time, we believe our long-term penetration opportunity remains meaningfully above current penetration levels. This analysis reinforces our confidence in the business's long-term growth and value creation potential. Turning to business services, as we noted last quarter, our reported business services results reflect the impact of the previously announced sale of certain fiber-to-the-tower assets, which occurred in late Q1. Within business services, we continue to see encouraging momentum in portions of the business, particularly within our enterprise, wholesale, and carrier offerings, as these higher-value fiber-based offerings benefit from long-term contracts, recurring revenue streams, and attractive customer economics. During the second quarter, our SMB broadband business remained under pressure. To strengthen our offering, we expanded our product portfolio with the launch of unified communications as a service, or UCaaS, providing customers with a cloud-based communications solution that complements our existing connectivity services. UCaaS broadens the solutions we offer and represents another step in deepening relationships over time. Combined with improvements in sales execution and our go-to-market approach, we believe we are well positioned to build on the momentum we're seeing across these higher-value commercial segments. Underpinning both our residential and commercial businesses is the quality and capabilities of our network. Today, essentially all of our network is capable of delivering gigabit speeds, and by the end of this year, the vast majority of our customers will be served by multi-gig capable infrastructure. This progress is not the result of a major new capital program, but rather years of disciplined, capital-efficient investment in our network architecture and technology platforms. We believe these upgrades improve the value we deliver to customers while further strengthening our competitive position in the markets we serve. More broadly, we continue to invest in technology, automation, and AI-enabled tools designed to improve the customer experience, enhance employee productivity, and drive greater operational efficiency across the business. Turning to mobile, we are pleased with the early progress of the business. While it remains small relative to our core broadband operations today, customer adoption trends and the pace of growth across the platform are encouraging. As we've said previously, building awareness and changing customer perception takes time. Customers have known us as a broadband provider for many years, and we expect it will take time for customers to view us as a mobile provider. Across the broadband industry, mobile is an increasingly important part of the customer relationship. While it remains early on in our launch, we believe it is an effective way to improve customer acquisition, deepen customer relationships, and strengthen retention over time. As penetration grows, we expect those benefits to become more meaningful to customer lifetime value and the economics of the business. As we continue to invest across the business, we remain disciplined in how we allocate capital. Our capital allocation priorities remain unchanged. We will invest in opportunities to improve the customer experience and strengthen our competitive position while pursuing balance sheet flexibility and seeking to reduce leverage over time. Todd will provide additional detail on our balance sheet, liquidity position, and capital allocation priorities in his remarks. Before I hand it over to Todd, I'd like to reiterate our confidence in the long-term opportunity ahead. We're seeing encouraging progress across a number of the initiatives we've discussed today while continuing to invest in our network, our products, and the capabilities that we believe will strengthen our competitive position. Combined with the positive cash flow-generating characteristics of the business and a disciplined approach to capital allocation, we continue to pursue long-term value creation for our stakeholders. Now Todd will provide a recap of our second quarter financial performance. Todd Koetje: Thanks, Jim. Beginning with the top line, total revenues were $348.9 million for the second quarter of 2026, compared to $381.1 million in the second quarter of 2025, with Residential Video responsible for $9.7 million of the decrease. Residential data revenues decreased $16.7 million, or 7.3% year-over-year, driven by a 6.6% decrease in subscribers while ARPU remained relatively flat. On a sequential basis, Residential Data revenues declined by $1 million, or 0.5%. Data revenues on the business side declined by $3.8 million year-over-year, or 6.6%. However, $2.2 million of this decline was attributable to the revenues associated with the tower contracts divested during the first quarter of 2026. Operating expenses declined by $3.6 million, or 3.5%, compared to the second quarter of 2025, driven by lower programming costs, offset by ongoing investments in customer experience. OpEx was 28.3% of revenues in Q2 of 2026 versus 26.9% in the prior year quarter. SG&A expenses for the second quarter of 2026 fell by $4.3 million, or 4.7% year-over-year, due to lower labor expense and reduced billing system conversion costs. This was offset by continued investment in customer acquisition channels and related marketing. SG&A represented 25.1% of total revenues in the current quarter, compared to 24.1% in the second quarter of last year. Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter of 2026 was $173.5 million, representing 49.7% of revenues, versus $203.2 million, or 53.3% of revenues in Q2 of 2025. Capital expenditures of $74 million were 42.7% of adjusted EBITDA and increased $5.6 million year-over-year. This was primarily attributable to our investments in the latest in-home advanced Wi-Fi technologies and security solutions to drive increased customer satisfaction and related loyalty. We reaffirm our previous guidance that full year CapEx is expected to remain consistent with the prior year, and we will continue to remain disciplined and balanced on capital allocation priorities that are centered around the highest network reliability standards and debt reduction. Adjusted EBITDA less CapEx was $99.5 million in the second quarter of 2026 versus $134.8 million in the second quarter of 2025. During the quarter, we recognized several non-cash impairment charges and fair value adjustments related to our franchise agreements, goodwill, and our investment in MBI. These accounting charges do not impact our cash flow, liquidity, operating strategy, or long-term growth initiatives. Additional details are included in our earnings release and Form 10-Q. During the quarter, we reduced our debt balances by $63 million, including nearly $60 million of reduction via voluntary repurchases at attractive discounts. Through the first two quarters of the year, we have reduced our total debt balances by nearly $130 million. At the end of the second quarter, we had $166.2 million of cash and equivalents on hand, while our gross debt balance was $3.06 billion, consisting of approximately $1.66 billion of term loans, $550 million of revolver draws, $503 million of unsecured notes, $345 million of convertible notes, and $3 million of finance lease liabilities. We also had $700 million of undrawn capacity under our $1.25 billion revolving credit facility at quarter end. Our net leverage ratio on a last quarter annualized basis was 4.2x. Our balance sheet continues to be supported by committed sources of capital and strong operating liquidity. We remain focused on strengthening it and continue to actively evaluate a range of financing alternatives with the objective of maintaining financial flexibility over the long term. With respect to MBI, we continue to evaluate the appropriate next steps and do not have any additional updates to announce today. As previously announced, during the quarter, two of our unconsolidated equity joint ventures, Point Broadband and Clearwave Fiber, merged. Our existing interest in Clearwave Fiber was exchanged for additional equity interest in the surviving Point Broadband entity. Our investment had a $135 million carrying value at June 30th and is now classified as an equity method investment with a one-quarter reporting lag. We continue to assess potential monetization opportunities for our remaining unconsolidated equity investments, whose proceeds could be allocated toward accelerated debt reduction as we have in the past. With that, I'll turn it over for questions. Operator: We will now begin the question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. We ask that you pick up your handset when asking a question to allow for optimum sound quality. If you are muted locally, please remember to unmute your device. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Your first question comes from the line of Brandon Nispel with KeyBanc. Your line is open. Please go ahead. Brandon Nispel: Hey guys, thanks for taking the questions. Two, if I could. One for Jim, one for Todd. Jim, you guys talked about having long-term confidence in the business because of the low penetration rate, but that's been sort of the case for a while. Can you talk more specifically about what you guys are doing to change that? On Todd, there's been some reports that you need to get some financing transactions done. Can you give us an update on where you stand with some of those? Thank you. Jim Holanda: Yeah. Thanks for the question, Brandon. It's Jim. The immediate opportunity, 5.5, six months ago, when I walked through the door, was to really balance and invest in additional sales channels. Primarily on the digital and e-commerce side, along with the direct sales side. When you look back over a year ago, those two sales channels accounted for less than 10% of sales. In Q2, they accounted for roughly 35% of sales. That still benchmarks quite significantly under where I would say the rest of the industry is at. We continue to invest in those channels, and as a result, as we stated earlier, we saw strong connect momentum in the second quarter, which continues into the third quarter. On the retention side, which is the other side of that equation. Again, ceding market share to FWA by not having a mobile and a bundled offering strategy, I think set us behind. We have worked quickly to close that gap. Mobile officially launched across the footprint in March of this year. As I mentioned, the early results are good. Slow at first here as we get customers used to the idea of the broadband provider providing mobile. Now we actually have a competitive response, both in terms of price and product set that we didn't have before. Again, the ancillary services that we're using to increase the value proposition for existing broadband customers, we're highly focused on and deploying in real time. Those are the things that give me confidence in terms of our ability to take advantage of what I perceive certainly as historically being under-penetrated, and the opportunity to have a product set and a pricing set to go after all households within our footprint. Todd Koetje: Brandon, as it relates to the financing question, as in my prepared remarks, I outlined that we remain very focused on strengthening the balance sheet, and continue to actively evaluate financing alternatives. Given the consideration of that active evaluation, we are not in a position to answer any questions related to our financing efforts at Cable One or the financing efforts at MBI at this time. We will continue to explore, evaluate, pursue all potential opportunities, because we know we need to provide clarity, and additional stability to the balance sheet. Brandon Nispel: Got it. Thank you for taking the questions. Todd Koetje: See you then. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Greg Williams with TD Cowen. Your line is open. Please go ahead. Greg Williams: Great. Thanks for taking my questions. My first one's on the cost to acquire. You're changing your go-to-market strategy. You used to be more of an inbound model. Now you're doing, as you said, more direct, more door to door, which I'd imagine increases your cost to acquire. You noted that your digital mix is now, I think you said 35%, which would help. A few moving parts there. What does that mean to the overall cost to acquire customers? Second question is on ARPU. You pre-announced pretty good ARPU numbers in July, an ARPU rebound, and you mentioned a lot of moving parts. Whether it was promo roll-offs, AutoPay, product adoption, you have retention and your front book's pretty aggressive. How do I put that all together in terms of where the ARPU trajectory is going? Is the strategy to maybe get stable ARPU and try to grow subs on that or sacrifice a little ARPU going forward longer term? Thanks. Jim Holanda: Yeah, thanks for the questions, Greg. I'll take the cost to acquire question and turn the ARPU question over to Todd. On the cost to acquire, yes, correct, that direct sales is a more expensive channel. That's roughly 10%-12% of sales today. To your point, the digital channel is very efficient, and we're seeing strong momentum there. I expect the overall CAC to increase slightly, but not materially to where it really impacts margin overall. To the extent that changes as we continue to beef up those and those mixes changes, we'll be happy to update on future calls. Todd Koetje: Greg, on the ARPU question, both for the quarter, as you noted, as well as how you think about that going forward. The pricing adjustments that we made specifically in this quarter that were related to some of our AutoPay Plus and paperless billing programs did support that ARPU. I would say also, as usual, does result in some heightened customer attrition, when you make that, it supported the incremental ARPU there. The AutoPay Plus program, as we've talked about quite extensively in the past, is something we're very focused on because that set it, forget it also improves the retention qualities of the customers that adopt into that and we save money, of course, because of the paperless billing dynamic associated with that. Do our customers save money. Everybody benefits from that perspective. We continue to focus on the sell-in, right? It's not just a binary broadband products. The broadband product with the most advanced in-home technology, the eero system. On top of that eero system, the security solutions that honestly every customer should have, given the ongoing attacks that are out there on that front. The selling to the full assist solution that we have that we've been introducing to our customers over the last three to four quarters, we call TechAssist, where you basically are supporting everything that our broadband connects in the home that we see adoption and a customer's willingness to pay for, in addition to, of course, selling in other products like video streaming. Some of those products people pay for, some of those products we'll subsidize to improve the retention side of the equation, because getting more products and more value into this will then continue to support the overall ARPU going forward, as well as improve the retention. We do have some headwinds there as well, because you talked about the front book. The customer acquisition strategy is not just an inheritance model anymore. It's not just answer the phones. It's the offensive side that Jim just talked about. We are willing to sell in to new customers at a lower price point. Some of that's a phone ringer to get them to call. Some of that's an engagement at the front door. Working on selling in those additional products, the promotional roll-offs help support that ARPU over time at the right levels, not the kind of shock and awe that drives more attrition. I would expect that ARPU, while we continue to focus on expanding the penetration, as Jim outlined in his prepared remarks, will be something that will also then have some pressure on ARPU, but a balanced way in terms of adding customers, a willingness, as we've talked about quite a bit in the past, of giving up some of the enterprise ARPU to drive long-term customer growth. Greg Williams: Great. Thank you. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Steven Cahall with Wells Fargo. Your line is open. Please go ahead. Steven Cahall: Thank you. Kind of rolling it all up, I was wondering if you could just talk a little bit about your expectations for subscriber trends for the next quarter or two. I mean, you talked about the improvement in gross adds. It sounds like retention is what you're looking to attack next. I know the goal is to start to see some improvement in the year-on-year trend. Is that something you think you can get to by the third quarter? Which I think is also typically seasonally a little better. With mobile being bundled in maybe a little bit more aggressively, I think, Todd, you were just talking about some of the ARPU impacts. Maybe you can think about or sorry, you can mention how we should think about that trade-off between price and volume that you might be attacking right now. Todd Koetje: Yeah, Steven, similar to what I just said, I can go just a little bit deeper. Subscriber trends, we are encouraged by some of the platforms that we've invested in. Some of the team that we've continued to invest in, and those go-to-market strategies and that very hyperlocal approach in our smaller communities driving some of the new customer acquisition. You're spot on. Retention is the highest priority. The most accretive customer is the one you already have. Focusing that on the incremental value into those existing relationships, like I talked about with the products, like Jim spoke about with the incremental bundling. The third quarter is a seasonally better quarter, and Q2 demonstrated that Q2 is usually the seasonally worst quarter, in addition to some of the pricing adjustments that I talked about, in addition to just the more intense competitive environment that we continue to operate in. Recall, if you're talking about year-over-year, Q3 of 2025 was definitely not a great quarter for us. If you're coming through a lot of the billing system implementation, we did have a heightened churn as a result of that. While I'm not giving you guidance with the momentum we're focused on, I would say that's a fair assessment, I think, as you outlined. Steven Cahall: Great. Then just wondering if you have seen any increase in satellite competition in parts of the footprint. Todd Koetje: No, the same as we discussed on the last quarterly call. The offers are in the market for short periods of time, and then where it's free install and free equipment and a low rate, followed by going back to the $300 equipment fee, $150 install and normal rack rates. That continues. The Opensignal data that we continue to get on a very regular basis, while it was 0% at the end of 2025, shows up as 1% here so far in 2026. It hasn't had any materiality in regards to competition. Having said that, we are highly focused on keeping track of that across our geographies on a very regular basis as a prudent step to track to see if that changes. We'll be happy to provide updates on future quarters as well. Steven Cahall: Great. Thank you. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Sam McHugh with BNP. Your line is open. Please go ahead. Sam McHugh: Good afternoon, guys. A couple of related questions, I guess. Optimum talked today about walking away from some very low penetration footprint areas. I don't know if you have any similar or would consider the same in some of the super rural footprint, part one. The second question is, you talked about long-term penetration above the current 34%. As we think about your footprint between fiber and non-fiber overbuild market, how should we think about the barbell of market share? You like 25% in fiber markets and 45% outside of fiber? Some color there would be too powerful. I have a follow-up in a second on Starlink as well. Jim Holanda: Let me just say for now, Sam, that I view low penetration markets as an opportunity. I had not heard that on the Optimum remarks. Certainly in the six months I've been here so far, I have not seen anything that would indicate that would be a strategy that we would pursue at this time. In terms of fair share and overall penetration where we're the only gig provider versus where we compete against one other gigabit or fiber competitor or two plus, our penetrations vary quite differently, I think, based on the five family of brands and companies over the last nine years that make up what Sparklight and Cable One are today. Again, I think there is an opportunity to bring some standardization and some rationalization so that they reflect fair share over the long term. A lot has to do with how those companies performed and how they invested in them prior to our ownership. Those are the kinds of things that we are working on tackling, executing on, and fixing to a large degree. I remain pretty optimistic in terms of our ability to win fair share over the long run based on the investments and the execution that we're putting forth in the business today. Sam McHugh: Got it. You mentioned 1%. I wasn't sure if that was a Starlink gross add share or market share in your footprint. I don't know if you could clarify what that 1% was. Thank you. Jim Holanda: That is correct. Todd Koetje: It's a- Jim Holanda: Go ahead. Todd Koetje: It's an Opensignal, third-party data research estimated market share. Sam McHugh: All right. Thank you. Todd Koetje: Sorry, Caleb. Recall on that front, right? That's rural edge usually doesn't mean it has an exact overlap of our wired network because they have a product that's great for those rural edges where we don't reach. Some of that has overlap in it. We monitor that, as Jim said, extremely closely. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Frank Louthan with Raymond James. Your line is open. Please go ahead. Frank Louthan: Great. Thank you. You mentioned you were moving to digital. What percentage of gross adds come from digital currently? What do you think that can get to? Maybe I missed this, but did you update what your current overlap with fixed wireless was in your market, and what would that have been a year ago? Thank you. Jim Holanda: In terms of the digital sales channel, that is now accounting for roughly 25% sales in Q2. My expectation is that goes up to 35% to 40% over the next 12 to 18 months, if we're following where the rest of the industry and some of my prior experiences would indicate in terms of that. The second piece of the question was? Frank Louthan: Yeah. Can you give us an update on your overlap of fixed wireless with your marketing and where would that have been a year ago? Todd Koetje: Yeah, Frank, I can take that one. It's a little over 80% right now based on our third-party research and the data that we have access to. It's always a little harder to identify that on a quarter-over-quarter basis. To your question on over the last year, it's moved up a little bit. It was effectively at those levels this time last year as well. Frank Louthan: Would that be the same in MBI's territory, or would they be a little more or a little worse? Todd Koetje: A little bit behind us. Frank Louthan: Okay, great. Thank you. Todd Koetje: You bet. Operator: We have reached the end of our Q&A session. I will now turn the call back to Jim for closing remarks. Jim Holanda: Thanks, Caleb. As we wrap up, I'd just like to thank our Sparklight teammates for their continued commitment to our customers and to one another. Over the past few months, I've had the opportunity to get out in the field across our footprint and meet our teammates, and those interactions have only reinforced what makes this company really special. That's talented people who are deeply committed to serving our customers and our communities. It gives me a lot of confidence in terms of what we're trying to execute on here on the road ahead. We appreciate your time today and continued interest in Cable One, and we look forward to speaking with you again next quarter. Thank you, everybody. Operator: This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect. Before you buy stock in Cable One, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Cable One wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut are built for long-term growth and could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $421,943!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,382,819!* That performance is why people listen. 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Cable One (CABO) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

Interested in Cable One, Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. Second-quarter performance declined: Revenue fell 8.5% year over year to $348.9 million, while adjusted EBITDA dropped to $173.5 million. Free cash flow also decreased to $99.5 million from $134.8 million. Broadband churn remains the main challenge: Cable One lost 17,000 residential broadband customers, with heightened fiber competition pressuring results. Management is emphasizing targeted pricing, retention tools, speed upgrades and expanded digital and direct-sales channels to improve customer growth. Network and balance-sheet initiatives continue: The company expects most customers to have access to multi-gigabit infrastructure by year-end and reported encouraging early adoption of its mobile service. Cable One reduced debt by nearly $130 million in the first half of 2026 and is evaluating additional financing and asset-monetization options. Cable One (NYSE:CABO) reported second-quarter 2026 revenue and adjusted EBITDA declines as elevated residential broadband churn continued to pressure subscriber results, while management pointed to improving customer acquisition activity and ongoing investments in retention, network capabilities and mobile services. Total revenue was $348.9 million in the quarter, down from $381.1 million a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA fell to $173.5 million, or 49.7% of revenue, from $203.2 million, or 53.3% of revenue, in the prior-year period. → Meta’s Earnings Drop Shows Wall Street Wants More Than Ad Growth CEO Jim Holanda said the company’s operating priorities remain focused on retaining existing broadband customers, expanding sales channels and improving its value proposition in markets facing increased competition. Cable One reported a loss of 17,000 residential broadband customers during the second quarter, which Holanda attributed to elevated churn. He described customer retention as the company’s most important operational priority. → 4 Oil and Gas ETF Plays as Prices Stay Sky-High The company is using additional speed upgrades, more gradual promotional roll-offs, enhanced retention tools and a broader portfolio of services to address churn. Residential broadband average revenue per user increased sequentially, supported by promotional roll-offs, changes to the company’s AutoPay Plus program and adoption of higher-value products and services. Those benefits were partly offset by retention initiatives and increased uptake of value-oriented offerings. Holanda said Cable One expects to use increasingly targeted pricing and retention actions based on the competitive conditions in individual markets. CFO Todd Koetje said the company is willing to accept some pressure on “enterprise ARPU” as it works to acquire more customers and improve longer-term customer growth. → Sandisk Just Delivered a Blowout Quarter—Here's Why the Stock Is Falling Residential data revenue declined $16.7 million, or 7.3% year over year, as subscriber count fell 6.6% while ARPU remained relatively flat from the prior-year period. On a sequential basis, residential data revenue declined $1 million, or 0.5%. Management said customer connects improved sequentially in the second quarter and increased in each month of the quarter. Holanda said digital and direct-sales channels represented roughly 35% of sales in the second quarter, compared with less than 10% a year earlier. Digital accounted for about 25% of sales, and Holanda said he expects that channel could rise to 35% to 40% over the next 12 to 18 months. While direct sales are more expensive than inbound channels, Holanda said he expects the overall customer acquisition cost to increase only slightly and not materially affect margins. Cable One said competitive pressure remains elevated, particularly in markets with fiber overbuild activity. Management expects the broadband market to include wired, fixed wireless, mobile-only and satellite providers, but said wired broadband should continue serving most households because of its capacity, reliability and economics. The company estimates that more than 80% of its footprint currently overlaps with fixed-wireless offerings, a level Koetje said was broadly similar to a year ago. Management said third-party Opensignal data indicated satellite service represented an estimated 1% market share in 2026, compared with 0% at the end of 2025, though the company said satellite had not created a material competitive impact. Holanda said management views low-penetration markets as an opportunity rather than areas it would consider exiting. He said penetration rates vary across the company’s footprint, reflecting the histories and investment levels of the businesses that now comprise Cable One and its Sparklight brand. The company said essentially all of its network can deliver gigabit speeds, and it expects the vast majority of customers to be served by multi-gig-capable infrastructure by the end of 2026. Holanda said the expansion stems from years of capital-efficient investments rather than a major new capital program. Cable One also said its mobile service, which launched across its footprint in March, is showing encouraging early adoption. Management views mobile as a tool to support acquisition, deepen customer relationships and improve retention, though Holanda said it will take time for customers to view the company as a mobile provider. Business data revenue declined $3.8 million, or 6.6%, from a year earlier. Cable One said $2.2 million of that decline was tied to fiber-to-the-tower contracts divested in the first quarter. The company said its small- and medium-sized-business broadband operations remained under pressure, while enterprise, wholesale and carrier offerings showed encouraging momentum. During the quarter, Cable One introduced unified communications as a service, or UCaaS, to provide cloud-based communications tools alongside its connectivity products. Operating expenses declined 3.5% year over year to reflect lower programming costs, partly offset by investments in customer experience. Selling, general and administrative expenses declined 4.7%, due to lower labor costs and reduced billing-system conversion expenses, though the company continued to invest in customer acquisition and marketing. Capital expenditures rose $5.6 million from a year earlier to $74 million, driven primarily by investments in advanced in-home Wi-Fi technology and security solutions. Cable One reaffirmed that it expects full-year capital expenditures to remain consistent with the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures, which the company defines as free cash flow, was $99.5 million, down from $134.8 million a year earlier. The company reduced debt by $63 million during the quarter, including nearly $60 million in voluntary repurchases at discounts. Through the first half of 2026, debt balances were reduced by nearly $130 million. Cash and equivalents: $166.2 million at June 30 Gross debt: $3.06 billion Undrawn revolving-credit capacity: $700 million Net leverage ratio: 4.2 times on a last-quarter annualized basis Koetje said Cable One is evaluating financing alternatives to strengthen the balance sheet and maintain long-term flexibility, but declined to provide further details on its financing efforts or those involving MBI. The company also continues to consider monetization opportunities for unconsolidated equity investments, with potential proceeds available for debt reduction. Cable One recognized several non-cash impairment charges and fair-value adjustments during the quarter related to franchise agreements, goodwill and its MBI investment. Koetje said the charges do not affect cash flow, liquidity, operating strategy or long-term growth initiatives. Cable One, Inc (NYSE:CABO) is an American provider of broadband communications services, offering a suite of residential and business solutions over a hybrid fiber-coaxial network. The company delivers high-speed internet access, digital video, voice communications and mobile services, alongside advanced managed Wi-Fi and cybersecurity tools. Cable One's infrastructure supports both traditional cable offerings and converged IP-based platforms designed to meet evolving customer needs. In addition to consumer-focused services, Cable One caters to small and medium-sized enterprises with dedicated business-class connectivity, Ethernet solutions and cloud-based voice applications. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Cable One Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for August 2026.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Total Revenue: $348.9 million in Q2 2026, down from $381.1 million in Q2 2025. Residential Data Revenue: Decreased $16.7 million (7.3%) year-over-year, driven by a 6.6% decrease in subscribers; ARPU remained relatively flat. Business Data Revenue: Decreased $3.8 million (6.6%) year-over-year, with $2.2 million of the decline attributable to divested tower contracts. Operating Expenses: Declined $3.6 million (3.5%) year-over-year, driven by lower programming costs offset by customer experience investments; OpEx was 28.3% of revenues. SG&A Expenses: Fell $4.3 million (4.7%) year-over-year due to lower labor expense and reduced billing system conversion costs; represented 25.1% of total revenues. Adjusted EBITDA: $173.5 million, representing 49.7% of revenues, versus $203.2 million (53.3% of revenues) in Q2 2025. Capital Expenditures: $74 million, or 42.7% of adjusted EBITDA, up $5.6 million year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA Less CapEx: $99.5 million in Q2 2026, versus $134.8 million in Q2 2025. Debt Reduction: Reduced debt balances by $63 million during the quarter, including nearly $60 million via voluntary repurchases at discounts. Cash and Equivalents: $166.2 million at quarter end. Gross Debt: $3.06 billion, consisting of term loans, revolver draws, unsecured notes, convertible notes, and finance lease liabilities. Net Leverage Ratio: 4.2 times on a last quarter annualized basis. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Signs with CABO. Is CABO fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Release Date: August 06, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Cable One Inc (NYSE:CABO) reported improved sequential connect activity in Q2 2026, with monthly gains, indicating customer acquisition initiatives are gaining traction. The company's digital and door-to-door sales channels now account for roughly 35% of quarterly connects, up from less than 10% a year ago, diversifying acquisition sources. Residential broadband ARPU increased sequentially, supported by promotional roll-offs, AutoPay Plus program changes, and adoption of higher-value products. Cable One Inc (NYSE:CABO) reduced total debt by nearly $130 million in the first half of 2026, including voluntary repurchases at attractive discounts, strengthening its balance sheet. The company launched Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) for business customers, expanding its product portfolio and deepening commercial relationships. Cable One Inc (NYSE:CABO) continues to invest in network upgrades, with essentially all of its network capable of gigabit speeds and multi-gig capabilities expanding by year-end. Early progress in the mobile service offering is encouraging, with adoption trends and growth pace positive, positioning it as a tool to improve retention and customer lifetime value. Cable One Inc (NYSE:CABO) reported a loss of 17,000 residential broadband customers in Q2 2026, driven by elevated churn, highlighting ongoing retention challenges. Residential data revenues declined 7.3% year-over-year, with a 6.6% decrease in subscribers, reflecting competitive pressures and customer losses. Adjusted EBITDA fell to $173.5 million (49.7% of revenues) from $203.2 million (53.3%) in Q2 2025, impacted by higher operating expenses and investments. The company recognized noncash impairment charges and fair value adjustments related to franchise agreements, goodwill, and its investment in MBI, signaling potential asset value concerns. Competitive intensity remains high, particularly in markets with fiber overbuilds, and fixed wireless overlap is over 80% of the footprint, pressuring subscriber trends. SMB broadband business remained under pressure, with business services revenues declining 6.6% year-over-year, partly due to divested tower assets but also ongoing challenges. The company's net leverage ratio stood at 4.2 times, and management declined to provide updates on financing efforts, indicating ongoing balance sheet uncertainty. Q: Can you provide an update on the company's financing efforts and balance sheet strategy?A: Todd Koetje (CFO) stated that the company remains highly focused on strengthening the balance sheet and is actively evaluating a range of financing alternatives. He declined to provide specific details on financing efforts for Cable One or MBI at this time, but emphasized the company's commitment to providing clarity and stability to the balance sheet. During Q2, the company reduced debt by $63 million, including nearly $60 million via voluntary repurchases at attractive discounts, bringing total debt reduction for the first half of 2026 to nearly $130 million. Q: What is the company's strategy to improve customer retention and address elevated churn in residential broadband?A: Jim Holanda (CEO) explained that improving customer retention is the most important operational priority. The company is enhancing the customer experience and strengthening its value proposition through speed upgrades, more gradual promotional roll-offs, and a broader portfolio of products and services. He noted that the company had previously ceded market share to fixed wireless access (FWA) by lacking a mobile and bundled offering strategy, but has since launched mobile services across the footprint in March 2026 to provide a competitive response in both price and product set. Q: How is the company's go-to-market strategy evolving, and what impact will it have on customer acquisition costs (CAC)?A: Jim Holanda (CEO) stated that the company is investing in additional sales channels, particularly digital/e-commerce and direct sales. A year ago, these channels accounted for less than 10% of sales; in Q2, they accounted for roughly 35%. While direct sales is a more expensive channel (approximately 10%-12% of sales), the digital channel is very efficient. He expects overall CAC to increase slightly but not materially impact margins. The company saw strong connect momentum in Q2, which continues into Q3. Q: What is the outlook for ARPU, and how is the company balancing price increases with customer growth?A: Todd Koetje (CFO) explained that ARPU benefited from pricing adjustments related to AutoPay and paperless billing programs, promotional roll-offs, and adoption of higher-value products. However, the company is willing to sell to new customers at lower price points to drive penetration, which will put some pressure on ARPU. The strategy is to balance revenue objectives with long-term customer relationships and lifetime value, focusing on selling additional products like advanced WiFi, security solutions, and tech assist services to deepen customer relationships and improve retention. Q: What are the expectations for subscriber trends in the coming quarters?A: Todd Koetje (CFO) noted that Q2 is typically the seasonally worst quarter, and Q3 is seasonally better. He acknowledged that 2025 was a difficult year due to billing system implementation issues that caused heightened churn. While not providing formal guidance, he indicated that with the momentum from new customer acquisition initiatives and a focus on retention, it's a fair assessment that year-over-year subscriber trends could improve by Q3. Q: Has the company seen any increase in satellite competition in its footprint?A: Jim Holanda (CEO) stated that satellite competition has not had material impact. Offers appear in the market for short periods with promotional pricing, but then revert to normal rates. Third-party OpenSignal data shows satellite market share at approximately 1% in 2026, up from 0% at the end of 2025. The company is closely monitoring this across its geographies but does not view it as a significant competitive threat currently. Q: How does the company view low-penetration markets, and what is the penetration opportunity in fiber versus non-fiber overbuild markets?A: Jim Holanda (CEO) stated that he views low-penetration markets as an opportunity, not a reason to walk away. He noted that penetration varies significantly across the footprint depending on competitive dynamicswhether the company is the only gig provider or faces one or more fiber competitors. He believes there is an opportunity to bring standardization and rationalization across the five family of brands that make up Cable One today, and remains optimistic about winning fair share over the long run based on current investments and execution. Q: What percentage of gross adds come from digital channels, and what is the company's fixed wireless overlap?A: Jim Holanda (CEO) stated that the digital sales channel accounts for roughly 25% of sales in Q2, with expectations to increase to 35%-40% over the next 12-18 months. Todd Koetje (CFO) added that fixed wireless overlap with the company's markets is a little over 80%, which has remained relatively stable over the past year. MBI's territory has slightly less overlap than Cable One's core footprint. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

PHOENIX, August 06, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cable One, Inc. (NYSE: CABO) (the "Company" or "Cable One") today reported financial and operating results for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. "This is a business with a strong network, attractive markets, meaningful cash flow generation and a significant potential to improve operating performance," said Jim Holanda, Chief Executive Officer of Cable One. "Combined with our current penetration levels, we believe those strengths provide a compelling opportunity for long-term growth and value creation." Second Quarter 2026 Summary: Total revenues were $348.9 million in the second quarter of 2026 compared to $381.1 million in the second quarter of 2025, with $9.7 million of the decrease attributable to a decline in residential video revenues. Residential data revenues were $212.6 million in the second quarter of 2026 compared to $229.3 million in the second quarter of 2025, a decrease of $16.7 million, or 7.3%, year-over-year. Residential data revenues declined $1.0 million, or 0.5%, on a sequential quarterly basis. Business data revenues for the second quarter of 2026 were $53.6 million, a decrease of $3.8 million, or 6.6%, year-over-year. Net losses were $1.16 billion and $438.0 million in the second quarter of 2026 and 2025, respectively, which included non-cash asset impairment charges of $462.3 million and $456.2 million, net of tax, respectively. The second quarter of 2026 also included a $262.3 million, net of tax, non-cash impairment of our Mega Broadband Investments Holdings LLC ("MBI") equity investment and a $333.0 million, net of tax, non-cash fair value adjustment loss on the put option associated with the remaining equity interests in MBI (the "Put Option"). Adjusted EBITDA was $173.5 million in the second quarter of 2026 compared to $203.2 million in the second quarter of 2025. Net profit margin was (333.8)% and Adjusted EBITDA margin was 49.7% in the second quarter of 2026. Net cash provided by operating activities was $120.9 million in the second quarter of 2026 compared to $144.9 million in the second quarter of 2025. Adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures was $99.5 million in the second quarter of 2026 compared to $134.8 million in the second quarter of 2025. The Company paid down an aggregate $62.8 million principal amount of debt during the second quarter of 2026, consisting of repurchases of $45.6 million aggregate principal amount of senior notes, $12.8 million of term loan prepayments and $4.4 million of scheduled amortization payments. Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results Compared to Second Quarter 2025 Revenues were $348.9 million in the second quarter of 2026 compared to $381.1 million in the second quarter of 2025. Residential data revenues decreased $16.7 million, or 7.3%, year-over-year due primarily to a decrease in residential data subscribers. Residential video revenues decreased $9.7 million, or 20.1%, year-over-year due primarily to a decrease in residential video subscribers, partially offset by a rate adjustment enacted in the second half of 2025. Business data revenues decreased $3.8 million, or 6.6%, year-over-year due primarily to a decrease in business data subscribers. Net losses were $1.16 billion and $438.0 million in the second quarter of 2026 and 2025, respectively. The second quarter of 2026 included $462.3 million, net of tax, non-cash asset impairment charges, a $262.3 million, net of tax, non-cash impairment of our MBI equity investment and a $333.0 million, net of tax, non-cash fair value adjustment loss on the Put Option. The second quarter of 2025 included non-cash impairment charges totaling $456.2 million, net of tax. Net profit margin was (333.8)% in the second quarter of 2026 compared to (114.9)% in the prior year quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was $173.5 million and $203.2 million for the second quarter of 2026 and 2025, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 49.7% in the second quarter of 2026 compared to 53.3% in the prior year quarter. Net cash provided by operating activities was $120.9 million in the second quarter of 2026 compared to $144.9 million in the second quarter of 2025. Capital expenditures for the second quarter of 2026 totaled $74.0 million compared to $68.4 million for the second quarter of 2025. Adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures for the second quarter of 2026 was $99.5 million compared to $134.8 million in the prior year quarter. Asset Impairments Triggered by a decline in the Company's stock price during the second quarter, the Company performed an interim intangible asset and goodwill impairment assessment as of June 30, 2026. As a result, the Company recognized asset impairments totaling $597.7 million, consisting of $526.0 million and $71.7 million of non-cash impairments relating to its indefinite-lived franchise agreements and goodwill, respectively. The impairment charges do not have an impact on the Company’s cash flows, operational strategy, growth initiatives or its intent or ability to renew or extend existing franchise agreements. Liquidity and Capital Resources At June 30, 2026, the Company had $166.2 million of cash and cash equivalents on hand compared to $152.8 million at December 31, 2025. The Company’s gross debt balance was $3.06 billion and $3.21 billion at June 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025, respectively. The Company had $550.0 million of borrowings and $700.0 million available for borrowing under its revolving credit facility as of June 30, 2026. The Company's weighted average cost of debt was 4.6% for the second quarter of 2026. The Company voluntarily repurchased $45.6 million aggregate principal amount of outstanding senior notes and prepaid $12.8 million aggregate principal amount of outstanding term loan borrowings during the second quarter of 2026, recognizing $19.9 million of gains on debt extinguishments. The Company's capital expenditures by category for the three months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025 were as follows (in thousands): Conference Call Cable One will host a conference call with the financial community to discuss results for the second quarter of 2026 on Thursday, August 6, 2026, at 5 p.m. Eastern Time (ET). The conference call will be available via an audio webcast on the Cable One Investor Relations website at ir.cableone.net or by dialing 1-833-461-5787 (International: 1-585-542-9983) and using the access code 240349689. Participants should register for the webcast or dial in for the conference call shortly before 5 p.m. ET. A replay of the call will be available from August 6, 2026 until September 3, 2026 at ir.cableone.net. Additional Information Available on Website The information in this press release should be read in conjunction with the condensed consolidated financial statements and notes thereto contained in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2026, which will be posted on the "SEC Filings" section of the Cable One Investor Relations website at ir.cableone.net when it is filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). Investors and others interested in more information about Cable One should consult the Company’s website, which is regularly updated with financial and other important information about the Company. Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures The Company uses certain measures that are not defined by generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP") to evaluate various aspects of its business. Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures and capital expenditures as a percentage of Adjusted EBITDA are non-GAAP financial measures and should be considered in addition to, not as superior to, or as a substitute for, net income (loss), net profit margin, net cash provided by operating activities or capital expenditures as a percentage of net income (loss) reported in accordance with GAAP. Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures are reconciled to net income (loss), Adjusted EBITDA margin is reconciled to net profit margin and capital expenditures as a percentage of Adjusted EBITDA is reconciled to capital expenditures as a percentage of net income (loss). Adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures is also reconciled to net cash provided by operating activities. These reconciliations are included in the "Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Measures" tables within this press release. "Adjusted EBITDA" is defined as net income (loss) plus net interest expense, income tax provision (benefit), depreciation and amortization, equity-based compensation, severance and contract termination costs, acquisition-related costs, net (gain) loss on asset sales and disposals, system conversion costs, net equity method investment (income) loss, asset impairments, executive search and transition costs, MBI integration costs, net other (income) expense and any special items, as applicable, as provided in the "Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Measures" tables within this press release. Executive search and transition costs consist of expenses incurred in connection with changes in executive leadership, including make-whole payment, severance and other separation benefits and costs related to executive search and onboarding. MBI integration costs consist of expenses for planning and implementing system conversion, rebranding, employee-related costs (including severance and retention) and other professional fees incurred in connection with the integration of MBI. These costs are associated with discrete events and are incremental to normal, recurring operating expenses and as such, are excluded from Adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA eliminates the significant non-cash depreciation and amortization expense that results from the capital-intensive nature of the Company’s business as well as other non-cash or special items and is unaffected by the Company’s capital structure or investment activities. This measure is limited in that it does not reflect the periodic costs of certain capitalized tangible and intangible assets used in generating revenues and the Company’s cash cost of debt financing. These costs are evaluated through other financial measures. "Adjusted EBITDA margin" is defined as Adjusted EBITDA divided by total revenues. "Adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures," when used as a liquidity measure, is calculated as net cash provided by operating activities excluding the impact of capital expenditures, net interest expense, income tax provision (benefit), changes in operating assets and liabilities, change in deferred income taxes and any special items, as applicable, as provided in the "Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Measures" tables within this press release. "Capital expenditures as a percentage of Adjusted EBITDA" is defined as capital expenditures divided by Adjusted EBITDA. The Company uses Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures and capital expenditures as a percentage of Adjusted EBITDA to assess its performance, and it also uses Adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures as an indicator of its ability to fund operations and make additional investments with internally generated funds. In addition, Adjusted EBITDA generally correlates to the measure used in the leverage ratio calculations under the Company’s credit agreement and the indenture governing the Company’s non-convertible senior unsecured notes to determine compliance with the covenants contained in the credit agreement and the ability to take certain actions under the indenture governing the non-convertible senior unsecured notes. Adjusted EBITDA, capital expenditures as a percentage of Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures are also significant performance measures that have been used by the Company in its incentive compensation programs. Adjusted EBITDA does not take into account cash used for mandatory debt service requirements or other non-discretionary expenditures, and thus does not represent residual funds available for discretionary uses. The Company believes that Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin and capital expenditures as a percentage of Adjusted EBITDA are useful to investors in evaluating the operating performance of the Company. The Company believes that Adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures is useful to investors as it shows the Company’s performance while taking into account cash outflows for capital expenditures and is one of several indicators of the Company’s ability to service debt, make investments and/or return capital to its stockholders. Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures, capital expenditures as a percentage of Adjusted EBITDA and similar measures with similar titles are common measures used by investors, analysts and peers to compare performance in the Company’s industry, although the Company’s measures of Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures and capital expenditures as a percentage of Adjusted EBITDA may not be directly comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. About Cable One Cable One, Inc. (NYSE:CABO) is a leading broadband communications provider delivering exceptional service and enabling approximately 1 million residential and business customers across 24 states to thrive and stay connected to what matters most. Through Sparklight®, the brand our customers know and trust, we're not just shaping the future of connectivity–we're transforming it with a commitment to innovation, reliability and customer experience at our core. Our robust infrastructure and cutting-edge technology don’t just keep our customers connected; they drive progress in education, business and everyday life. We’re dedicated to bridging the digital divide, empowering our communities and fostering a more connected world. When our customers choose Cable One, they are choosing a team that is always working for them–one that believes in the relentless pursuit of reliability, because being a trusted neighbor isn’t just what we do–it’s who we are. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This communication and the related conference call may contain "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts, but rather are based on current expectations, estimates, assumptions and projections about the Company’s industry, business, strategy, technologies, acquisitions and strategic investments, market expansion plans, dividend policy, capital allocation, financing strategy, the purchase price payable pursuant to the Put Option, which was exercised on January 2, 2026 (such purchase price, the "Put Price") and the anticipated timeline to consummate such transaction, the Company's ability and sources of capital to fund the Put Price, MBI’s future indebtedness and the Company's financial results and financial condition. Forward-looking statements often include words such as "will," "should," "anticipates," "estimates," "expects," "projects," "intends," "plans," "believes" and words and terms of similar substance in connection with discussions of future operating or financial performance. As with any projection or forecast, forward-looking statements are inherently susceptible to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. The Company’s actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied in its forward-looking statements. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed on any forward-looking statement made by the Company or on its behalf. Important factors that could cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially from those in its forward-looking statements include government regulation, economic, strategic, political and social conditions and the following factors, which are discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 as filed with the SEC on February 26, 2026 (the "2025 Form 10-K"): rising levels of competition from historical and new entrants in the Company’s markets; recent and future changes in technology, and the Company's ability to develop, deploy and operate new technologies, service offerings and customer service platforms; risks associated with the Company's use of artificial intelligence; the Company’s ability to grow its residential data and business data revenues and customer base; increases in programming costs and retransmission fees; the Company’s ability to obtain hardware, software and operational support from vendors, including the potential impacts of changes in trade policy and tariffs; risks relating to existing or future acquisitions and strategic investments by the Company, including risks associated with the exercise of the Put Option and the acquisition and integration of MBI; the integrity and security of the Company’s network and information systems; the impact of possible security breaches and other disruptions, including cyber-attacks; the Company’s failure to obtain necessary intellectual and proprietary rights to operate its business and the risk of intellectual property claims and litigation against the Company; the Company's ability to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures; impairments of intangible assets and goodwill; legislative or regulatory efforts to impose new requirements on the Company’s data services; additional regulation of the Company’s video and voice services or changes to government subsidy programs; the Company’s ability to renew cable system franchises; increases in pole attachment costs; changes in local governmental franchising authority and broadcast carriage regulations; the potential adverse effect of the Company’s level of indebtedness on its business, financial condition or results of operations and cash flows; the restrictions the terms of the Company’s indebtedness place on its business and corporate actions; the possibility that interest rates will rise, causing the Company’s obligations to service its variable rate indebtedness to increase significantly; risks associated with the Company’s convertible indebtedness; the Company’s ability to pay dividends; our sustained reduced stock price; provisions in the Company’s charter, by-laws and Delaware law that could discourage takeovers and limit the judicial forum for certain disputes; adverse economic conditions, labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, changes in rates of inflation and the level of move activity in the housing sector; pandemics, epidemics or disease outbreaks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have, and may in the future, disrupt the Company's business and operations, which could materially affect the Company's business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows; lower demand for the Company's residential data and business data products; fluctuations in the Company’s stock price; dilution from equity awards, convertible indebtedness and potential future convertible debt and stock issuances; damage to the Company’s reputation or brand image; the Company’s ability to retain key employees (whom the Company refers to as associates); the Company's ability to successfully transition to its new Chief Executive Officer; the Company’s ability to incur future indebtedness; provisions in the Company’s charter that could limit the liabilities for directors; and the other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in the Company’s filings with the SEC, including but not limited to those described under "Risk Factors" in the 2025 Form 10-K and in its subsequent filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements made by the Company in this communication speak only as of the date on which they are made. The Company is under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any obligation, except as required by law, to update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, subsequent events or otherwise. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260806459754/en/ Contacts Trish NiemannVice President, Communications [email protected] Todd KoetjeChief Financial [email protected]

Charter Communications (CHTR) came out with quarterly earnings of $10.66 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $9.96 per share. This compares to earnings of $9.18 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +7.03%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this cable provider would post earnings of $9.97 per share when it actually produced earnings of $9.17, delivering a surprise of -8.02%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates just once. Charter, which belongs to the Zacks Cable Television industry, posted revenues of $13.53 billion for the quarter ended June 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.06%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $13.77 billion. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates two times over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. Charter shares have lost about 39.4% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 8.2%. While Charter has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Charter was unfavorable. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to underperform the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $9.98 on $13.55 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and $41.29 on $54.3 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Cable Television is currently in the bottom 21% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. One other stock from the same industry, Cable One (CABO), is yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026. This telecommunications company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $9.20 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +184.8%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. Cable One's revenues are expected to be $348.64 million, down 8.5% from the year-ago quarter. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Charter Communications, Inc. (CHTR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Cable One, Inc. (CABO) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research