Cable One, Inc.

CABOdata completeness 100%13 fiscal years on file

Data notes: no data for concept 'investmentsAtFairValue'; no data for concept 'netInvestmentIncome'; no data for concept 'gainsOnRealEstateSales'; no data for concept 'realEstateImpairment'

The thesis, from the filings

Cable One, Inc. earns about 5% on invested capital, below its ~9% cost of capital, and has bought back 12% of its shares over 5 years — no moat visible in the numbers. The estimate methods put fair value between $142.51 and $391.48 a share.Whether it’s worth owning at today’s price is the last question — and yours to answer, below.

i. The business — what you’d actually own
FigureFY 2021FY 2022FY 2023FY 2024FY 2025
Revenue$1.61B1$1.71B2$1.68B3$1.58B3$1.5B3
Net income$291.8M4$213.1M5$224.6M6$14.5M6−$356.5M6
Operating cash flow$704.3M7$738M8$663.2M9$664.1M9$563.3M9
Capital expenditure$391.9M10$414.1M11$371M12$286.4M12$285.3M12
Free cash flow (derived)$312.4M7$323.9M8$292.1M9$377.8M9$278.1M9
Total debt$3.88B13$3.84B14$3.68B15$3.61B16$3.21B17
Cash & equivalents$388.8M18$215.2M19$190.3M20$153.6M21$152.8M21
Diluted shares6.4M6.3M6.1M5.6M5.6M

Superscripts are receipts. Each links to the SEC filing the number came from (full list at the bottom).

ii. Your slice — ownership made literal
If you owned
shares
Net assets behind them
$2,542.04
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$632.05
Free cash flow it threw off
$493.07
Debt you’d be carrying
$5,689.69

10 shares is a claim on $2,542.04 of net worth that earned you −$632.05 and generated $493.07 of cash last year, against $5,689.69 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
5% avg · 5y
FY21 7%FY22 7%FY23 9%FY24 7%FY25 -3%

It earned about 5% on invested capital against a ~9% cost of capital — below the cost of funding. The numbers show no moat.

seeing a moat in the numbers →
Management signal · capital allocation
−12% shares · 5y

Share count is down 12% over 5 years — management has been buying back stock, quietly handing owners a bigger slice. Total debt has fallen 17% — deleveraging.

reading capital allocation →

Signals, not verdicts — read from the filings above. Numbers don’t prove a moat; they show its footprint. You decide.

iv. What it’s worth — engine v0.5.0

The 3 estimate methods that apply put fair value between $142.51 and $391.48 a share. They rest on different assumptions, so where they diverge is the story.

DCF · Growth Exit 10Y
$142.51
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears10
  • fcfGrowth0.0%
  • fcfBase$292.1M
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
$198.24
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears5
  • fcfGrowth0.0%
  • fcfBase$292.1M
Earnings Power Value
$391.48
assumptions (8)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • normalizedEarnings$213.1M
  • growthAssumed0.0%
Graham Number
not applicable
diluted EPS missing or non-positive — Graham Number undefined

Different models answer different questions — which to trust when →

v. The price question — last, on purpose
Is today’s price fair?
See live price ↗
Type a price. The ledger answers.
Or set your own belief
FCF growth, next 5 years0.0%
Discount rate (WACC)8.93%
Terminal growth2.5%
At your growth, a share is worth $198.24
The three cases
Bear0.0%$198.24
Base0.0%$198.24
Bull5.0%$377.38

Bear/base/bull growth = 0% / filed history / history + 5pp. Type a price to see the return each case implies.

Default growth 0.0%= this company’s own filed history (median-to-median FCF CAGR, clamped 0–20%). Your adjustments are recorded anonymously. They become the “what do owners actually believe” dataset.

Sources — the receipts
  1. 10-K/A · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001632127-24-000123 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001632127-25-000033 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001632127-26-000005 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K/A · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001632127-24-000123 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001632127-25-000033 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001632127-26-000005 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K/A · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001632127-24-000123 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001632127-25-000033 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001632127-26-000005 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K/A · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001632127-24-000123 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001632127-25-000033 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001632127-26-000005 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001437749-22-004364 (LongTermDebt)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001437749-23-004428 (LongTermDebt)
  15. 10-K/A · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001632127-24-000123 (LongTermDebt)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001632127-25-000033 (LongTermDebt)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2025-12-31 · accession 0001632127-26-000005 (LongTermDebt)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001437749-23-004428 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  19. 10-K/A · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001632127-24-000123 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  20. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001632127-25-000033 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  21. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001632127-26-000005 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)