Forensic Analysis · Communication Services / Telecom · as of Jun 27, 2026
COGENT COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS, INC. (CCOI)
A forensic read on COGENT COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS, INC. built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
B · Sound & dependable
Forensic grade
Distress
Financial health
-0.5
Altman Z-score
Clean
Earnings quality
4
Forensic signals
-117.6%
ROE
$672M
Market cap
7.59%
Dividend yield
COGENT COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS, INC. earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade, and its Altman Z-score is -0.5, placing it in the Distress zone. 4 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by cash conversion.
What the filings flag
-0.00×Cash conversion.Over FY2023–FY2025, operating cash flow was -0.00× cumulative net income. Reported profit is not turning into cash — a classic earnings-quality warning.
-3%Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is -3% and slipping from 9% — well below its ~8% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
+0.5%/yrShare-count dilution.Diluted share count changed +2% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (+0.5%/yr). Roughly flat — buybacks are about offsetting stock comp, not shrinking the count. Per-share value isn't being meaningfully helped or hurt by the count.
-21%Dividend — cut.The payout was CUT ~21% in FY2025 (from FY2024). It still returns some cash, but it is NOT the dependable, rising dividend an unbroken streak implies — weigh the cut when judging reliability.
Key fundamentals
Net Margin-18.7%
Free Cash Flow$-198.1M
Latest Revenue$975.8M
Revenue Growth YoY-5.8%
Go deeper — free with an account
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. An account adds the full interactive deep-dive on COGENT COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS, INC.:
🔒The written investment read — what the numbers mean, in plain English
🔒Ask anything about CCOI's filings — AI Q&A across the 10-K, 10-Qs & 8-Ks
🔒Interactive valuation — reverse-DCF sliders, Monte Carlo & scenario stress
🔒Calibrated 12-month price forecast, with the math shown