Why Cogent Communications Stock Crashed Today
Summarize this article with:
By Anders Bylund – Feb 20, 2026 at 3:54PM ESTKey PointsCogent is losing thousands of customers per quarter from the Sprint fiber network it acquired in 2023.The new and growing Optical Wavelengths service seems too small to make a difference.Cogent is in full turnaround mode, but the foundation for recovery looks shaky.These 10 Stocks Could Mint the Next Wave of Millionaires ›NASDAQ: CCOICogent CommunicationsMarket Cap$1.3BToday's Changeangle-down(-29.30%) $7.71Current Price$18.60Price as of February 20, 2026 at 3:58 PM ETCogent Communications beat earnings expectations but still crashed. The details explain why investors are running away.Shares of Cogent Communications (CCOI 29.30%) fell as much as 33.8% on Friday, following a mixed earnings report. As of 3:10 p.m. ET, the stock had recovered slightly to a 27% drop. Image source: Getty Images. A beat on earnings, a miss on revenue The multinational internet service provider hit some targets in Q4 2025, but missed others. Net losses of $0.64 per share were an improvement over a $0.91 loss per share in the year-ago period, and the average analyst had expected a deeper loss of $1.03 per share. But revenues fell 4.7% year-over-year to $240.5 million, missing the Street consensus target at $243.7 million. ExpandNASDAQ: CCOICogent CommunicationsToday's Change(-29.30%) $-7.71Current Price$18.60Key Data PointsMarket Cap$1.3BDay's Range$17.41 - $22.3652wk Range$15.96 - $82.00Volume361KAvg Vol1.2MGross Margin14.86%Dividend Yield11.59% I'm not buying the dip There's not much to celebrate in Cogent's report. EBITDA margins are down, the fiber-optic network the company acquired from Sprint in 2023 is losing thousands of customers per quarter, and the lucrative class of enterprise clients shrank by 20% in 2025. The stock is now down 77% over the last year and trades at 0.9 times sales. Cogent is operating in full turnaround mode, hoping that the recently launched Optical Wavelengths service can make up for the fleeing Sprint customers. I'm not so sure, because the average Wavelength site has about two paying customers so far. That's not much of a foundation for long-term growth. And the quarterly revenues per client runs in the thousands of dollars, not millions. Meanwhile, Cogent is running low on cash reserves. The stock looks more like a falling knife than a promising rebound opportunity. I recommend staying away.Read NextNov 4, 2021 •By Motley Fool TranscribersCogent Communications Holdings Inc (CCOI) Q3 2021 Earnings Call TranscriptApr 30, 2021 •By Motley Fool TranscribersCogent Communications Holdings Inc (CCOI) Q1 2021 Earnings Call TranscriptFeb 25, 2021 •By Motley Fool TranscribersCogent Communications Holdings Inc (CCOI) Q4 2020 Earnings Call TranscriptMay 8, 2020 •By Motley Fool TranscribingCogent Communications Group (CCOI) Q1 2020 Earnings Call TranscriptFeb 27, 2020 •By Motley Fool TranscribingCogent Communications Group (CCOI) Q4 2019 Earnings Call TranscriptNov 8, 2019 •By Motley Fool TranscribingCogent Communications Group (CCOI) Q3 2019 Earnings Call TranscriptAbout the AuthorAnders Bylund is a contributing Motley Fool media and technology analyst covering semiconductors, cloud computing, internet infrastructure, quantum computing, and streaming media. Previously, Anders was a systems administrator for Nielsen Technology and CSX, gaining hands-on experience with enterprise-class systems. He was also a freelance writer for Ars Technica, TIME, USA Today, CNN, WIRED, and AOL's Daily Finance. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in library and information sciences from Florida State University. He believes in coyotes and time as an abstract.TMFZahrimX@TMFZahrimStocks MentionedCogent CommunicationsNASDAQ: CCOI$18.60 (29.30%) $7.71*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.