Optimum Communications (NYSE:OPTU) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Optimum Communications (NYSE:OPTU) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report issued on Monday, Zacks reports. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Optimum Communications’ Q3 2026 earnings at ($0.17) EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at ($0.10) EPS, FY2026 earnings at ($0.56) EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at ($0.21) EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at ($0.17) EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at ($0.21) EPS, FY2027 earnings at ($0.82) EPS, Q1 2028 earnings at ($0.52) EPS, Q2 2028 earnings at ($0.30) EPS and FY2028 earnings at ($0.67) EPS.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Optimum Communications from $1.00 to $0.75 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Citigroup lowered shares of Optimum Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $1.50 to $0.50 in a report on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Optimum Communications from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Optimum Communications from $2.00 to $1.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Optimum Communications from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Optimum Communications presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $0.92.

Optimum Communications Price Performance

OPTU stock opened at $0.94 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $1.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.19. Optimum Communications has a fifty-two week low of $0.58 and a fifty-two week high of $2.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $257.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.09 and a beta of 1.25.

Optimum Communications (NYSE:OPTU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.67) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.17) by ($0.50). The business had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter. On average, equities analysts expect that Optimum Communications will post -0.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Optimum Communications

In other news, major shareholder Neil S. Subin purchased 171,711 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $0.83 per share, with a total value of $142,520.13. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 19,548,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,225,594.47. The trade was a 0.89% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders acquired a total of 3,032,354 shares of company stock worth $2,455,613 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 43.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Optimum Communications

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in Optimum Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Optimum Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Cidel Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Optimum Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Xponance LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Optimum Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Morningstar Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Optimum Communications during the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. 54.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Optimum Communications

Here are the key news stories impacting Optimum Communications this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Optimum’s expanded T-Mobile relationship strengthens its mobile and 5G offering, potentially improving customer retention and creating longer-term growth opportunities.
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks Research made a small upward revision to its FY2028 EPS forecast, to a loss of $0.67 from a projected loss of $0.70. However, the company is still expected to remain unprofitable through that year.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks lowered its EPS forecasts for FY2026 to a loss of $0.56 from $0.55 and for FY2027 to a loss of $0.82 from $0.72. It also reduced estimates for Q4 2026, Q2 2027, Q3 2027, Q4 2027, Q1 2028 and Q2 2028, indicating weaker expected profitability across much of the forecast period.
• Negative Sentiment: The revisions reinforce concerns about Optimum’s earnings outlook. The company previously reported a quarterly loss of $0.67 per share, substantially worse than the $0.17 analyst consensus, and its shares remain below both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.

Optimum Communications Company Profile

Altice USA, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides broadband communications and video services in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. It offers broadband, video, telephony, and mobile services to approximately five million residential and business customers. The company’s video services include delivery of broadcast stations and cable networks; over the top services; video-on-demand, high-definition channels, digital video recorder, and pay-per-view services; and platforms for video programming through mobile applications.