Cardinal Infrastructure Group (NASDAQ:CDNL) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.70 EPS

Cardinal Infrastructure Group (NASDAQ:CDNL) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.70), FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $201.93 million during the quarter.

Here are the key takeaways from Cardinal Infrastructure Group’s conference call:

• Third-quarter revenue rose 65% to $202 million, but adjusted EBITDA fell to $9 million from $21 million and margin dropped to 4.2% from 17.5%; the company reported an $11 million net loss.
• Project estimate revisions, mainly on a handful of residential projects in the Carolinas, drove a major portion of the margin decline, alongside residential pricing pressure, lower initial bid margins on some commercial and industrial work, and higher fuel and transportation costs.
• Cardinal withdrew its full-year 2026 revenue and adjusted EBITDA margin guidance while it reviews projects and improves forecasting; management expects fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA to improve sequentially but gave no specific outlook.
• Management plans tighter bid selection and estimating, more rigorous project reviews, and clearer accountability across the business, with COO Benji Wood taking a larger operating role and an independent advisor supporting the changes. The proposed Hughes Brothers acquisition has been postponed as the company prioritizes its existing operations.
• With $335 million in cash and cash equivalents and approximately $136 million in net cash, the board authorized a share repurchase program of up to $50 million over the next 12 months.

Cardinal Infrastructure Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CDNL traded down $9.62 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $5.37. 15,516,470 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 685,934. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $23.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.93. Cardinal Infrastructure Group has a 52-week low of $5.38 and a 52-week high of $96.40. The company has a current ratio of 3.59, a quick ratio of 3.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $254.74 million and a P/E ratio of 9.76.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CDNL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Cardinal Infrastructure Group from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Cardinal Infrastructure Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Cardinal Infrastructure Group from $63.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. William Blair cut shares of Cardinal Infrastructure Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Cardinal Infrastructure Group from $40.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.75.

Recent Cardinal Infrastructure Group Headlines

Here are a few of the latest headlines about CDNL:

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue was $201.93 million, with reports describing growth compared with the prior year. Cardinal Infrastructure Group reports third-quarter 2026 results
• Neutral Sentiment: Call-option trading increased substantially: investors purchased 3,140 calls, versus an average of 172. This points to heightened speculative interest but does not establish a clear outlook for the shares. Cardinal Infrastructure Group options trading
• Negative Sentiment: CDNL reported a third-quarter loss of $0.21 per share, missing analyst expectations for earnings of $0.49 per share. Reports also cited margin deterioration, no financial guidance and the CFO’s departure, contributing to concerns about profitability and visibility. Cardinal Infrastructure Q3 2026: Loss, No Guidance, CFO Out

Insider Activity at Cardinal Infrastructure Group

In other Cardinal Infrastructure Group news, COO Benjamin Wood purchased 25,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $39.48 per share, with a total value of $1,014,636.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer owned 45,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,804,236. This represents a 128.50% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Richard Bennett Wimmer purchased 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $39.13 per share, for a total transaction of $293,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 29,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,148,426.37. The trade was a 34.33% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have acquired a total of 214,597 shares of company stock worth $8,285,516 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 61.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cardinal Infrastructure Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Cardinal Infrastructure Group by 8,249.5% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,363,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,730,000 after purchasing an additional 1,347,399 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in Cardinal Infrastructure Group by 173.8% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,899 shares of the company’s stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 5,014 shares during the last quarter. GatePass Capital LLC boosted its stake in Cardinal Infrastructure Group by 182.7% during the third quarter. GatePass Capital LLC now owns 19,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $599,000 after buying an additional 12,647 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Cardinal Infrastructure Group by 81.4% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 180,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,527,000 after buying an additional 81,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS grew its holdings in Cardinal Infrastructure Group by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 28,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $884,000 after buying an additional 4,222 shares in the last quarter.

About Cardinal Infrastructure Group

Cardinal Infrastructure Group is a vertically integrated civil infrastructure and site development platform serving residential, commercial, industrial and municipal projects. CDNL delivers its suite of comprehensive infrastructure services that support the planning, preparation, installation, and development of residential, commercial, industrial, municipal, and state infrastructure projects through wholly owned, market leading subsidiaries. Cardinal’s operations leverage in-house, highly skilled teams and equipment fleets to deliver wet utility installations (water, sewer, and stormwater systems), as well as grading, site clearing, erosion control, drilling and blasting, paving, and other related site services.