Cable One Inc (CABO) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Hello and thank you for standing by. My name is Lacey, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Cable One second quarter earnings call. (Operator Instructions)

您好，感謝您的支持。我叫萊西 (Lacey)，今天我將擔任您的會議主持人。現在，我歡迎大家參加 Cable One 第二季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）

Thank you. I would now like to turn the conference over to Jordan Workert. You may begin.

謝謝。現在我想將會議交給喬丹沃克特。你可以開始了。

Good afternoon, and welcome to Cable One's second quarter 2025 earnings call. We're glad to have you join us as we review our results.

下午好，歡迎參加 Cable One 2025 年第二季財報電話會議。我們很高興您能加入我們，共同回顧我們的成果。

Before we proceed, I would like to remind you that today's discussion contains forward-looking statements relating to future events that involve risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding future broadband revenue, customer growth, connects and churn rates, new product rollouts, anticipated cost savings and other benefits to be derived from our billing system migration and our other investments in growth enablement platforms, anticipated benefits from our mobile service pilot program, future cash flow, ARPU and capital expenditures, future levels of competition, potential stock buybacks, our ability and sources of capital to fund the retirement of our 0% convertible notes in 2026, the estimated MBI call purchase price, MBI's future debt levels, the anticipated after-tax proceeds from the expected monetization of certain investments, expected cash tax savings to be realized as a result of the recently passed federal tax bill, our CEO succession process and our future financial performance, capital allocation policy, leverage ratios and financing plans.

在我們繼續之前，我想提醒您，今天的討論包含與未來事件有關的前瞻性陳述，這些陳述涉及風險和不確定性，包括有關未來寬頻收入、客戶增長、連接和流失率、新產品推出、預期成本節約和其他收益將從我們的計費系統遷移和我們在增長支持平台上的其他投資中獲得，我們的移動服務試點計劃將從我們的計費系統遷移和我們在增長支持平台上的其他投資中獲得，我們的行動服務試點計劃的預期收益0% 可轉換票據的退休提供資金的能力和資本來源、估計的 MBI 看漲期權購買價格、MBI 未來的債務水平、預期從某些投資的預期貨幣化中獲得的稅後收益、由於最近通過的聯邦稅法案而預期實現的現金稅收節省、我們的首席執行官繼任流程和我們未來的財務業績、資本配置、槓桿率和融資計劃。

You can find factors that could cause Cable One's actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements discussed during today's call in today's earnings release and in our SEC filings, including our annual report on Form 10-K and our forthcoming second quarter 2025 quarterly report on Form 10-Q. Cable One is under no obligation and expressly disclaims any obligation, except as required by law to update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

您可以在今天的收益報告和我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中（包括我們的 10-K 表年度報告和即將發布的 2025 年第二季度 10-Q 表季度報告）找到可能導致 Cable One 的實際結果與今天電話會議上討論的前瞻性陳述存在重大差異的因素。Cable One 不承擔任何義務，並明確否認任何義務，除非法律要求更新或修改其前瞻性聲明，無論是由於新資訊、未來事件或其他原因。

Additionally, today's remarks will include a discussion of certain financial measures that are not presented in conformity with US generally accepted accounting principles or GAAP. When we refer to free cash flow during today's call, we mean adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures as defined in our earnings release. Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures discussed on this call to the most directly comparable GAAP measures can be found in our earnings release or on our website at ir.cableone.net.

此外，今天的演講將包括討論某些不符合美國公認會計原則或 GAAP 的財務指標。當我們在今天的電話會議上提到自由現金流時，我們指的是調整後的 EBITDA 減去收益報告中定義的資本支出。本次電話會議中討論的非 GAAP 財務指標與最直接可比較的 GAAP 指標的對帳可以在我們的收益報告或我們的網站 ir.cableone.net 上找到。

Joining me on today's call is our President and CEO, Julie Laulis; and Todd Koetje, our CFO. With that, let me turn the call over to Julie.

參加今天電話會議的還有我們的總裁兼執行長 Julie Laulis 和財務長 Todd Koetje。說完這些，讓我把電話轉給朱莉。

Thank you, Jordan, and good afternoon, everyone. We appreciate you joining us for today's call. This quarter's results were influenced by a combination of internal actions we took during the period as well as a few external factors. These included some pricing and packaging adjustments for a subset of our customers, double the typical volume of promotional roll-offs, continued competitive headwinds, and seasonal softness in our college markets.

謝謝你，喬丹，大家下午好。感謝您參加今天的電話會議。本季的業績受到我們在此期間採取的內部行動以及一些外部因素的影響。這些因素包括針對部分客戶進行價格和包裝調整、促銷活動數量增加一倍、持續的競爭阻力以及大學市場的季節性疲軟。

Against that backdrop, residential broadband revenue increased on a sequential basis by 1.9% compared to the first quarter, driven primarily by higher ARPU. Business data revenue was $57.4 million, and consolidated adjusted EBITDA was $203.2 million, both results consistent with Q1 levels.

在此背景下，住宅寬頻營收季增 1.9%，主要得益於 ARPU 的提高。商業數據收入為 5,740 萬美元，合併調整後 EBITDA 為 2.032 億美元，兩項結果均與第一季水準一致。

Despite the residential broadband customer losses we experienced in the quarter, we're encouraged by the sequential improvement in connect throughout the first half of the year with continued month-over-month growth in June, representing the first month during 2025 with a year-over-year increase in connects. We believe our drive towards simplified pricing, segmented marketing campaigns, and value-enhancing product and service offerings is laying the groundwork for stronger subscriber uptake and improved operating performance over time. In addition, the completion of the final phase of our billing conversion marks a key milestone in our multiyear investment in growth enablement platforms, positioning us for more agile product launches and deeper customer engagement going forward.

儘管本季度我們經歷了住宅寬頻客戶的流失，但我們對上半年連接量的連續改善感到鼓舞，6 月份繼續保持環比增長，這是 2025 年連接量首次同比增長的月份。我們相信，我們致力於簡化定價、細分行銷活動以及提升價值的產品和服務，為長期增加用戶數量和提高營運績效奠定了基礎。此外，計費轉換最後階段的完成標誌著我們多年投資於成長支援平台的一個重要里程碑，使我們能夠在未來更靈活地推出產品並與客戶進行更深入的互動。

I'll first review residential broadband customer trends. Residential data customers declined by 13,000 in Q2, driven by continued softness in connects and elevated churn. However, as I just noted, we have seen sequential month-over-month growth in connect every month this year through the end of Q2. This trend suggests our new products and go-to-market strategies are showing early signs of positive impact.

我首先回顧一下住宅寬頻客戶趨勢。由於連線持續疲軟和客戶流失率上升，第二季住宅數據客戶減少了 13,000 人。然而，正如我剛才提到的，截至今年第二季末，我們每個月都看到連線數較上季成長。這一趨勢表明我們的新產品和市場進入策略正在顯現積極影響的早期跡象。

Elevated disconnects this quarter were driven by customer response to recent segmented pricing changes, churn arising from promotional roll-offs and seasonal churn in our college markets. Completing the final phase of our AutoPayPlus rollout also resulted in some incremental churn. But AutoPayPlus which includes a $5 surcharge for nonenrolled customers has been a positive program for us by either increasing ARPU or reducing billing costs and improving retention over time.

本季斷線率上升是由於客戶對近期分段定價變化的反應、促銷活動引起的客戶流失以及大學市場的季節性客戶流失。完成 AutoPayPlus 推出的最後階段也導致了一定的客戶流失。但是，AutoPayPlus 對未註冊客戶收取 5 美元的附加費，這對我們來說是一個積極的計劃，因為它可以提高 ARPU 或降低計費成本，並隨著時間的推移提高保留率。

Broadband revenue increased on a sequential quarter-over-quarter basis, driven by a $2.39 increase in ARPU. This was due to the impact of segmented pricing changes as well as promotional expirations, greater adoption of value-enhancing services like SecurePlus and Ultimate Wi-Fi and as I noted above, the completion of the rollout of our AutoPay program. Selling to premium speed tiers of gig or above remained high at 46%, reinforcing customer demand for higher speed plans and further supporting ARPU.

寬頻收入環比增長，受 ARPU 增加 2.39 美元的推動。這是由於分段定價變化以及促銷到期的影響，SecurePlus 和 Ultimate Wi-Fi 等增值服務的廣泛採用，以及我上面提到的，我們的 AutoPay 計劃的推出完成。千兆或以上高級速度層的銷售量仍高達 46%，這增強了客戶對更高速度計畫的需求，並進一步支援了 ARPU。

Looking ahead, we expect ARPU to remain stable for the remainder of the year. We're seeing early traction with Lift Internet, which is helping us reach value-conscious customers in a financially sustainable way. Flex connected option has not met our expectations to date, but we continue to believe that both FlexConnect and Lift will play an important role in today's competitive environment. These products compete directly on price with cellphone internet while offering a superior experience with unlimited data, consistent speeds, and greater reliability.

展望未來，我們預計今年剩餘時間內 ARPU 將保持穩定。我們看到 Lift Internet 的早期發展勢頭，它幫助我們以財務上可持續的方式接觸到注重價值的客戶。Flex 連線選項迄今尚未達到我們的預期，但我們仍然相信 FlexConnect 和 Lift 都將在當今的競爭環境中發揮重要作用。這些產品在價格上與手機網路直接競爭，同時提供無限數據、穩定的速度和更高的可靠性的卓越體驗。

Key differentiators given that our customer average data usage is now nearly 800 gigabytes per month and over 27% of our customers regularly surpass a terabyte of data. To further elevate our customers' connected home experience, we recently launched TechAssist, a $10 per month support service that offers expert help with a wide range of Wi-Fi connected devices outside of our internet equipment.

關鍵的差異在於，我們的客戶平均資料使用量現在接近每月 800 GB，並且超過 27％ 的客戶定期使用超過 1 TB 的資料。為了進一步提升客戶的連網家庭體驗，我們最近推出了 TechAssist，這是一項每月 10 美元的支援服務，可為我們的網路裝置以外的各種 Wi-Fi 連線裝置提供專家協助。

From setup to troubleshooting and ongoing support TechAssist provides customers with convenient, reliable assistance for tech issues related to smart thermostats, doorbells, security cameras and more. While we don't expect TechAssist to generate material revenue in 2025, it reflects our focus on delivering customer-centric innovation and practical value-added services that simplify daily life for our customers. We are optimistic it will begin to generate meaningful results in 2026 and beyond.

從設定到故障排除和持續支持，TechAssist 為客戶提供與智慧恆溫器、門鈴、安全攝影機等相關的技術問題的便利、可靠的協助。雖然我們不期望 TechAssist 在 2025 年產生實質收入，但它反映了我們專注於提供以客戶為中心的創新和實用的增值服務，以簡化客戶的日常生活。我們樂觀地認為它將在 2026 年及以後開始產生有意義的成果。

Turning to competitive dynamics. Fiber-to-the-home overbuild largely from incumbent telco providers now represents approximately 53% of our passings. In addition, cellphone internet competition is nearly ubiquitous across our footprint. While we expect competitive intensity to persist, we believe our neighborly service, enhanced platforms, an evolving set of products position us to defend and grow share over the long term. We're continuing to fight hard for every new customer while staying focused on retaining our existing ones.

轉向競爭動態。光纖到府的過度建設主要來自現有的電信供應商，目前占到我們光纖到府數量的約 53%。此外，手機網路競爭幾乎遍佈我們的整個足跡。雖然我們預計競爭激烈程度將持續下去，但我們相信，我們的友善服務、增強的平台和不斷發展的產品系列使我們能夠長期捍衛和擴大市場份額。我們將繼續努力爭取每位新客戶，同時專注於留住現有客戶。

While we're seeing some encouraging signs, steady month-over-month growth in connects during the first half of the year, stable ARPU and early momentum from new products, given the customer losses we experienced in the second quarter, we do not expect to grow total residential broadband customers in 2025. In addition, we currently expect total residential broadband revenue for 2025 will be flat or decrease modestly for the full year as compared to 2024.

雖然我們看到了一些令人鼓舞的跡象，如上半年連接數環比穩步增長、ARPU 穩定以及新產品的早期發展勢頭，但考慮到我們在第二季度經歷的客戶流失，我們預計 2025 年住宅寬頻客戶總數不會增長。此外，我們目前預計，2025 年全年住宅寬頻總收入將與 2024 年持平或略有下降。

We remain focused on driving innovation that simplifies the customer experience and enhances operational efficiency. One example is Ask Tommy, our AI-powered assistant that not only handles tasks typically managed by our field techs like contacting customers with appointment windows and rescheduling when necessary but also provides tech with AI-driven technical expertise to help diagnose and resolve issues more quickly. This tool reflects the kind of everyday workflows we're beginning to automate allowing us to better allocate resources and dedicate our highly trained technicians to more complex service needs. This is just one example of how we're using AI in practical impactful ways.

我們始終致力於推動創新，簡化客戶體驗並提高營運效率。其中一個例子是 Ask Tommy，這是我們的人工智慧助手，它不僅可以處理通常由我們的現場技術人員管理的任務，例如聯繫客戶預約時間和在必要時重新安排時間，還可以為技術人員提供人工智慧驅動的技術專業知識，以幫助更快地診斷和解決問題。該工具反映了我們開始自動化的日常工作流程，使我們能夠更好地分配資源並讓我們訓練有素的技術人員滿足更複雜的服務需求。這只是我們如何以實際有效的方式使用人工智慧的一個例子。

Earlier this month, we executed the final phase of our billing system migration, transitioning Hargray and legacy Sparklight customers onto our unified platform. This initiative consolidated more than 30 legacy programs, enabling all acquired companies to operate under the Sparklight brand. This project was central to our ongoing transformation.

本月初，我們完成了計費系統遷移的最後階段，將 Hargray 和傳統 Sparklight 客戶轉移到我們的統一平台上。該計劃整合了 30 多個遺留項目，使所有被收購的公司都能在 Sparklight 品牌下運作。該項目對於我們正在進行的轉型至關重要。

Being on a unified platform will significantly enhance the customer experience by streamlining our rate structures across markets, enabling more flexible pricing, and allowing us to respond more quickly to competitive changes. It also delivers a faster, more intuitive interface for our customers. While this represents a significant step forward, there are a number of post-migration work streams to be completed before we fully realize the benefits of this transformation. We expect the billing migration will result in several million dollars in annual cost savings starting in late 2025, as we further leverage the system for pricing, product and service innovation.

透過採用統一平台，我們可以簡化跨市場的費率結構，實現更靈活的定價，並使我們能夠更快地應對競爭變化，從而顯著提升客戶體驗。它還為我們的客戶提供了更快、更直觀的介面。雖然這代表著向前邁出的重要一步，但在我們充分實現這一轉變的好處之前，還有很多遷移後的工作流程需要完成。我們預計，隨著我們進一步利用該系統進行定價、產品和服務創新，從 2025 年底開始，計費遷移將帶來每年數百萬美元的成本節省。

We're excited to share that we've signed an agreement with a mobile virtual network enabler, or MVNE, to pilot mobile service in several of our markets. This marks the start of a focused initiative to explore whether mobile can complement our wired broadband product by delivering added convenience, greater flexibility and stronger overall value for customers. By offering connectivity, both inside and outside the home, we aim to strengthen long-term relationships and improve retention while meeting more of our customers' everyday needs.

我們很高興地告訴大家，我們已經與行動虛擬網路推動者（MVNE）簽署了一項協議，在我們的幾個市場試行行動服務。這標誌著一項重點計劃的開始，旨在探索行動技術是否可以透過為客戶提供更多便利、更大的靈活性和更強的整體價值來補充我們的有線寬頻產品。透過提供家庭內外的連接，我們的目標是加強長期關係並提高保留率，同時滿足更多客戶的日常需求。

Our belief has been that mobile makes sense only if a few key conditions are met: improved wholesale economics, better mobile network reliability standards in our markets, mature enablement platforms, and a fully featured product with the potential to attract value-conscious customers. The shifting market dynamics and advancements in technology have improved the economic viability of mobile, making this a good time for us to launch this pilot program.

我們堅信，只有滿足幾個關鍵條件，行動才有意義：批發經濟的改善、我們市場上更好的行動網路可靠性標準、成熟的支援平台以及具有吸引註重價值的客戶的潛力的功能齊全的產品。不斷變化的市場動態和技術的進步提高了行動的經濟可行性，這為我們啟動該試點計劃提供了良好的時機。

Mobile has the potential to enhance customer lifetime value, reduce churn, and support packaging opportunities that reinforce the strength of our core broadband business. We'll take a disciplined approach on this new initiative and see what we learn as the pilot progresses.

行動技術有潛力提高客戶終身價值、減少客戶流失、並支持打包機會，從而增強我們核心寬頻業務的實力。我們將採取嚴謹的方式實施這項新舉措，並觀察試點進展過程中所取得的進展。

To wrap up, while competition is fierce and there's a lot more work to do, we believe we are taking the right strategic actions to grow the business over the long term. We're seeing better sequential monthly trends in customer-add activity over the first half of the year, early momentum from some of our new product lines, and we anticipate greater efficiencies and improved customer experience from our unified billing platform going forward.

總而言之，雖然競爭非常激烈，還有很多工作要做，但我們相信我們正在採取正確的策略行動，以實現業務的長期成長。我們看到上半年客戶增加活動的月度連續趨勢更好，一些新產品線的早期發展勢頭良好，我們預計未來統一計費平台的效率將更高，客戶體驗將得到改善。

Most importantly, we believe we are building a growth engine thoughtfully, and recognize that continued transformation will be required to fully realize our long-term ambitions. And now Todd, who will provide a recap of our second quarter financial performance.

最重要的是，我們相信我們正在深思熟慮地建立成長引擎，並認識到需要持續轉型才能完全實現我們的長期目標。現在，托德將回顧我們第二季的財務表現。

Thanks, Julie. Total revenues for the second quarter of 2025 were $381.1 million compared to $394.5 million in the second quarter of 2024. Residential video revenues drove the majority of the decrease in total revenues with a year-over-year reduction of $9 million or 15.8% due to continued video subscriber attrition. Residential data revenues decreased $1.1 million or 0.5% year-over-year, driven by a 3.2% decline in subscribers, partially offset by a 2.4% increase in ARPU. However, on a sequential basis, residential data revenues increased $4.2 million or 1.9% over the first quarter, driven by a 3% increase in ARPU.

謝謝，朱莉。2025 年第二季總營收為 3.811 億美元，而 2024 年第二季為 3.945 億美元。住宅視訊收入是總收入下降的主要原因，由於視訊用戶持續流失，住宅視訊收入年減 900 萬美元，降幅為 15.8%。住宅數據收入年減 110 萬美元，或 0.5%，原因是用戶數量下降 3.2%，但 ARPU 成長 2.4% 部分抵消了這一影響。然而，以環比計算，住宅數據收入比第一季增加了 420 萬美元，增幅為 1.9%，這得益於 ARPU 成長了 3%。

Business services data revenues grew 1.2% year-over-year in Q2 2025, driven by continued strength in our high-value fiber and carrier segments. These high-performing categories benefited from robust sales activity, increased connection volumes and the ramp of previously announced multimillion-dollar long-term contracts. On a sequential basis, business data revenues increased 0.2%.

2025 年第二季度，商業服務數據營收年增 1.2%，這得益於我們高價值光纖和營運商部門的持續強勁成長。這些高績效類別受益於強勁的銷售活動、增加的連接量以及先前宣布的價值數百萬美元的長期合約的增加。與上一季相比，商業數據收入成長了 0.2%。

Operating expenses were $102.4 million or 26.9% of revenues in the second quarter of 2025 compared to $105.8 million or 26.8% of revenues in the prior year quarter, with the decrease driven largely by a reduction in programming costs. Selling, general, and administrative expenses were $92 million for the second quarter of 2025 compared to $90.8 million in the prior year quarter.

2025 年第二季的營運費用為 1.024 億美元，佔營收的 26.9%，而去年同期的營運費用為 1.058 億美元，佔營收的 26.8%，下降的主要原因是節目製作成本的降低。2025 年第二季的銷售、一般及行政費用為 9,200 萬美元，去年同期為 9,080 萬美元。

SG&A as a percentage of revenue was 24.1% for Q2 of 2025 compared to 23% for Q2 of 2024, with the increase driven largely by investments in growth enablement platforms, partially offset by a reduction in labor costs. Taken together, these platforms and ongoing operating efficiencies are expected to generate annual run rate cost savings of approximately $15 million across both operating and SG&A expense, including the anticipated savings from our billing system migration. While some of these savings may be offset by inflationary cost pressures or reinvestment in growth initiatives, we expect a meaningful net benefit over time.

2025 年第二季度，銷售、一般及行政費用佔收入的百分比為 24.1%，而 2024 年第二季度為 23%，其增長主要得益於對增長支持平台的投資，但勞動力成本的降低部分抵消了這一增長。綜合起來，這些平台和持續的營運效率預計將在營運和銷售、一般及行政費用方面產生約 1500 萬美元的年度運行成本節省，其中包括我們計費系統遷移預期節省的費用。雖然其中一些節省可能會被通膨成本壓力或對成長計畫的再投資所抵消，但我們預計隨著時間的推移將獲得可觀的淨收益。

During the quarter, triggered by a decline in the price of our common stock, we conducted an impairment assessment of our intangible assets and goodwill and recognized a combined non-cash impairment charge of $586 million. This charge doesn't impact our cash flows, operational strategy, or growth initiatives. Adjusted EBITDA of $203.2 million was 53.3% of revenues in Q2 of 2025. In Q2 of 2024, adjusted EBITDA was $212.4 million or 53.8% of revenues.

本季度，由於普通股價格下跌，我們對無形資產和商譽進行了減損評估，並確認了 5.86 億美元的綜合非現金減損費用。這筆費用不會影響我們的現金流、營運策略或成長計畫。調整後的 EBITDA 為 2.032 億美元，佔 2025 年第二季營收的 53.3%。2024 年第二季度，調整後的 EBITDA 為 2.124 億美元，佔營收的 53.8%。

Capital expenditures were $68.4 million in Q2, a decrease of $3.2 million or 4.5% year-over-year. During the quarter, we invested $8.7 million of CapEx for new market expansion projects and $2.2 million for integration activities.

第二季資本支出為 6,840 萬美元，年減 320 萬美元，降幅為 4.5%。本季度，我們為新市場擴張項目投資了 870 萬美元資本支出，為整合活動投資了 220 萬美元。

Adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures or free cash flow was $134.8 million in the second quarter of 2025, representing 66.4% of adjusted EBITDA compared to $140.8 million and 66.3% in the prior year. We will continue to evaluate how best to deploy the meaningful free cash flow generated by our business, with a steady focus on long-term growth and disciplined conservative balance sheet management.

2025 年第二季度，調整後 EBITDA 減去資本支出或自由現金流為 1.348 億美元，佔調整後 EBITDA 的 66.4%，而去年同期為 1.408 億美元，佔 66.3%。我們將繼續評估如何最好地配置我們業務產生的有意義的自由現金流，並穩步關注長期成長和嚴謹保守的資產負債表管理。

With the passage of the tax bill earlier this month, we expect to realize approximately $40 million of cash tax savings in 2025 and approximately $120 million of aggregate cash tax savings through 2027 based on our preliminary estimates and available information.

隨著本月初稅收法案的通過，根據我們的初步估計和現有信息，我們預計 2025 年將實現約 4000 萬美元的現金稅收節省，到 2027 年將實現約 1.2 億美元的總現金稅收節省。

We used a portion of our substantial free cash flow in addition to cash savings from our dividend suspension to pay down over $70 million of debt during the quarter. On top of nearly $5 million of scheduled term loan amortization payments, we voluntarily paid down $45 million of revolver borrowings and opportunistically repurchased over $21 million of senior notes and term loan borrowings at attractive discounts to face value. This brings our gross debt repayment during the last two years to well over $0.5 billion, excluding the $175 million revolver draw related to the amendment to our MBI strategic partnership late last year.

除因暫停派發股息而節省的現金外，我們還使用了部分大量自由現金流來償還本季超過 7,000 萬美元的債務。除了近 500 萬美元的定期貸款攤銷付款外，我們還自願償還了 4500 萬美元的循環貸款，並以低於面值的優惠價格機會性地回購了超過 2100 萬美元的優先票據和定期貸款。這使得我們過去兩年的總債務償還遠遠超過 5 億美元，這還不包括去年年底與 MBI 戰略夥伴關係修訂相關的 1.75 億美元循環信貸額度。

In addition, we repaid another $25 million of revolver borrowings earlier today. In addition to disciplined debt repayment and deleveraging, we may opportunistically and prudently buy back shares under our remaining $143 million authorization, dependent on the trading level of our common stock, market conditions, and other factors.

此外，我們今天早些時候還償還了另外 2500 萬美元的循環借款。除了嚴格償還債務和去槓桿之外，我們還可能根據普通股的交易水準、市場狀況和其他因素，適時謹慎地回購剩餘的 1.43 億美元授權範圍內的股票。

As of June 30, we had approximately $153 million of cash and cash equivalents on hand, and our total debt balance was approximately $3.5 billion consisting of approximately $1.7 billion in term loans, $920 million in convertible notes, $633 million in unsecured notes, $228 million of revolver borrowings and $3 million of finance lease liabilities. We ended the quarter with substantial committed liquidity available under our $1.25 billion revolving credit facility, providing meaningful financial flexibility.

截至 6 月 30 日，我們手頭上有大約 1.53 億美元的現金和現金等價物，我們的總債務餘額約為 35 億美元，其中包括約 17 億美元的定期貸款、9.2 億美元的可轉換票據、6.33 億美元的無擔保票據、2.28 億美元的循環借款和 300 萬美元的循環借款。本季結束時，我們透過 12.5 億美元的循環信貸額度獲得了大量承諾的流動資金，從而提供了有意義的財務靈活性。

Our weighted average cost of debt for the second quarter of 2025 was 3.9%, and our net leverage ratio on a last quarter annualized basis was 4.1 times. Nearly $2.8 billion of our $3.5 billion of debt contains fixed or synthetically fixed base interest rates that are substantially below current market rates. Between our free cash flow generation and the substantial available capacity under our revolving credit facility, we expect we will be able to fully retire our 2026 convertible note maturities without needing to arrange for additional financing. Even so, we will continue to monitor the capital markets in order to be in a position to take advantage of attractive opportunities should they arise.

我們 2025 年第二季的加權平均負債成本為 3.9%，上一季年化淨槓桿率為 4.1 倍。在我們 35 億美元的債務中，近 28 億美元的固定或合成固定基準利率遠低於當前市場利率。在我們的自由現金流產生和循環信貸安排下的大量可用容量之間，我們預計我們將能夠完全償還 2026 年可轉換票據到期日，而無需安排額外融資。即便如此，我們仍將繼續關注資本市場，以便在出現有吸引力的機會時能夠抓住它們。

Turning to MBI. Now that the June 30 measurement period has concluded, we've narrowed our estimated range for the purchase price if the call or put option is exercised. We now expect the purchase price to fall between $460 million and $510 million, and the amount of MBI's total net indebtedness at the time it is acquired will be between $845 million and $895 million. If the put option is exercised, we would anticipate the closing to occur on October 1, 2026.

轉向 MBI。現在 6 月 30 日的測量期已經結束，如果行使看漲或看跌期權，我們已經縮小了購買價格的估計範圍。我們現在預計收購價格將在 4.6 億美元至 5.1 億美元之間，而 MBI 在被收購時的總淨負債金額將在 8.45 億美元至 8.95 億美元之間。若行使賣權，我們預計成交將於 2026 年 10 月 1 日發生。

Over the last two years, we've completed or announced the monetization of five equity investments, and we expect to continue to evaluate strategic options for our remaining equity investments. Earlier this month, we monetized our stake in Metronet and our monetization of Ziply remains on track to close before the end of 2025. Together, these transactions are expected to generate in excess of $100 million of combined after-tax proceeds, supplementing our discretionary cash and excess liquidity position.

在過去兩年中，我們已經完成或宣布了五項股權投資的貨幣化，我們預計將繼續評估剩餘股權投資的策略選擇。本月初，我們將在 Metronet 的股份貨幣化，而我們對 Ziply 的貨幣化仍有望在 2025 年底前完成。預計這些交易將產生超過 1 億美元的稅後收益，補充我們的可自由支配現金和過剩流動性狀況。

Before we open it up for questions, I want to reiterate that although we operate in a competitive environment, we are confident that our strategy will result in long-term sustainable growth. Between positive monthly connect activity trends during the first half of the year, our new value-focused product offerings, the rollout of segmented marketing campaigns, and expected efficiencies from our investments in strategic growth enablement platforms, we believe we are making progress towards our goal of growing our business over the long term. With that, I'll turn the call back over to Julie before we move into Q&A.

在我們開始提問之前，我想重申，儘管我們在競爭環境中運營，但我們相信我們的策略將帶來長期可持續成長。透過上半年積極的月度連結活動趨勢、我們新的以價值為中心的產品、細分行銷活動的推出以及我們對策略成長支援平台的投資預期效率，我們相信我們正在朝著長期成長業務的目標邁進。說完這些，在我們進入問答環節之前，我會把電話轉回給朱莉。

Thanks, Todd. Before we open it up for questions, I want to briefly touch on the CEO succession plan we announced in the second quarter. After 26 years with Cable One and more than 40 years in the industry, I will be retiring later this year upon the earlier of the appointment of my successor for year-end. I will continue to serve as CEO until my retirement and will remain as a senior adviser through 2026 to support a smooth transition.

謝謝，托德。在我們開始提問之前，我想簡單談談我們在第二季宣布的執行長繼任計畫。在 Cable One 工作了 26 年，並在業內工作了 40 多年之後，我將在今年晚些時候退休，屆時將任命年底的繼任者。我將繼續擔任執行長直至退休，並將繼續擔任高級顧問直至 2026 年，以支持平穩過渡。

The Board has retained a leading executive search firm and is conducting a comprehensive search process for my successor that includes both internal and external candidates. This process is designed to ensure a stable transition and execution of our long-term growth strategy. With that, we're ready for your questions.

董事會已聘請了一家領先的高階主管搜尋公司，並正在對我的繼任者進行全面的搜尋流程，其中包括內部和外部候選人。此流程旨在確保我們長期成長策略的穩定過渡和執行。至此，我們已經準備好回答您的問題了。

Brandon Nispel, KeyBanc.

布蘭登‧尼斯佩爾 (Brandon Nispel)，KeyBanc。

Hey guys, thanks for taking the questions. Julie, you mentioned that competitive overlap with fiber now stood at 53%. I think that's up quite a bit from the last disclosures. I was hoping you could talk a little bit about the net adds or losses that you're seeing in fiber versus non-fiber markets? Trying to understand if there's a difference or if some of the competitive losses are just sort of going to fixed wireless. Thanks.

嘿夥計們，感謝你們回答問題。朱莉，您提到與光纖的競爭重疊現在為 53%。我認為這比上次披露的數據高出不少。我希望您能稍微談談您在光纖市場和非光纖市場中看到的淨增值或損失？試著了解是否存在差異，或者一些競爭損失是否只是轉向固定無線。謝謝。

Sure, Brandon. Thanks. Actually, last quarter, we said that our overlap with fiber was 50%. So we went from 50% to 53% during the course of the quarter. And in terms of fiber versus non-fiber, we don't really see -- fiber is broken down into the big guys who are moving relatively slowly, and then some smaller folks who are making some incursions into small parts of small markets.

當然，布蘭登。謝謝。實際上，上個季度我們表示，我們與光纖的重疊率為 50%。因此，本季我們的比例從 50% 上升到了 53%。就光纖和非光纖而言，我們並沒有真正看到——光纖被分解為行動相對緩慢的大公司和一些正在侵入小市場小部分的小公司。

So based on competitive intelligence that we have, our losses are coming from a lack of connects that are likely being taken by cellphone internet. During the quarter, we had connects that were higher each month during the year and June represented a year-over-year month where connects were actually higher in '25 than '24. So we feel relatively good that we're making progress there, albeit not as high as we would like to see.

因此，根據我們掌握的競爭情報，我們的損失是由於缺乏連接而造成的，而這些連接很可能被手機互聯網所取代。在本季度，我們的連線數在全年每個月都更高，而 6 月是同比 25 年連線數實際上高於 24 年的月份。因此，我們對在那裡取得的進展感到相對高興，儘管進展沒有達到我們希望看到的程度。

We also had elevated churn. And I think going through examples will help illustrate how the activities that we talked about in the script, those internal actions that we mentioned, they affected both ARPU and churn. So I'll give you some examples to illustrate. We did do some pricing changes for a subset of customers. And as we've talked about actually quite a bit in the past, we take a targeted approach there where some customers' rates are going down. Some customers' rates are going up.

我們的客戶流失率也上升了。我認為透過例子將有助於說明我們在腳本中討論的活動、我們提到的內部操作如何影響 ARPU 和客戶流失率。因此我將舉一些例子來說明。我們確實針對一部分客戶做了一些價格調整。正如我們過去多次討論的那樣，我們採取了有針對性的方法，降低一些客戶的費率。一些客戶的費率正在上漲。

We also had pricing normalization as we've gone through our billing migration and harmonized all the brands into Sparklight. We had the roll-off of promotional discounts. And this quarter, promotional discounts were roughly double of our typical volume.

我們還實現了價格標準化，因為我們已經完成了帳單遷移並將所有品牌統一到 Sparklight 中。我們推出了一系列促銷折扣。本季度，促銷折扣約為我們正常折扣額的兩倍。

And what happens when we do the promos as we get a higher response rate. So that's good. We're bringing more customers in the door. But there will be some attrition when they roll to higher rates.

當我們進行促銷時，我們會獲得更高的回應率，會發生什麼情況？這很好。我們正在吸引更多的顧客。但當利率上升時，必定會出現一些人員流失。

Now this cohort actually retained incredibly well, actually higher than our base, and we're going to keep an eye on them to see how they continue to retain. But you can see where those promo roll-offs would have created churn and a bump in ARPU.

現在，這個群體實際上保留得非常好，實際上比我們的基數還要高，我們將密切關注他們，看看他們如何繼續保留。但你可以看到這些促銷活動的推出會導致客戶流失並增加 ARPU。

We also have seen broader adoption of our value-added services like SecurePlus and Ultimate Wi-Fi. And our gig-plus plans are continuing to sell in at 46%. So that's something on the ARPU side. And then the last thing that affected churn, but also ARPU is the completion of our final phase of our AutoPay program.

我們的加值服務（如 SecurePlus 和 Ultimate Wi-Fi）也得到了更廣泛的應用。我們的 gig-plus 計劃的銷量繼續保持在 46%。這就是 ARPU 方面的事情。最後影響客戶流失率和 ARPU 的因素是我們的自動付款計劃的最後階段的完成。

And so we had the remaining one-fourth of our customers who had not been exposed to that because they were in our family of brands. And what happens when we roll this out is we see the highest non enrollment rate. That means they are being charged that $5 surcharge. But over time, people adopt into the AutoPay program. And so thus their monthly rate will be coming down. So I hope that helps to explain.

因此，我們剩下的四分之一的客戶還沒有接觸過這些產品，因為他們屬於我們的品牌系列。當我們推行這項計劃時，我們看到了最高的未入學率。這意味著他們將被收取 5 美元的附加費。但隨著時間的推移，人們逐漸接受了自動付款計畫。因此他們的月費將會下降。我希望這有助於解釋。

Yes. Great color. I was hoping maybe then as a follow-up, if you could help us understand what promo roll-off looks like going forward. And given that you saw higher churn from sort of promo roll off, are you implementing any sort of unique same tactics that might help churn and save those customers? Thanks.

是的。顏色很棒。我希望也許作為後續行動，你能幫助我們了解未來的促銷推廣情況。鑑於您發現促銷活動導致客戶流失率較高，您是否正在實施某種獨特的策略來幫助流失並留住這些客戶？謝謝。

Great questions. Yes. So these are promos that were affected in 2024. And through the remainder of the year, we expect this dynamic to remain elevated. And we do have -- actually, when I've talked about the team in the past, I talked about folks that we have brought on board who come from highly competitive environments or even entrepreneurial environments and the person who is in charge of our retention tactics is hard at work.

很好的問題。是的。這些是 2024 年受到影響的促銷活動。我們預計，在今年剩餘時間內，這種勢頭仍將保持在高位。我們確實有——實際上，當我過去談論團隊時，我談到了我們招募的來自高度競爭環境甚至創業環境的人員，而負責我們保留策略的人正在努力工作。

And again, at this point in time, Brandon, these -- this cohort is retaining at a higher level at its point in time in its life cycle than our base. So it sort of suggests that it's a right-sized value for them, I would say.

再說一次，布蘭登，在這個時間點上，這個群體在其生命週期的時間點上的保留水平比我們的基數要高。所以我想說，這表明這對他們來說是一個合適的價值。

Appreciate you taking the question. Thank you.

感謝您回答這個問題。謝謝。

Sam McHugh, BNP Paribas.

法國巴黎銀行的 Sam McHugh。

Awesome. Thank you very much, guys. First on broadband. Obviously, we've seen an acceleration in losses again, but the ARPU strong. It seems like you're still struggling to balance the two. You talked about FlexConnect not quite meeting expectations.

驚人的。非常感謝你們，夥伴們。首先是寬頻。顯然，我們再次看到損失加速增加，但 ARPU 卻強勁。看起來你仍在努力平衡兩者。您談到 FlexConnect 並未完全達到預期。

So when we think about this, what's your priority? Is it subscribers? Or is it ARPU, like which is the number one priority? Secondly, you talked about ARPU being stable. Just to clarify, are you talking about year-over-year now or sequentially from 2Q? Thank you very much.

那麼當我們考慮這個問題時，您的優先事項是什麼？是訂戶嗎？還是 ARPU，哪個是第一要務？其次，您談到了 ARPU 穩定性。只是為了澄清一下，您談論的是現在的同比數據還是從第二季度開始的環比數據？非常感謝。

Thanks, Sam. When it comes to our priority, it is, in fact, a truism that we are attempting to balance both. But again, there are puts and takes in each one of our markets. It's one of the positives of having systems in 24 states that have different dynamics going on at a time.

謝謝，山姆。當涉及到我們的優先事項時，事實上，我們正在嘗試平衡兩者，這是一個不言而喻的事實。但同樣，我們的每個市場都有優點和缺點。這是在 24 個州建立系統並同時擁有不同動態的優勢之一。

So again, while there's increases in some markets, there's decreases in others or maybe there's different tests going on with all-in pricing, that sort of thing. When we're talking about ARPU being steady, we're seeing from this point forward through the rest of the year, we plan -- we assume that ARPU will be stable. For color on FlexConnect, I'll turn it over to Todd.

所以，雖然有些市場有所成長，但其他市場卻有所下降，或者可能正在對全包定價進行不同的測試，諸如此類。當我們談論 ARPU 保持穩定時，我們預計從現在到今年剩餘時間，ARPU 將會保持穩定。對於 FlexConnect 的顏色，我將把它交給 Todd。

Yeah. And Sam, on the stability side, as Julie just said, we've been really close to the mean now for the last four quarters, right? So quarter-to-quarter ARPU with some of the promotional dynamics, with some of the segmented rate adjustments that we've made is going to have some change. But when we talk about stability, we obviously look at that as you've heard us say before through the lens of a longer-term period than next quarter.

是的。山姆，就穩定性方面而言，正如朱莉剛才所說，過去四個季度我們已經非常接近平均水平了，對嗎？因此，季度間 ARPU 會隨著一些促銷活動以及我們所做的一些分段費率調整而發生一些變化。但是，當我們談論穩定性時，我們顯然會從比下個季度更長遠的角度來看待這一點，正如您之前聽到我們所說的那樣。

But as Julie said, for the rest of the year, we expect ARPU to remain stable. We don't anticipate large fluctuations, but rather steady performance. As it relates to Flex, it did -- it didn't meet our expectations in terms of additional connects, additional gross adds for the quarter.

但正如朱莉所說，在今年剩餘時間內，我們預計 ARPU 將保持穩定。我們預計不會出現大的波動，而是穩定的表現。就 Flex 而言，它確實沒有達到我們對本季額外連接和額外總增加的預期。

As you recall, we were launching that later in the quarter. At the same time, we were prioritizing the best execution that we needed to complete the migration of our billing system as well as the revamp of our website and our digital ecosystem.

您還記得，我們將在本季稍後推出該產品。同時，我們優先考慮完成計費系統遷移以及網站和數位生態系統改造所需的最佳執行方式。

We basically identified that getting those two core platform implementations complete was going to give us a better foundation for launching that product. And so we're actively right now refining the go-to-market on the back end of those two critical implementations and readying a relaunch of that, which will occur in Q3.

我們基本上確定，完成這兩個核心平台的實現將為我們推出該產品奠定更好的基礎。因此，我們目前正在積極改善這兩個關鍵實施的後端上市計劃，並準備在第三季重新啟動。

We'll put increased marketing behind that, increased branding support behind that. And we still expect that FlexConnect will be an important lever in our broader segmentation strategy for new customer acquisition, specifically with that value-conscious customer base.

我們將加強行銷力度，並增加品牌支援。我們仍然希望 FlexConnect 成為我們更廣泛的新客戶獲取細分策略中的重要槓桿，特別是針對注重價值的客戶群。

I'm going to take a small follow-up as well. AT&T has been talking about accelerating with Internet Air in the second half of this year. I don't know in your markets, whether you've seen a noticeable change from kind of how they go to market on copper saves?

我還將進行一些後續行動。AT&T 一直在談論在今年下半年加速推出 Internet Air。我不知道在您的市場中，您是否看到他們在銅儲蓄市場上的銷售方式發生了明顯的變化？

Yes. It is a good question, and it is a relevant one. We've talked about that really for the last couple of quarters because in some of the smaller markets specifically, where AT&T has not upgraded their copper network to fiber, they have been very aggressive with that product. Whether that's a save or an interim strategy, you'll be better to analyze that.

是的。這是一個好問題，而且是一個相關的問題。我們在過去幾季確實討論過這個問題，因為在一些較小的市場中，AT&T 還沒有將他們的銅線網路升級為光纖，但他們對該產品非常積極。無論這是保存還是臨時策略，您最好對其進行分析。

But that is a product that we believe a solution like FlexConnect can go head-to-head with in those environments. Their upgrades have slowed. But counter to that, their pressure on that fixed wireless cell phone internet product have accelerated.

但我們相信，FlexConnect 等解決方案可以在這些環境中與該產品相媲美。他們的升級速度已經放緩。但與此相反的是，他們對固定無線手機網路產品的壓力卻在加速。

Sebastiano Petti, JPMorgan.

摩根大通的塞巴斯蒂亞諾·佩蒂。

Nik on for Sebastiano. It's great to hear the pilot for mobile. You guys mentioned that the economic viability of the offering has improved and that's kind of the driving factor. But I'm also curious if you would characterize the strategy as a competitive response in any way. It seems like all the big telcos are increasingly pushing convergence. So I'm wondering if you guys kind of see that at a go-to-market level?

尼克替換塞巴斯蒂亞諾。很高興聽到行動試點計畫。你們提到該產品的經濟可行性已經提高，這是一個驅動因素。但我也很好奇您是否會將該策略描述為一種競爭反應。看起來所有大型電信公司都在大力推動整合。所以我想知道你們是否從市場進入的層面看到了這一點？

And then secondly, on mobile as well. I mean, any initial thoughts around go-to-market? Would we expect something like free lines, for example, like some of your cable peers do?

其次，在行動裝置上也是如此。我的意思是，對於進入市場有什麼初步想法嗎？我們是否像一些有線電視同行一樣，期待免費線路之類的服務？

Thanks, Nik, it's Julie. It isn't just the improving economics, it is also the stability of the mobile networks in all of our markets, which we had an issue with heretofore as well as getting a fully rounded product that is to say that it was fully featured in that the enablement platform was tried and true.

謝謝，尼克，我是朱莉。這不僅是經濟狀況的改善，也是我們所有市場行動網路的穩定性問題，此前我們一直面臨著這個問題，同時我們還在尋求一款功能齊全的產品，也就是說，它的功能齊全，因為支援平台已經過驗證。

So all of those factors are coming into play now, making us feel comfortable that this is something that would be in alignment with the Sparklight brand image. It would not cause it any harm. When it comes to convergence and what we think we can -- this can do, we see it as adding a piece of -- an ease of life to our customers, quite honestly, and having a product that meets their needs and hopefully helps with our main product, which is broadband.

所以所有這些因素現在都發揮了作用，讓我們感到放心，這與 Sparklight 品牌形像是一致的。這不會對其造成任何傷害。當談到融合以及我們認為我們可以做什麼時——坦白說，我們認為這可以為我們的客戶帶來一些便利，並且擁有一種滿足他們需求的產品，並希望對我們的主要產品寬帶有所幫助。

So by bundling the two together, we, of course, are hoping that it is a value to our customers and helps our broadband service as well as offers us an opportunity for enhanced profitability. I think that's the lens through which we see convergence is through the lens of profitability.

因此，透過將兩者捆綁在一起，我們當然希望它能為我們的客戶帶來價值，並有助於我們的寬頻服務，並為我們提供提高獲利能力的機會。我認為，我們可以透過獲利能力的視角來看待融合。

In terms of go-to-market, what I can tell you is that we expect to be live before customers in our pilot markets by the end of the year. And you can imagine that we will be testing many, many different things to learn as we go.

在上市方面，我可以告訴你的是，我們預計在今年年底前在試點市場上線並向客戶推出該產品。你可以想像，我們將測試很多很多不同的東西來學習。

Frank Louthan, Raymond James.

法蘭克洛森、雷蒙詹姆斯。

On the billing system conversion, when will that have finished going through its first full billing cycle? And are you confident at this point that it's -- you're not dropping customers or it's going to have any other issues like you had earlier this year?

關於計費系統轉換，什麼時候完成第一個完整的計費週期？您現在是否有信心——您不會失去客戶，或者不會再出現像今年早些時候那樣的其他問題？

Frank, it's Julie. I don't think that we've had any problems with our first phase of our billing migration nor the second. We've gone through a complete cycle, meaning all four cycles of Phase 2. And so no problems with billing customers, with reporting, with provisioning. We do have follow-ups because almost everything flows from that.

法蘭克，我是朱莉。我認為我們的計費遷移的第一階段和第二階段都沒有遇到任何問題。我們已經經歷了一個完整的週期，即第二階段的所有四個週期。因此，向客戶收費、報告和配置都不會出現問題。我們確實有後續行動，因為幾乎所有事情都源自於此。

So every piece of provisioning, we will be down turning multiple different billing systems, different provisioning systems. We'll be going from five websites to one. There's still work to be done, but the billing migration is done. And while very, very tough, it is going well.

因此，對於每一項供應，我們都會採用多種不同的計費系統和不同的供應系統。我們將從五個網站減少到一個。仍有工作要做，但計費遷移已經完成。儘管非常非常艱難，但進展順利。

This concludes the question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the call back over to Julie Laulis for closing remarks.

問答環節到此結束。現在我想將電話轉回給朱莉·勞利斯 (Julie Laulis) 做結束語。

Thank you, Lacey. This is a dynamic time for our industry. And I am proud of how our associates continue to step up, execute with discipline and stay focused on providing great experience for our customers. I remain grateful to and thankful for them and all their hard work. Thanks again for your time and interest in Cable One.

謝謝你，萊西。對我們的產業來說，這是一個充滿活力的時期。我為我們的員工不斷進步、嚴格執行紀律並專注於為客戶提供卓越體驗而感到自豪。我仍然對他們和他們所有的辛勤工作心懷感激和感謝。再次感謝您對 Cable One 的時間和關注。

That concludes today's call. You may disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。您可以斷開連線。