Cable One, Inc. (CABO): One of the Underperforming Stocks Targeted By Short Sellers

Jabran Kundi

Wed, May 14, 2025, 11:24 AM 3 min read

We recently published a list of 20 Underperforming Stocks Targeted By Short Sellers. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Cable One, Inc. (NYSE:CABO) stands against other underperforming stocks targeted by short sellers.

Short interest refers to the percentage of publicly available shares that have been sold short. It is an indicator used by many investors to determine how strong a company’s bear thesis may be. Due to the nature of short selling, the short interest has become a popular indicator among investors.

The reason it is given so much weightage is that people betting against a stock have usually done solid research and are confident of a company’s downfall. They take unlimited risk, so when big investors or the smart money shorts a stock, people take notice. They try to unearth the red flags that may have prompted the high short interest.

We decided to dig deeper and try to find out where smart money sees trouble ahead. To come up with our list of 20 underperforming stocks targeted by short sellers, we looked at the worst-performing stocks of the last six months and then ranked them by the short interest.

A customer in their home enjoying premium channels, high-definition set-top boxes, and whole-home DVRs.

Short interest: 16.28%

6 months’ performance: -21.62%

Cable One, Inc. (NYSE:CABO) engages in the provision of voice, video, and data services inside the United States. It offers the Sparklight TV service, a cloud-based digital voice recording service, and also helps boost wifi signals at home through its residential data services.

The reason shorts are attracted to a company like Cable One (NYSE:CABO) is because of the current industry trends. Wireless voice services are way more in demand now than residential video services. This shifting trend is quite visible in the company’s revenues, with residential video services down from 41% of total revenue 10 years ago to only 14% now.

This leaves the company to compete in the data services industry, which is a highly competitive niche. Its capital-intensive business was looking quite attractive till 2022, when neither revenues nor cash flows were going strong. However, a consistent decline in revenues and stabilizing cash flows point to an unattractive future. The share price has already dropped from $2100 to $174 in three and a half years and continues to go down with each passing quarter.

Overall, CABO ranks 10th on our list of underperforming stocks targeted by short sellers. While we acknowledge the potential of CABO as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than CABO but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.