What Happened?
Shares of internet service provider Cogent Communications (NASDAQ: CCOI) fell 5.1% in the afternoon session after The Goldman Sachs Group lowered its price target on the stock from $40.00 to $25.00. While the investment firm maintained its "neutral" rating on the company, the significant cut in the price target suggested a less favorable view of the stock's near-term prospects. A price target represents the price at which an analyst believes a stock is fairly valued. A sharp reduction like this often leads investors to reassess their own valuation of a company, which can trigger a sell-off in the shares.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy Cogent? Access our full analysis report here.
What Is The Market Telling Us
Cogent’s shares are quite volatile and have had 19 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 5 days ago when the stock dropped 28.5% on the news that the company reported disappointing third-quarter results that fell short of revenue and EBITDA expectations.
The internet service provider posted revenue of $241.9 million, representing a 5.9% decrease year-on-year and missing Wall Street's forecasts. Although the company's GAAP loss of $0.87 per share was narrower than analysts had anticipated, this was overshadowed by the weak top-line performance. Furthermore, Cogent missed expectations for Adjusted EBITDA, a key measure of profitability. Investors appeared to focus on the declining sales and weaker-than-expected profitability, signaling concerns about the company's near-term business outlook.
Cogent is down 73.3% since the beginning of the year, and at $20.60 per share, it is trading 75.4% below its 52-week high of $83.79 from November 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Cogent’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $348.01.
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