OPTU

Optimum (formerly Altice USA) is a shrinking, over-levered cable operator whose equity now sits behind a wall of debt. Revenue has fallen every year since 2021 ($10.1B → $8.59B, -4.1% in FY2025) as the filing itself flags competition from 'new fiber-based competitors entering our footprint' and DBS/wireless/Internet providers. FY2025 swung to a -$1.87B net loss (from -$103M) — a collapse far larger than the -$113M operating loss, driven by the interest burden on the debt stack and, given that 'a significant amount of our book value consists of intangible assets,' almost certainly impairment. Stockholders' equity is now -$2.31B and the liabilities/equity ratio is a meaningless -14.26x: book equity has been wiped out.

The balance sheet is the whole story. Long-term debt is $26.1B against a $546M market cap — the equity is a thin sliver of option value on an enterprise worth many multiples of its stock. Management is explicit that it is 'highly leveraged,' must 'refinance or repay our debt obligations as they come due,' and 'will need to raise significant amounts of funding over the next several years' — all while funding capex to 'build a parallel FTTH network.' Operating cash flow of $1.23B (down 22.4%) does not cover $1.35B of capex, so the company is burning cash before a single dollar of debt paydown, and it warns a ratings downgrade could raise borrowing costs and cut access to capital.