# Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings (CCO.US)

Canonical: https://gigainvestors.com/s/CCO

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:27:18.640Z. Financial observations: FY2001–FY2025.

Listing currency: USD. Reporting currency: USD.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

Quality tests for Buy: not passed (profit record: fail; earnings resilience is evidence only). Published buy qualification: no.

Share price: $2.42 per share; close as of 2026-10-14.

## Checklist

### understandable: fail

- 6 revenue declines in the last 10 years

- more than 5 revenue declines in ten years

- more than 2 net loss years

- operating margin variation exceeds 0.35

- Financial history: 10 years

- Years with declining revenue: 6

- Years with a net loss: 9

- Operating margin variation: 0.97×

Chart: Operating margin; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 0.24×

- FY2017: 0.09×

- FY2018: 0.09×

- FY2019: 0.09×

- FY2020: -0.16×

- FY2021: 0.03×

- FY2022: 0.19×

- FY2023: 0.15×

- FY2024: 0.19×

- FY2025: 0.19×

### moat: fail

- ROIC median below threshold

- ROIC worst years below threshold (more than 1 bad year allowed)

- Recent gross margin fell 4.1pp below the typical margin (limit 4pp)

- ROIC, median of available years: 7.4%

- ROIC, second-lowest year: 1.6%

- Typical minus recent gross margin: 4.1 pp

- Typical gross margin (annual median): 46.6%

- Recent gross margin (lower of latest and 3-year median): 42.5%

- Years with nonpositive capital: 0

- Capital spending / revenue: 8.6%

- ROIC including acquisitions, ten-year median: -4.8%

Chart: ROIC excluding acquisitions; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 14.4%

- FY2017: 7.7%

- FY2018: 9.4%

- FY2019: 5.4%

- FY2020: -7.8%

- FY2021: 1.6%

- FY2022: 7.2%

- FY2023: 5.8%

- FY2024: 8.0%

- FY2025: 10.1%

### economics: fail

- owner earnings cash conversion below threshold

- Cash conversion uses consolidated totals: No

- Owner earnings, five-year total: -$511M

- Net income, five-year total: -$1.1B

- Return on incremental invested capital: >100%

- Working capital / revenue, annual change: 0.6 pp

- Working capital / revenue, change between three-year averages: 2.0 pp

- Working capital / revenue, final three-year average: 24.0%

Chart: Owner earnings · five years; fiscal year observations.

- FY2021: -$210M

- FY2022: $12M

- FY2023: -$219M

- FY2024: -$82M

- FY2025: -$13M

### management: fail

- Historical market-dollar context (not the management verdict): 2016 to 2025 (9 years)

- potential debt-funded buybacks (informational)

- buybacks leaned toward cheaper years (informational)

- ROIC first 3 years vs last 3 years: 9.4% vs 8.0%

- Per-share earnings: -0.27 to -0.37 (three-year endpoint medians)

- per-share value declined or ends nonpositive

- five-year and ten-year diluted share growth both above threshold

- Management verdict uses per-share economic progress: Yes

- Ordinary dilution, 10-year annual growth: 3.3%

- Ordinary dilution, 5-year annual growth: 1.3%

- Market cap gain: -$731M

- Cumulative retained earnings: -$2.8B

- Diluted shares, 10-year annual growth: 3.3%

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: 1.3%

- $1 test, starting fiscal year: FY2016

- $1 test, ending fiscal year: FY2025

- Per-share value change: -$0.10

- Per-share value, starting three-year median: -$0.27

- Per-share value, ending three-year median: -$0.37

- Buybacks concentrated in cheaper years (correlation): 0.32

- Average buyback yield: 0.7%

- Buyback history: 7 years

- Debt-funded buybacks: Yes

- Acquisition spending: $75M

- Cumulative net income, 10 years: -$2.8B

- ROIC, first three-year median: 9.4%

- ROIC, last three-year median: 8.0%

Chart: Earnings per share; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: $0.37

- FY2017: -$1.78

- FY2018: -$0.60

- FY2019: -$0.88

- FY2020: -$1.25

- FY2021: -$0.93

- FY2022: -$0.20

- FY2023: -$0.65

- FY2024: -$0.37

- FY2025: -$0.21

### accounting: pass

- stock compensation exceeds 15% of operating cash flow

- Sloan accruals: -5.7%

- Receivables to sales index (DSRI): 1.01×

- Restructuring years, last five: 1

- Stock compensation / operating cash flow: 22.3%

- Earnings backed by cash: Yes

- Accounting red flags: 1

Chart: Sloan accruals; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -3.0%

- FY2017: -17.2%

- FY2018: -9.0%

- FY2019: -9.0%

- FY2020: -7.7%

- FY2021: -5.7%

- FY2022: -4.7%

- FY2023: -7.2%

- FY2024: -5.4%

- FY2025: -5.7%

## Holders

## Price story

Down 35% since Feb 2022 · sales +6.6%

Story as of 2026-10-15T08:20:27.605Z; price observation 2026-10-14.

- 2025-08-05: Clear Channel earnings beat by $0.06, revenue topped estimates ([investing.com](https://www.investing.com/news/earnings/clear-channel-earnings-beat-by-006-revenue-topped-estimates-4170228))

### Sales · FY2024–2025

sales +6.6%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1334978/000133497826000010/cco-20251231.htm; observed 2026-02-26.

- FY2016: $2.7B 

- FY2017: $2.6B 

- FY2018: $2.7B 

- FY2019: $2.7B 

- FY2020: $1.9B 

- FY2021: $1.8B 

- FY2022: $1.4B 

- FY2023: $1.4B 

- FY2024: $1.5B 

- FY2025: $1.6B 

### Gross margin · FY2025

gross margin 42.5%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1334978/000133497826000010/cco-20251231.htm; observed 2026-02-26.

- FY2016: 47.3% 

- FY2017: 45.5% 

- FY2018: 46.0% 

- FY2019: 45.9% 

- FY2020: 35.2% 

- FY2021: 49.8% 

- FY2022: 57.4% 

- FY2023: 54.0% 

- FY2024: 54.8% 

- FY2025: 42.5% 

## Owner memo

Memo as of 2026-10-16T08:06:05.509Z.

### How it makes money

Operates in advertising agencies; annual sales are USD 1.6 billion.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1334978/000133497826000010/cco-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-26); FY2025: revenue 1604140000; grossProfit 681283000; margin = grossProfit / revenue.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-15); CCO.US: Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. operates as an out-of-home advertising company in the United States and Singapore. The company operates in two segments, America and Airports. It offers advertising services through billboards, including bulletins and posters, as well as spectaculars, which are customized display structures with videos, three-dimensional elements and moving parts; street furniture displays, such as advertising surfaces on bus shelters, kiosks, news racks, and other public structures; transit displays in rail stations and on buses, trains, and trams; and wallscapes, as well as advertising solutions to commercial and private airports. The company offers solutions, such as RADARView, an audience and campaign planning tool, which uses historical mobile location data; RADARConnect, a campaign amplification solution that delivers supportive advertisements across mobile and other devices and extends the reach; RADARProof, a campaign measurement and attribution solutions, which analyzes anonymized and/or aggregated data; and RADARSync, a data integration platform designed to enable customized application of the RADAR tools and privacy-compliant sharing of RADAR insights with analytics platforms. It has strategic alliance with FootballCo Media Limited to provide real-time tournament content on digital screens across the United States. The company was formerly known as Eller Media Company and changed its name to Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. in August 2005. Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.

### Why customers stay

Margins ranged from 42.5% to 54.8% during 2023–25; it earns 7.4% on its capital.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); FY2023: grossProfit / revenue = 54%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); FY2024: grossProfit / revenue = 54.8%.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1334978/000133497826000010/cco-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-26); FY2025: grossProfit / revenue = 42.5%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); 10-year return on capital observations [[2016,0.14388239416562779],[2017,0.07667677155977487],[2018,0.09352951437375814],[2019,0.05369170518343063],[2020,-0.07779492806041281],[2021,0.01570577390509246],[2022,0.07211400373478595],[2023,0.05801917745668186],[2024,0.08009829133238595],[2025,0.10109252508944751]]; median 0.0743953876472804. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Where the cash goes

Paid dividends in 5 of 10 years.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); FY2016: growth capex 0; upkeep 229772000; owner earnings 249422000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); FY2022: growth capex 0; upkeep 184679000; owner earnings 12072000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); Dividend observations: [[2016,755538000],[2017,332824000],[2018,30678000],[2019,740000],[2020,405000],[2021,0],[2022,0],[2023,0],[2024,0],[2025,0]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

### Are managers owners

Insiders own 16.4% of the company.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-15); CCO.US SharesStats.PercentInsiders = 16.448 percentage points; cache date 2026-10-15.

### What the price says

The price is 0.7 times annual sales; cash earnings are negative.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); Closing price 2.42 USD; reporting-to-trading FX 1; FY2025 annual sales per share 3.238031029095328; price multiple 0.747367760918623. FY2025 cash earnings/share -0.025379183942059645. Closing-price date 2026-10-14.

## Monthly share-price history (USD per share)

- 2016-10: $5.75 per share

- 2016-11: $5.45 per share

- 2016-12: $5.05 per share

- 2017-01: $4.95 per share

- 2017-02: $4.80 per share

- 2017-03: $6.05 per share

- 2017-04: $5.15 per share

- 2017-05: $3.85 per share

- 2017-06: $4.85 per share

- 2017-07: $5.07 per share

- 2017-08: $3.85 per share

- 2017-09: $4.65 per share

- 2017-10: $3.80 per share

- 2017-11: $4.70 per share

- 2017-12: $4.60 per share

- 2018-01: $4.85 per share

- 2018-02: $4.80 per share

- 2018-03: $4.90 per share

- 2018-04: $4.80 per share

- 2018-05: $4.35 per share

- 2018-06: $4.30 per share

- 2018-07: $4.45 per share

- 2018-08: $4.55 per share

- 2018-09: $5.95 per share

- 2018-10: $5.82 per share

- 2018-11: $5.11 per share

- 2018-12: $5.19 per share

- 2019-01: $5.57 per share

- 2019-02: $5.48 per share

- 2019-03: $5.35 per share

- 2019-04: $4.89 per share

- 2019-05: $5.08 per share

- 2019-06: $4.72 per share

- 2019-07: $3.03 per share

- 2019-08: $2.60 per share

- 2019-09: $2.52 per share

- 2019-10: $2.33 per share

- 2019-11: $2.48 per share

- 2019-12: $2.86 per share

- 2020-01: $2.73 per share

- 2020-02: $2.07 per share

- 2020-03: $0.64 per share

- 2020-04: $0.96 per share

- 2020-05: $0.97 per share

- 2020-06: $1.04 per share

- 2020-07: $0.92 per share

- 2020-08: $1.17 per share

- 2020-09: $1.00 per share

- 2020-10: $0.89 per share

- 2020-11: $1.51 per share

- 2020-12: $1.65 per share

- 2021-01: $1.99 per share

- 2021-02: $1.72 per share

- 2021-03: $1.80 per share

- 2021-04: $2.51 per share

- 2021-05: $2.39 per share

- 2021-06: $2.64 per share

- 2021-07: $2.66 per share

- 2021-08: $2.63 per share

- 2021-09: $2.71 per share

- 2021-10: $2.90 per share

- 2021-11: $3.07 per share

- 2021-12: $3.31 per share

- 2022-01: $3.06 per share

- 2022-02: $3.74 per share

- 2022-03: $3.46 per share

- 2022-04: $2.46 per share

- 2022-05: $1.58 per share

- 2022-06: $1.07 per share

- 2022-07: $1.55 per share

- 2022-08: $1.60 per share

- 2022-09: $1.37 per share

- 2022-10: $1.43 per share

- 2022-11: $1.13 per share

- 2022-12: $1.05 per share

- 2023-01: $1.91 per share

- 2023-02: $1.77 per share

- 2023-03: $1.20 per share

- 2023-04: $1.27 per share

- 2023-05: $1.23 per share

- 2023-06: $1.37 per share

- 2023-07: $1.80 per share

- 2023-08: $1.45 per share

- 2023-09: $1.58 per share

- 2023-10: $1.10 per share

- 2023-11: $1.45 per share

- 2023-12: $1.82 per share

- 2024-01: $1.72 per share

- 2024-02: $1.72 per share

- 2024-03: $1.65 per share

- 2024-04: $1.39 per share

- 2024-05: $1.44 per share

- 2024-06: $1.41 per share

- 2024-07: $1.66 per share

- 2024-08: $1.50 per share

- 2024-09: $1.60 per share

- 2024-10: $1.47 per share

- 2024-11: $1.51 per share

- 2024-12: $1.37 per share

- 2025-01: $1.36 per share

- 2025-02: $1.25 per share

- 2025-03: $1.11 per share

- 2025-04: $0.98 per share

- 2025-05: $1.07 per share

- 2025-06: $1.17 per share

- 2025-07: $1.06 per share

- 2025-08: $1.24 per share

- 2025-09: $1.58 per share

- 2025-10: $1.81 per share

- 2025-11: $1.99 per share

- 2025-12: $2.21 per share

- 2026-01: $2.09 per share

- 2026-02: $2.40 per share

- 2026-03: $2.37 per share

- 2026-04: $2.40 per share

- 2026-05: $2.41 per share

- 2026-06: $2.42 per share

- 2026-07: $2.42 per share

- 2026-08: $2.37 per share

- 2026-09: $2.35 per share

- 2026-10: $2.42 per share

## Annual estimated value (USD per share)

- FY2016: low $5.43 per share, central $6.00 per share, high $6.75 per share

- FY2017: low $4.21 per share, central $4.75 per share, high $5.47 per share

- FY2018: low $2.16 per share, central $2.41 per share, high $2.74 per share

Historical values use today's bond yield for every fiscal year

Historical values use today's FX rate into trading currency for every fiscal year

Historical values use current restated fundamentals and current commodity classification; they are not point-in-time estimates

## Sources

[Original 10-K filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1334978/000133497826000010/cco-20251231.htm); period 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-26.

Estimates depend on assumptions and are not guarantees or investment advice. Underlying data remains subject to its source licenses; public reading does not grant bulk redistribution rights.