Cumulus Media Inc.

OTCPK:CMLS.Q Stock Report

Market Cap: US$104.2k

Cumulus Media Past Earnings Performance

Past criteria checks 0/6

Cumulus Media's earnings have been declining at an average annual rate of -56%, while the Media industry saw earnings growing at 5.4% annually. Revenues have been declining at an average rate of 3.8% per year.

Key information

-56.01%

Earnings growth rate

-57.14%

EPS growth rate

Media Industry Growth13.17%
Revenue growth rate-3.84%
Return on equityn/a
Net Margin-25.77%
Last Earnings Update31 Mar 2026

Recent past performance updates

Recent updates

Analysis Article • Aug 07

Cumulus Media Inc. (NASDAQ:CMLS) Analysts Are Pretty Bullish On The Stock After Recent Results

There's been a major selloff in Cumulus Media Inc. ( NASDAQ:CMLS ) shares in the week since it released its quarterly...
Analysis Article • Apr 26

Shareholders May Be Wary Of Increasing Cumulus Media Inc.'s (NASDAQ:CMLS) CEO Compensation Package

Key Insights Cumulus Media will host its Annual General Meeting on 2nd of May Salary of US$1.45m is part of CEO Mary...
Seeking Alpha • Mar 14

Cumulus Media: A Riddle, Wrapped In A Mystery, Inside An Enigma

Summary Cumulus Media is simultaneously enacting a poison pill defense against a potential hostile takeover and embarking on a debt restructuring. The proposed debt restructuring aims to reduce total debt and extend its maturity to 2029. CMLS implemented short-term Shareholder Rights amidst a surge in stock accumulation by Renew Group Private Ltd., a Singapore-based company owned by Manoj Bhargava. These seemingly conflicting developments make Cumulus an intriguing case to analyze. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha
Analysis Article • Feb 06

Cumulus Media (NASDAQ:CMLS) Seems To Be Using A Lot Of Debt

Warren Buffett famously said, 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' So it seems the smart money knows that...
Analysis Article • Nov 01

Does Cumulus Media (NASDAQ:CMLS) Have A Healthy Balance Sheet?

Legendary fund manager Li Lu (who Charlie Munger backed) once said, 'The biggest investment risk is not the volatility...
Analysis Article • Aug 01

Cumulus Media (NASDAQ:CMLS) Seems To Be Using A Lot Of Debt

Warren Buffett famously said, 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' So it seems the smart money knows that...
Analysis Article • Jun 08

Returns On Capital Signal Difficult Times Ahead For Cumulus Media (NASDAQ:CMLS)

When researching a stock for investment, what can tell us that the company is in decline? A business that's potentially...
Analysis Article • Apr 20

When Should You Buy Cumulus Media Inc. (NASDAQ:CMLS)?

While Cumulus Media Inc. ( NASDAQ:CMLS ) might not be the most widely known stock at the moment, it led the NASDAQGM...
Analysis Article • Mar 24

Cumulus Media Inc. (NASDAQ:CMLS) Stock's 38% Dive Might Signal An Opportunity But It Requires Some Scrutiny

The Cumulus Media Inc. ( NASDAQ:CMLS ) share price has fared very poorly over the last month, falling by a substantial...
Analysis Article • Mar 01

Returns At Cumulus Media (NASDAQ:CMLS) Appear To Be Weighed Down

To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? Ideally, a business will...
Analysis Article • Sep 17

Should You Investigate Cumulus Media Inc. (NASDAQ:CMLS) At US$8.90?

Cumulus Media Inc. ( NASDAQ:CMLS ), is not the largest company out there, but it received a lot of attention from a...
Analysis Article • Aug 13

Slowing Rates Of Return At Cumulus Media (NASDAQ:CMLS) Leave Little Room For Excitement

If you're not sure where to start when looking for the next multi-bagger, there are a few key trends you should keep an...
Seeking Alpha • Aug 02

Cumulus Media Q2 2022 Earnings Preview

Cumulus Media (NASDAQ:CMLS) is scheduled to announce Q2 earnings results on Wednesday, August 3rd, after market close. The consensus EPS Estimate is $0.58 and the consensus Revenue Estimate is $235.8M (+4.9% Y/Y). Over the last 3 months, EPS estimates have seen 0 upward revisions and 1 downward. Revenue estimates have seen 1 upward revision and 1 downward.
Seeking Alpha • Jul 06

Cumulus Media: A Strong Buy At Current Prices

Cumulus retired about 8.7% of shares outstanding already this year for a total of $25 million. Management still plans to see leverage drop to 3.5x as EBITDA continues to increase and net debt is reduced. Cumulus could retire more than 15% of shares outstanding under the current buyback program in addition to the 8.7% retired via the modified Dutch auction. Even with large annual share repurchases, Cumulus can afford to initiate a $0.12/share annual dividend and grow it healthily over the next few years. We last wrote about Cumulus Media (CMLS) back in April (article located here), when we discussed that the company should fetch a higher takeover offer than was being offered by a consortium led by radio industry veteran Jeff Warshaw. At the end of the day, Cumulus Media's Board of Directors agreed with this logic and did not accept the $15/share (potentially up to $17/share) offer and instead decided to initiate the return of capital programs ahead of schedule (previously the company stated that they would announce programs for the second half of 2022). We think that the Board and management team got some issues correct, and missed the mark on some other items. Yes, the stock is down sharply from the big jump on the takeover interest, but so too is the stock market as a whole. Many peers have also seen their shares fall, but we still think that this name is attractive relative to peers as management has a few levers that they can begin to pull ahead of competitors. We will cover a few of them in this article. Data by YCharts The Buyback In April, we laid out our thesis for purchasing Cumulus Media shares and discussed how we thought the company could increase shareholder value (and the share price) over the next 12-24 months. We stated that we believed "a share buyback plan of at least $50 million" was possible along with "a new dividend policy." Our cash flow estimates for the current year, and upcoming year (FY 2023), must have been pretty spot on because the Board initiated a $50 million share repurchase program. So we nailed that portion of our buy thesis. We did scratch our head over the decision to allocate $25 million of the $50 million share buyback program to a modified Dutch auction with the company offering to purchase shares at a price between $14.50/share and $16.50/share. Cumulus announced that they repurchased 1,724,137 shares at a price of $14.50/share, retiring roughly 8.7% of the outstanding shares on June 3, 2022. While we like the idea of buying back stock, we do prefer for buyback plans to focus on purchases over time and not being lumpy in nature (this plan became heavily front-loaded with this initial $25 million purchase). We understand Cumulus wanting to retire shares quickly and trying to support shares after declining a takeover offer, however, we do feel like it was a waste of shareholder capital and could even be viewed as a bail-out of sorts for those who were just speculators on a potential acquisition. A Possible Dividend On the conference call following the company's earnings, the Q&A session featured a few questions, with one touching on the dividend issue. Basically, management said that the Board looked at all of their options and essentially views share buybacks as the best way to return capital to shareholders (and get the best bang for their buck) because they think that their stock is undervalued. We agree that the shares are undervalued, but we think that beginning a dividend policy would serve everyone well; shareholders, management and the Board. After the completed buyback, the company should have just under 19 million shares outstanding. If we use 19 million shares for a baseline, the company could initiate a quarterly dividend of $0.03/share, for an annual dividend of $0.12/share, and only use $2.28 million total for dividends. The stock, at current prices, would yield 1.5% and provide some support to shares while also bringing in new buyers (dividend investors) looking for companies who pay a dividend and have room to grow it. For perspective, Cumulus reported Q1 2022 EBITDA of $31.2 million, and trailing 12-month (or TTM) EBITDA of $157 million; more than enough to cover this small initial dividend and enable the company's management to continue to pay down debt, repurchase stock and take advantage of opportunistic M&A transactions that may arise. If the company sees its business hold up through the rest of the year, and we suspect that it will with the political ad spend that will be occurring in the last two quarters of the year during the US midterms, then we suspect management will have to not only initiate a dividend but also increase the share buyback program. Looking Forward We continue to believe that this is a story that investors need to be following, even if they do not want to get long shares here. We have added to positions on this pullback and will continue to purchase shares in order to reach our full allocation for various portfolio types because although we recognize that a recession would impact the company's revenues, earnings and cash flows, we think that management will continue down a path which will ultimately lead to greater shareholder returns; potentially due to another takeover offer emerging. According to Seeking Alpha's Quant Rankings, Cumulus Media stacks up pretty well: Cumulus Media has pretty strong quant rankings. (Seeking Alpha) Drilling down into the rankings, Cumulus Media is actually the highest-ranked radio broadcaster, with only TEGNA Inc. (TGNA), the local TV station operator, having a higher ranking. TEGNA's ranking is aided by the fact that the company accepted a takeover offer from Standard General, LP - the hedge fund which also owns over 5% of Cumulus Media's shares.
Analysis Article • Dec 21

Cumulus Media (NASDAQ:CMLS) Takes On Some Risk With Its Use Of Debt

David Iben put it well when he said, 'Volatility is not a risk we care about. What we care about is avoiding the...
Analysis Article • Jun 22

Returns On Capital At Cumulus Media (NASDAQ:CMLS) Paint A Concerning Picture

Ignoring the stock price of a company, what are the underlying trends that tell us a business is past the growth phase...

Revenue & Expenses Breakdown

How Cumulus Media makes and spends money. Based on latest reported earnings, on an LTM basis.

Earnings and Revenue History

OTCPK:CMLS.Q Revenue, expenses and earnings (USD Millions)
DateRevenueEarningsG+A ExpensesR&D Expenses
31 Mar 26719-1854270
31 Dec 25742-2014340
30 Sep 25772-2974290
30 Jun 25796-2874220
31 Mar 25814-3014410
31 Dec 24827-2834440
30 Sep 24830-1504460
30 Jun 24834-1374460
31 Mar 24839-1114300
31 Dec 23845-1184290
30 Sep 23875-204320
30 Jun 23901-144320
31 Mar 23927-44340
31 Dec 22954164380
30 Sep 22955344390
30 Jun 22959534410
31 Mar 22947384430
31 Dec 21916174370
30 Sep 21910-14310
30 Jun 21869-444200
31 Mar 21790-743940
31 Dec 20816-604020
30 Sep 20856-584220
30 Jun 20940-264530
31 Mar 201,074534900
31 Dec 191,113615010
30 Sep 191,1371034960
30 Jun 191,1391005050
31 Mar 191,1447635090
31 Dec 181,1407585070
30 Sep 181,1255085150
30 Jun 181,1304965070
31 Mar 181,135-2045080
31 Dec 171,136-2075110
30 Sep 171,141-5445050
30 Jun 171,140-4995070
31 Mar 171,137-5045060
31 Dec 161,141-5115070
30 Sep 161,151285150
30 Jun 161,154-5605370
31 Mar 161,166-5495390
31 Dec 151,169-5465250
30 Sep 151,189-5395380
30 Jun 151,21465200

Quality Earnings: CMLS.Q is currently unprofitable.

Growing Profit Margin: CMLS.Q is currently unprofitable.

Free Cash Flow vs Earnings Analysis

Past Earnings Growth Analysis

Earnings Trend: CMLS.Q is unprofitable, and losses have increased over the past 5 years at a rate of 56% per year.

Accelerating Growth: Unable to compare CMLS.Q's earnings growth over the past year to its 5-year average as it is currently unprofitable

Earnings vs Industry: CMLS.Q is unprofitable, making it difficult to compare its past year earnings growth to the Media industry (5%).

Return on Equity

High ROE: CMLS.Q's liabilities exceed its assets, so it is difficult to calculate its Return on Equity.

Return on Assets

Return on Capital Employed

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Company Analysis and Financial Data Status

DataLast Updated (UTC time)
Company Analysis2026/05/20 11:48
End of Day Share Price 2026/05/20 00:00
Earnings2026/03/31
Annual Earnings2025/12/31

Data Sources

The data used in our company analysis is from S&P Global Market Intelligence LLC. The following data is used in our analysis model to generate this report. Data is normalised which can introduce a delay from the source being available.

PackageDataTimeframeExample US Source *
Company Financials10 years
  • Income statement
  • Cash flow statement
  • Balance sheet
Analyst Consensus Estimates+3 years
  • Forecast financials
  • Analyst price targets
Market Prices30 years
  • Stock prices
  • Dividends, Splits and Actions
Ownership10 years
  • Top shareholders
  • Insider trading
Management10 years
  • Leadership team
  • Board of directors
Key Developments10 years
  • Company announcements

* Example for US securities, for non-US equivalent regulatory forms and sources are used.

Unless specified all financial data is based on a yearly period but updated quarterly. This is known as Trailing Twelve Month (TTM) or Last Twelve Month (LTM) Data. Learn more.

Analysis Model and Snowflake

Details of the analysis model used to generate this report is available on our Github page, we also have guides on how to use our reports and tutorials on Youtube.

Learn about the world class team who designed and built the Simply Wall St analysis model.

Industry and Sector Metrics

Our industry and section metrics are calculated every 6 hours by Simply Wall St, details of our process are available on Github.

Analyst Sources

Cumulus Media Inc. is covered by 10 analysts. 0 of those analysts submitted the estimates of revenue or earnings used as inputs to our report. Analysts submissions are updated throughout the day.

AnalystInstitution
Edward WooAscendiant Capital Markets LLC
Patrick ShollBarrington Research Associates, Inc.
James GossBarrington Research Associates, Inc.