Clearfield Inc
🔔 Watch stock
Assessment
Our Rating
A journalistic assessment by our editorial team at the time of the deep dive — it rates the company, not the entry point. Not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell.
The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.
Why this colour
Whoever buys today is betting that the BEAD billions flow before the market’s patience runs out — and pays 168 times trailing earnings for it, cushioned by $147 million of net cash and ongoing buybacks. Whoever waits may miss the first funding surge but can check every quarterly report (10-Q) for whether the broad-based orders actually arrive: a revenue turn in the Community Broadband and cable segments plus a growing order backlog would be the evidence. The decision is yours.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Clearfield is a solidly financed waiting room: $147.1 million of net cash, no bank debt, and a management team that buys back its own shares and ended the Nestor misstep for one dollar. But the business is not yet delivering the story — the latest quarter shrank 15 percent, explicitly in part because of the BEAD delays, two distributors account for nearly a third of revenue, and at 168 times trailing earnings the market is paying for the subsidy future, not the present. Whoever invests here buys a well-capitalized option on Washington’s payout calendar. Not investment advice.
Balance sheet & cash cushion
$147.1 million in cash and investments against zero bank debt, $242.8 million of equity on $263.5 million of total assets (March 31, 2026), an Altman Z around 20; the buyback program was raised to $85 million in November 2025 — Clearfield can afford to wait for BEAD (quarterly report 10-Q as of 03/31/2026).
Demand & BEAD dependence
Revenue in the second quarter of fiscal year 2026 minus 15 percent to $34.4 million — per the quarterly report in part because of "delays in the BEAD program"; the annual report warns explicitly that customers time orders to the availability of subsidies. The story’s catalyst is currently braking the business.
Cyclicality & customer concentration
Boom-bust as a system property: plus 92 percent (FY 2022), minus 44 percent (FY 2024), plus 20 percent (FY 2025), minus 15 percent (Q2 FY 2026) — amplified by two distributors with a combined 31 percent of revenue and no purchase obligation at all (10-K FY 2025, Note 7).
Capital allocation & the Nestor lesson
The Nestor Cables acquisition (roughly $16 million, July 2022) ended, after a $16.6 million impairment, for $1 in cash (November 11, 2025) — an expensive cycle misstep, but ended consistently rather than window-dressed; since then the money flows into the company’s own shares ($16.5 plus $12.6 million of buybacks since October 2024).
Valuation & technicals
A Stan Weinstein stage-2 uptrend, price above the 50- and 200-day averages, institutional accumulation and plus 40 percent in three months meet a trailing P/E around 168, a fundamental grade of D and a Piotroski score of 3 of 9 (data as of July 10, 2026) — the market is paying for a date no filing names; net of cash, the operating business costs roughly 2.7 times revenue.
Worth Noting
CLFD reached our research list via the confluence of four trend hits in our in-house stock scanner (data as of July 10, 2026); the Reddit hype scanner showed just 2 mentions in 24 hours at the same time (ApeWisdom, as of July 15, 2026) — attention is not a buy argument here, it is simply absent.
Scanner metrics (P/E, P/S, Piotroski, Altman Z, fundamental grade) are computed from trailing twelve-month figures; the Nestor impairment (Q4 FY 2025) and the BEAD dip (Q2 FY 2026) are baked in, a potential funding surge naturally is not.
Price and valuation figures are dated to July 10, 2026 (about $37.60, market value roughly $550 million); analyses are evergreen, daily prices are not a buy argument. Clearfield’s fiscal year ends September 30 — all quarterly references carry that fiscal-year offset.
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of August 26, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at CLFD since then.
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 26.00 $ to 51.30 $ · Last price: 30.60 $ (As of: September 17, 2026)
Key figures
Key figures at a glance
Every figure we hold for this stock, grouped by topic. The question mark next to a label explains what the number means.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 09/18/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
This stock currently pays no dividend.
Quality & Screener
Highlighted are things our editorial team noticed: green = stands out as strong, red = deserves a closer look. No single metric is a verdict on its own — always read it in context.
Comparison
Industry comparison
The stock alongside the largest companies in the same group. The median row is the middle value of the companies shown above — not of the whole industry.
Industry: Communication Equipment
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clearfield Inc CLFD | 0.4 | 136.1 | 25.9 | 33.0 | – | -9.9 | -9.0 |
| Cisco Systems Inc CSCO | 436.0 | 35.3 | 22.8 | 64.5 | 25.0 | 5.3 | 66.2 |
| Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co HPE | 78.0 | 57.4 | 14.2 | 36.6 | 8.7 | 14.1 | 152.6 |
| Motorola Solutions Inc MSI | 76.3 | 37.7 | 22.9 | 52.1 | 19.8 | 8.0 | -2.7 |
| Lumentum Holdings Inc LITE | 71.0 | 154.2 | 114.9 | 44.2 | 21.8 | 21.0 | 447.1 |
| Ciena Corp CIEN | 48.8 | 113.9 | 47.4 | 44.1 | 15.2 | 18.8 | 152.4 |
| Ubiquiti Networks Inc UI | 36.1 | – | 27.8 | 46.2 | 36.9 | 33.5 | -1.3 |
| Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson B ERIC | 33.6 | 13.2 | 7.0 | 47.6 | 0.0 | -14.2 | 30.2 |
| Ast Spacemobile Inc ASTS | 24.4 | – | -2.3 | 38.9 | -1,014.0 | 1,505.2 | 52.3 |
| Median of companies shown | 48.8 | 57.4 | 22.9 | 44.2 | 17.5 | 14.1 | 52.3 |
Based on the most recently reported figures. Only stocks from the same trading venue are lined up, so the market caps are counted in one currency. Compare in a chart →
Fiscal years
Annual Figures
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
Revenue, operating income and net income per fiscal year $M
Revenue Operating income Net income
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 75 | 11 | 8 | 0.59 | 12 | 63 | 71 |
| 2017 | 74 | 5 | 4 | 0.28 | 6 | 65 | 69 |
| 2018 | 78 | 5 | 4 | 0.32 | 5 | 69 | 74 |
| 2019 | 85 | 5 | 5 | 0.34 | 15 | 75 | 82 |
| 2020 | 93 | 8 | 7 | 0.53 | 7 | 83 | 95 |
| 2021 | 141 | 25 | 20 | 1.47 | 11 | 104 | 126 |
| 2022 | 271 | 64 | 49 | 3.55 | 1 | 148 | 229 |
| 2023 | 226 | 38 | 33 | 2.17 | 20 | 315 | 356 |
| 2024 | 167 | -23 | -12 | -0.85 | 22 | 276 | 315 |
| 2025 | 150 | 2 | -8 | -0.58 | 29 | 256 | 306 |
Quarters
Quarterly Figures
Each bar is one quarter, the last one is the most recent. Use the switch to step through the individual figures.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.
None of the selected stocks reports this metric. Pick another metric or switch between annual and quarterly.
· Total · per year
These companies report in different currencies — switch on “Indexed” or pick a margin for a fair comparison.
The figures could not be loaded right now.
Source: fundamental data
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q4 | -0.13 | – | 36 | 3.60 | -5.40 | 7 | 5 |
| 2025: Q1 | 0.09 | – | 47 | 27.80 | 2.80 | 3 | 0 |
| 2025: Q2 | 0.12 | – | 50 | 2.30 | 3.20 | 8 | 7 |
| 2025: Q3 | -0.65 | – | 18 | -62.40 | -51.60 | 11 | 12 |
| 2025: Q4 | -0.04 | – | 34 | -3.20 | -1.80 | 0 | -1 |
| 2026: Q1 | -0.04 | -141.00 | 34 | -27.10 | -1.50 | -1 | -2 |
| 2026: Q2 | 0.22 | 83.30 | 44 | -12.00 | 6.80 | 10 | 10 |
What Do These Terms Mean?
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Screening
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 4 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Quality & Balance Sheet
Momentum & Trend
Research
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. View all scanners
Outlook
Analysts & Price Target
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Distribution of Recommendations
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09/30/2026 | 0.43 | 0.23 – 0.63 | 153 | -4.4% | 2 |
| 09/30/2027 | 0.90 | 0.63 – 1.16 | 187 | 108.1% | 2 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Valuation
What is priced in?
Instead of guessing what the stock is worth, we turn the question around: what free cash flow growth has to happen for today’s market value to add up? The assumptions behind it can be moved.
Today’s market value implies roughly 11.0% growth in free cash flow per year over ten years (assumptions: discount rate 10.0%, terminal growth 2.5%).
| Free cash flow (last twelve months) | $17.6M |
|---|---|
| Market cap | $448.0M |
| Free cash flow in year ten | $49.9M |
| Terminal value as a share of market value | 58.7% |
For comparison: over the past five years free cash flow grew by 38.5% per year.
It shows which assumption is built into today’s price, not whether that assumption will hold. Every assumption can be changed with the sliders; the figures move with them.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
Geprüft am 16.07.2026 gegen die Geschäftsberichte (10-K) für die Geschäftsjahre 2025 (eingereicht 25.11.2025) und 2024 (eingereicht 15.11.2024) sowie die vier jüngsten Quartalsberichte (10-Q, zuletzt zum 31.03.2026, eingereicht 07.05.2026): In den ausgewerteten SEC-Filings von Clearfield findet sich kein wesentlicher KI-Bezug — die Volltextsuche nach „artificial intelligence“, „machine learning“, „generative“, „large language“, „LLM“ und „AI“ liefert in allen sechs Dokumenten keinen einzigen Treffer. Clearfield verkauft Glasfaser-Management-, Schutz- und Anschlusstechnik für Breitbandnetze (FTTx); weder wird KI als Umsatzquelle oder operatives Werkzeug beschrieben, noch nennen die Risk Factors (Item 1A) KI als konkretes Geschäftsrisiko für das eigene Modell. Nach dem Kriterienkatalog dokumentierter Negativ-Befund: „neutral“.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
Filings Reviewed: 10-Q 2026-05-07 · 10-Q 2026-02-09 · 10-Q 2025-08-07 · 10-Q 2025-05-09 · 10-K 2025-11-25 · 10-K 2024-11-15
Rated on July 16, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Growth
Growth Score
Ten checks against the annual reports — each one passed counts a point.
- Revenue grows by more than 15% a year over three years -17.9%
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year 21.5%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year 0.2%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") 6.5%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion 33.7%
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 1.5%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 97 m net cash
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years 60 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago 0.8%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 18.2%
A criterion without figures counts neither as passed nor as failed; a score is only produced from 7 judgeable criteria upwards. Source: fundamental data. All ten criteria in detail
Quality check
AAQS
5/10The AAQS (AlleAktien Quality Score) checks 10 quality criteria on growth, profitability, and balance-sheet strength — per the methodology developed and published by AlleAktien, calculated by us from our own fundamental data. A stock counts as a quality stock from 9 out of 10 points. Where a company has a shorter listing history, we calculate over the fiscal years available (at least five).
- Sales growth 10Y > 5% 8.0%
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% 11.6%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% -16.5%
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% 11.6%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT -45.9x
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 9
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% 100.0%
- Return on equity > 15% -3.3%
- ROCE > 15% 0.8%
- Expected return > 10% 17.8%
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
The company
About the Company
Clearfield, Inc. entwirft, fertigt und vertreibt zusammen mit seinen Tochtergesellschaften Produkte für das Glasfaser-Management, den -Schutz und die -Übertragung in den USA und international.
- Employees
- 243
- Headquarters
- Minneapolis, MN
- Address
- 7050 Winnetka Avenue North, 55428 Minneapolis, United States
- Phone
- 763 476 6866
- Website
- seeclearfield.com
- IPO Date
- 08/07/1986
- ISIN
- US18482P1030
- Stock Split
- 2:1 on 04/03/1989
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Cheryl P. Beranek | CEO, President & Director | 1962 |
| Daniel R. Herzog | Chief Financial Officer | 1964 |
| John P. Hill | Chief Operating Officer | 1966 |
| Skip Hansen | Chief Information Officer | – |
| Frank J. Brixius Jr. | General Counsel & Secretary | – |
| Anis Khemakhem | Chief Commercial Officer | 1977 |
| Taber Rigg | Chief Human Resources Officer | – |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Filings
Company Filings (8-K)
An 8-K is the filing a US company must use to disclose material events immediately — takeovers, changes at the top, major contracts or payment troubles, for instance. The links open the original document at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Data as of: September 17, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.