WideOpenWest (WOW) Q4 2024 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Q4 2024 total revenue was $152.6M, down 9.6% year-over-year; full year revenue was $630.9M, down 8.1%.

• Adjusted EBITDA for Q4 was $73.7M (margin 48.3%), and $288.4M for the year (margin 45.7%), both up from prior year.

• Greenfield fiber expansion more than doubled in 2024, passing 31,500 new homes and raising penetration to 16.6%.

• Strategic initiatives included innovative partnerships, pricing strategies, and a transition from traditional video to YouTube TV, with video subscribers declining 33% year-over-year.

• Net loss improved to $10.6M for Q4 and $58.8M for the year, compared to $43.5M and $287.7M losses in 2023.

Financial highlights

• Q4 high-speed data (HSD) revenue was $104.9M, down 3.5% year-over-year; full year HSD revenue was $423.6M, down 1.6%.

• Adjusted EBITDA rose 3.5% year-over-year to $73.7M in Q4; full year Adjusted EBITDA up 4.7% to $288.4M.

• Q4 Adjusted Unlevered Free Cash Flow was $22.0M, up from $(9.4)M in Q4 2023; full year was $72.6M, up from $6.5M.

• Total capital expenditures for 2024 were $215.8M, down 19.7% from 2023.

• Total Q4 revenue fell 9.6% to $152.6M, as video and telephony revenues dropped 26.9% and 16.9%, respectively.

Outlook and guidance

• Q1 2025 guidance: HSD revenue $102–$104M, total revenue $147–$149M, adjusted EBITDA $72–$74M.

• HSD net adds expected between negative 6,000 and negative 4,500 for Q1 2025.

• Plans to accelerate fiber greenfield growth, targeting 400,000 new homes passed over the next few years.

• 2025 greenfield expansion CapEx expected between $60–$70M.