Cogent Communications vs Iridium Communications
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The short version
- Cogent Communications is the larger business, with $976M of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $872M for Iridium Communications.
- Iridium Communications grew revenue faster (4.9%, against −5.8%).
- Iridium Communications kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (27.1% operating margin, against −10.4%).
- Iridium Communications turned more of its sales into free cash flow (34.4% FCF margin, against −20.3%).
- Iridium Communications earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (8.7%, against −3.8%).
| Latest fiscal year | CCOI · FY25 | IRDM · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $362M | $4.8B |
| Revenue | $976M | $872M |
| Free cash flow | −$198M | $300M |
| Net income | −$182M | $114M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −5.8% | 4.9% |
| 5-year growth | 11.4% | 8.4% |
| Share count change | 0.6% | −10.0% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 45.2% | — |
| Operating margin | −10.4% | 27.1% |
| Net margin | −18.7% | 13.1% |
| FCF margin | −20.3% | 34.4% |
| Return on capital | −3.8% | 8.7% |
| Return on equity | — | 22.0% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $2.2B | $1.7B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 13.0x | 3.7x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $167M | $249M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | — | 29.4x |
| Piotroski F-score | 4 | 7 |
Revenue
FY16
CCOI $447M
IRDM $434M
FY17
CCOI $485M
IRDM $448M
FY18
CCOI $520M
IRDM $523M
FY19
CCOI $546M
IRDM $560M
FY20
CCOI $568M
IRDM $583M
FY21
CCOI $590M
IRDM $615M
FY22
CCOI $600M
IRDM $721M
FY23
CCOI $941M
IRDM $791M
FY24
CCOI $1.0B
IRDM $831M
FY25
CCOI $976M
IRDM $872M
CCOI
IRDM
Operating margin
FY16
CCOI 14.3%
IRDM 40.7%
FY17
CCOI 15.7%
IRDM 25.8%
FY18
CCOI 16.6%
IRDM 8.0%
FY19
CCOI 18.4%
IRDM 1.8%
FY20
CCOI 18.8%
IRDM 6.1%
FY21
CCOI 20.2%
IRDM 7.5%
FY22
CCOI 19.0%
IRDM 10.6%
FY23
CCOI −13.7%
IRDM 10.3%
FY24
CCOI −19.1%
IRDM 24.1%
FY25
CCOI −10.4%
IRDM 27.1%
CCOI
IRDM
Free cash flow
FY16
CCOI $62.7M
IRDM −$180M
FY17
CCOI $65.9M
IRDM −$140M
FY18
CCOI $84.0M
IRDM −$128M
FY19
CCOI $102M
IRDM $80.3M
FY20
CCOI $84.4M
IRDM $211M
FY21
CCOI $100M
IRDM $261M
FY22
CCOI $94.7M
IRDM $273M
FY23
CCOI −$112M
IRDM $241M
FY24
CCOI −$204M
IRDM $306M
FY25
CCOI −$198M
IRDM $300M
CCOI
IRDM
Return on capital
FY16
CCOI 15.8%
IRDM —
FY17
CCOI 16.2%
IRDM 4.1%
FY18
CCOI 19.7%
IRDM 1.1%
FY19
CCOI 19.1%
IRDM 0.3%
FY20
CCOI 16.1%
IRDM 1.0%
FY21
CCOI 18.1%
IRDM 1.4%
FY22
CCOI 11.8%
IRDM 3.0%
FY23
CCOI −10.4%
IRDM 2.7%
FY24
CCOI −7.8%
IRDM 7.8%
FY25
CCOI −3.8%
IRDM 8.7%
CCOI
IRDM
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.