Cogent’s Surprise Earnings Release Announces CFO Departure, but Typical Results

After scheduling an earnings release and call for May 5, Cogent abruptly issued its earnings on April 29, while the earnings call remains scheduled for May 5. The firm announced CFO Sean Wallace will leave his role on May 6, and we suspect Cogent wanted to release first-quarter results concurrently to quell any fears that the CFO departure might mean the quarter would be ugly. Results were generally consistent with our expectations and are tracking our full-year forecast, but we’ll need to hear the call to learn how each of the firms two business lines are performing. We are maintaining our $65 fair value estimate and don’t expect it to change materially after we receive further color on the call.