Clear Channel Outdoor (CCO) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $1.19B
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Average Volume (3M): 2.09M
• Price to Earnings (P/E): ―
• Beta (1Y): 1.78
• Revenue Growth: -29.67%
• EPS Growth: 30.13%
• Country: US
• Employees: 4,100
• Sector: Communication Services
• Sector Strength: 97
• Industry: Advertising Agencies
• EPS (TTM): 0.02
• Shares Outstanding: 498,488,040
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 2,733,082
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 2,086,430
• PEG Ratio: 0.24
• Price to Book (P/B): -0.32
• Price to Sales (P/S): 0.68
• P/FCF Ratio: 34.33
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 6.29
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 4.65
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 9.20
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: 16.85
• 1Y Price Target: $2.47
• Price Target Upside: 3.78% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Moderate Buy
• Number of Analyst Covering: 3
• EPS Forecast (FY): -0.1
• Revenue Forecast (FY): $1.67B

• Rating: 58 Neutral
• Price Target: $2.50 ▲(5.04% Upside)
• Action: Reiterated Date: 02/27/26
• Date: Action: Reiterated 02/27/26

The score is held back primarily by weak financial fundamentals—persistent losses and a highly leveraged, negative-equity balance sheet—despite a meaningful recent improvement in cash generation. Offsetting factors include improving operating momentum and reaffirmed guidance, supportive technical trend signals, and a positive M&A catalyst from the pending all-cash takeout.

Positive Factors

Improved cash generation

Operating cash flow turned solidly positive in 2025 and free cash flow moved firmly positive, materially easing near-term liquidity pressure. If sustained, stronger cash conversion supports deleveraging, funds digital investments and contract execution, and reduces reliance on external capital markets.

Proceeds from international divestitures

Completed divestitures that generated nearly $900 million create durable balance-sheet flexibility. These proceeds can be deployed to pay down debt, simplify the portfolio and concentrate capital on U.S. digital growth initiatives, directly lowering refinancing risk and improving long-term cash burn dynamics.

Take-private transaction with committed financing

The Mubadala-led all-cash buyout brings committed equity and bridge financing and board-backed support, enabling private ownership to pursue multi-year deleveraging and digital transformation without public-market short-termism. Retention and new leadership plans improve execution continuity during restructuring.

Negative Factors

Highly leveraged balance sheet

Very large absolute debt and negative equity materially constrain financial flexibility. High leverage increases refinancing and covenant risk, elevates interest burdens and limits capacity to fund capex or digital expansion, leaving the company exposed to economic or ad-market slowdowns over the medium term.

Persistent net losses and weak margins

Chronic net losses and a sharp 2025 margin decline undermine retained earnings and the internal capital base. Even with improved top-line trends, sustained unprofitability impedes equity recovery, limits ability to self-fund growth or debt paydown, and raises reliance on asset sales or external financing.

Volatile historical cash flows

Material swings in operating and free cash flow across recent years highlight execution and conversion risk. Such volatility complicates multi-year debt reduction plans, makes covenant compliance and refinancing timing uncertain, and raises the chance that one-time improvements may not be repeatable.

Clear Channel Outdoor Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. owns, operates, and sells advertising displays in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Americas and Europe. The company offers advertising services through billboards, including bulletins and posters; transit displays, which are advertising surfaces on various types of vehicles or within transit systems; street furniture displays, such as advertising surfaces on bus shelters, information kiosks, freestanding units, and other public structures; spectaculars, which are customized display structures that incorporate videos, multidimensional lettering and figures, mechanical devices and moving parts, and other embellishments; wallscape, a display that drapes over or is suspended from the sides of buildings or other structures. It also provides street furniture equipment, cleaning and maintenance services, operation of public bike programs, and production services; and a public bicycle rental program, which offers bicycles for rent to the general public in various municipalities. As of December 31, 2021, it owned or operated approximately 69,000 advertising displays in the Americas; and 430,000 advertising displays in Europe. The company was formerly known as Eller Media Company and changed its name to Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. in August 2005. Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.

How the Company Makes Money

Clear Channel Outdoor generates revenue primarily through the sale of advertising space on its extensive inventory of outdoor advertising assets. This includes traditional billboards, transit advertisements, and digital screens, which allow for dynamic content changes and targeted advertising. Key revenue streams include long-term advertising contracts with brands, short-term campaign sales, and digital advertising, which often command higher rates due to their interactive capabilities. Additionally, CCO partners with various advertising agencies and brands to create customized advertising solutions, enhancing its revenue potential. Seasonal events and local promotions also contribute to revenue, as advertisers seek to capitalize on heightened consumer activity during specific times of the year.

Clear Channel Outdoor Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Cash flow improved materially in the most recent period (positive operating cash flow and firmly positive free cash flow), but the business still shows persistent net losses and a highly stressed balance sheet with heavy debt and negative equity, which elevates refinancing and financial risk.

Income Statement

Revenue has grown modestly over the last few years (2022 decline followed by growth in 2023–2025), but profitability remains weak. Net losses persist across all reported years, and margins deteriorated sharply in 2025 (EBITDA deeply negative and EBIT roughly breakeven to slightly negative), indicating renewed operating pressure despite higher sales. Prior years (2023–2024) showed healthier operating profitability (positive EBIT/EBITDA) but still failed to translate into bottom-line profits.

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet is highly leveraged with very large debt levels (roughly $6.5B–$7.3B) and consistently negative stockholders’ equity, which materially weakens financial flexibility and increases refinancing risk. Total assets have also trended down versus earlier periods, limiting the balance-sheet cushion. While reported return on equity is positive in some years, it is not a sign of strength here given equity is negative.

Cash Flow

Cash generation improved meaningfully in the most recent period: operating cash flow turned solidly positive in 2025 and free cash flow moved firmly positive as well, a major step up from negative free cash flow in 2021–2024. However, cash flow remains volatile year-to-year (including negative operating cash flow in 2020–2021 and negative free cash flow in multiple years), and the sharp swing in free-cash-flow growth highlights uneven conversion and execution risk.

Breakdown	Dec 2025	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue	1.60B	1.51B	1.43B	1.38B	1.77B
Gross Profit	681.28M	824.65M	773.85M	792.78M	881.72M
EBITDA	471.80M	442.41M	473.27M	548.42M	326.50M
Net Income	-104.65M	-179.25M	-310.92M	-96.60M	-433.81M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	3.83B	4.80B	4.72B	5.09B	5.30B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	190.02M	109.71M	251.65M	282.23M	410.77M
Total Debt	6.47B	7.02B	7.17B	7.01B	7.23B
Total Liabilities	7.22B	8.44B	8.17B	8.35B	8.49B
Stockholders Equity	-3.39B	-3.65B	-3.46B	-3.28B	-3.21B
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	31.98M	-62.65M	-135.34M	-44.69M	-281.50M
Operating Cash Flow	114.86M	79.75M	31.25M	139.99M	-133.50M
Investing Cash Flow	523.26M	-155.94M	-119.57M	-221.70M	-152.70M
Financing Cash Flow	-598.29M	-8.18M	45.64M	-32.72M	-85.24M

Clear Channel Outdoor Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Positive
• Last Price: 2.38
• 50DMA: Positive
• 100DMA: Positive
• 200DMA: Positive
• MACD: Positive
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For CCO, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 2.38 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 2.38, above the 50-day MA of 2.24, and above the 200-day MA of 1.67, indicating a neutral trend. The MACD of 0.04 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 59.05 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 20.41 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for CCO.

Clear Channel Outdoor Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
NEXN	70 Outperform	$656.07M	15.61	5.19%	―	1.63%	―
DLX	68 Neutral	$1.20B	11.93	13.07%	5.41%	-0.94%	47.48%
Sector *	60 Neutral	$48.67B	4.58	-11.27%	4.14%	2.83%	-41.78%
CCO	58 Neutral	$1.19B	-2.59	―	―	-29.67%	30.13%
EEX	55 Neutral	$805.08M	-28.94	1.20%	1.29%	11.18%	―
ADV	51 Neutral	$242.36M	-1.25	-34.48%	―	-7.12%	-7.75%
NCMI	50 Neutral	$306.44M	-34.56	-4.10%	3.05%	-3.67%	34.36%

Clear Channel Outdoor Corporate Events

Clear Channel Outdoor Agrees to Mubadala-Led Buyout Deal

On February 9, 2026, Clear Channel Outdoor agreed to be acquired by an investor consortium led by Mubadala Capital in partnership with TWG Global, in an all-cash transaction valuing the company at an enterprise value of $6.2 billion. The deal, unanimously approved by Clear Channel’s board, will see shareholders receive $2.43 per share in cash, a 71% premium to the unaffected share price on October 16, 2025, with the company to become a wholly owned subsidiary of a parent entity and its stock delisted upon closing expected by the end of the third quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.

The merger agreement includes a 45-day go-shop period through March 26, 2026, during which Clear Channel may solicit superior offers, alongside detailed termination fee arrangements and support agreements from holders of about 48% of the outstanding shares to back the transaction. The investor group has arranged approximately $3 billion of equity and committed bridge financing exceeding $3.3 billion, while executive retention bonuses and equity award treatments are designed to stabilize management through closing, positioning the company for continued deleveraging, digital transformation and growth under the guidance of incoming Executive Chairman Wade Davis and long-term private ownership.

The most recent analyst rating on (CCO) stock is a Hold with a $2.50 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Clear Channel Outdoor stock, see the CCO Stock Forecast page.

Clear Channel Outdoor Extends CEO Scott Wells’ Employment Agreement

On December 15, 2025, Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. entered into a second amended and restated employment agreement with Chief Executive Officer Scott R. Wells, effective January 1, 2026, extending his initial term through January 1, 2030 with automatic four-year renewals thereafter unless either party opts out. The agreement sets Wells’s annual base salary at $1.2 million, provides eligibility for an annual performance bonus targeted at 120% of base salary, and establishes an annual equity incentive grant targeted at $4 million with a minimum grant-date value of $2 million, while also defining detailed severance, bonus, health benefit and equity-vesting protections if he is terminated without cause, not renewed, or resigns for good reason, alongside confidentiality, non-compete, non-solicitation and non-interference covenants that reinforce leadership stability and align executive incentives with long-term shareholder interests.

The most recent analyst rating on (CCO) stock is a Hold with a $2.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Clear Channel Outdoor stock, see the CCO Stock Forecast page.