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what it is
Boston Omaha owns billboards, surety insurance, broadband networks, and an asset manager under one small-cap stock.
how it gets paid
Last year Boston Omaha made $108M in revenue. Outdoor advertising was the main engine at $49M, or 45% of sales.
what just happened
Latest quarter revenue jumped to ~$85M, but EPS stayed negative at about -$0.18— full-year revenue on this page stays ~$108M.
At a glance
B balance sheet — gets the job done, barely
10/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
10.1% return on capital — nothing to write home about
-$0.04 fy2024 eps est
$108M fy2024 rev est
xvary composite: 44/100 — below average
What they do
Boston Omaha owns billboards, surety insurance, broadband networks, and an asset manager under one small-cap stock.
The appeal is local control in dull markets. Boston Omaha owns about 4,000 billboard structures and serves about 18,000 broadband subscribers across Arizona and Utah, which gives you real assets in places bigger rivals often ignore. Holding company → one stock owning several businesses → so what: your upside comes from multiple shots on goal, but your patience gets tested because group operating margin was -7.8% in 2024.
How they make money
$108M
annual revenue
Outdoor advertising
$49M
+12.0%
Broadband services
$31M
+18.0%
Surety insurance
$20M
+8.0%
Asset management
$8M
+4.0%
The products that matter
billboard advertising
Outdoor advertising (Link Media)
$49M · ~45% of revenue
Matches the revenue bridge above: largest reported slice at ~$49M. Physical footprint is real; profit still depends on holding-company overhead and the other lines.
largest segment
rural broadband
Broadband services
$31M · ~29% of revenue
Second line on the bridge at ~$31M. Fast narrative, capital-hungry reality— growth here has to convert to cash, not just headlines.
growth engine
surety + asset management
Surety insurance & asset management
$20M + $8M · ~26% combined
Surety ~$20M and asset management ~$8M complete the ~$108M map. Diversification helps the story; operating losses still show the whole machine is not efficient yet.
supporting lines
Key numbers
-7.8%
operating margin
Operating margin → profit after running the business → so what: Boston Omaha loses money at the operating line— the negative sign matches the hook, not a positive 7.8%.
$108M
annual revenue
The company has real scale for a $382 million market cap, but revenue without profit is just a larger pile of work.
10.1%
return on capital
Return on capital → profit from the money put into the business → so what: the assets can earn decent returns even though reported earnings still wobble.
$98M
long-term debt
Debt equals 20% of capital, which is fine if operating results improve and less fine if losses keep hanging around.
Financial health
B
strength
- balance sheet grade B — adequate — nothing special
- risk rank 4 — safer than 20% of stocks
- price stability 45 / 100
- long-term debt $98M (20% of capital)
B — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for BOC right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
missed estimates
Revenue jumped to $85M, but EPS stayed negative at -$0.18.
Revenue rose 195% vs. prior year, yet that did not translate into bottom-line profit. Gross margin was 66.5%, which says the issue is not selling the service, it is turning the whole structure into earnings.
$85M
quarter revenue
-$0.18
quarter EPS (loss)
66.5%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The number that matters is -$0.18 EPS, because a company with 66.5% gross margin should not feel this allergic to net profit forever.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
BOC's biggest risk is not one bad quarter. It is a three-business structure that still has not produced reliable earnings on $108M of annual revenue.
high
mini-conglomerate sprawl
Insurance, broadband, and billboards do not obviously reinforce each other. That leaves you owning three execution stories instead of one focused operating model.
With $108M of revenue and a -$0.04 EPS estimate, there is not much profit cushion if one segment slips.
high
reporting credibility risk
A filing note flagged the risk of not detecting a material misstatement from fraud. Small caps already live on less trust. This is not the kind of line that earns extra patience.
On a $382M market cap, a credibility hit can move the story fast because investors do not give the benefit of the doubt for long.
med
capital allocation drift
The company is spreading capital across multiple operating bets and a $20M buyback program. That is easier to defend when profits are strong. Here, profits are barely present.
The wrong allocation choice does not just slow growth. It can keep BOC stuck in the same almost-profitable middle ground.
med
broadband build economics
Broadband grew 15% to $27M, which is the attractive part. The catch is that network buildouts usually ask for capital before they return margin.
If broadband keeps growing without improving the earnings picture, the fastest-growing segment also becomes the hungriest one.
What would change our mind: if the next report shows operating cash flow losing ground from the current $12.1M nine-month pace while EPS stays below zero, the patient-build story looks a lot more like drift.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
calendar
march 30 earnings report
This is the next clean checkpoint. You want updated segment mix, margin commentary, and whether operating cash flow still outruns reported earnings.
metric
cash flow versus EPS
$12.1M of nine-month operating cash flow versus a -$0.04 EPS estimate is the core tension. If that gap closes in the wrong direction, the story gets harder to own.
trend
broadband versus billboards
Broadband grew 15%. Billboards fell 2%. If one is the future and the other is ballast, management needs to show it in results, not just in portfolio theory.
risk
capital allocation discipline
The $20M buyback matters because BOC is only a $382M company. Watch whether capital goes to repurchases, broadband expansion, or balance-sheet flexibility.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
10 / 100
in human-speak, analysts do not trust this company to produce smooth, repeatable earnings yet.
risk rank
4
That reads as riskier than most stocks. Thin margins, three business lines, and a B balance sheet explain why.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutional ownership data for BOC is being compiled.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a
n/a
$12
current price
n/a
target midpoint · n/a from current
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