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what it is
It sells software and payment tools for self-serve retail, and it does it with 359 employees.
how it gets paid
Last year Cantaloupe made $303M in revenue.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 12.6% last year. The $160M quarter mattered because it was 103% higher than last year.
what just happened
$160M of revenue came with a -$0.02 EPS print.
At a glance
B+ balance sheet — decent shape, but not bulletproof
35/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
13.7x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
22.7% return on capital — every dollar works hard here
$0.86 fy2025 eps est
xvary composite: 54/100 — below average
What they do
It sells software and payment tools for self-serve retail, and it does it with 359 employees.
Your vending machine, laundry room, or micro-market does not want a software switch. It would mean swapping payments, loyalty, inventory, and accounting tools at once. Cantaloupe already posts a 47.3% gross margin, so every $100 of sales leaves $47.30 before overhead.
How they make money
$303M
annual revenue · their business grew +12.6% last year
total revenue
$303M
+12.6%
The products that matter
cashless payment hardware and processing
ePort & payment processing
1B+ annual transactions · 1M+ locations
this is the scale anchor: over 1 billion annual transactions across more than 1 million locations. that's real distribution, even if the company does not break out separate revenue here.
network scale
device and vending management software
Seed platform
inside a $302M revenue base
the software helps operators monitor inventory, route service, and manage machines. it matters because recurring subscription fees totaled $68M, but management does not isolate Seed as a standalone line item.
recurring layer
self-service kiosk and micro market tools
Micro markets solutions
growth mentioned, revenue not broken out
this is one of the expansion bets inside the broader business, but the current snapshot gives you no standalone sales figure. that's a disclosure gap, not a reason to pretend the segment is bigger than it is.
thin disclosure
Key numbers
$11.20
deal price
That is the cash exit price, and CTLP at $10.84 leaves only $0.36 per share on the table.
47.3%
gross margin
Almost half of revenue survives direct costs, which is good for payments software and bad for anyone expecting pure software margins.
13.7x
trailing P/E
You are paying 13.7 times trailing earnings while a buyer has already put a hard cash number on the company.
22.7%
return on capital
Each dollar put into the business has been turning into 22.7 cents of operating profit before tax.
Financial health
B+
strength
- balance sheet grade B+ — solid but not elite
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 25 / 100
- long-term debt $44M (5% of capital)
B+ — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for CTLP right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
missed estimates
$160M of revenue came with a -$0.02 EPS print.
Revenue was up 103% vs. prior year, but the company still posted a small loss. Gross margin held at 47.3%, so the business grew hard without turning the quarter into a profit story.
$160M
revenue
-$0.02
eps
47.3%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The $160M quarter mattered because it was 103% higher than last year, yet EPS still landed at -$0.02.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is antitrust or timing slippage on the 365 Retail Markets acquisition.
med
deal approval or timing risk
The acquisition was announced June 16, 2025 and still depends on closing mechanics, including HSR approval timing. A stock trading near a takeout price does not need much uncertainty to wobble.
If the process stretches out, CTLP can trade less like a cash-out and more like a standalone small cap again.
med
standalone earnings volatility
Q1 2026 EPS came in at -$0.02 versus a $0.07 estimate. Pair that with a 35/100 earnings predictability score and you get a business that can still surprise you the wrong way while everyone watches the merger clock.
If the deal breaks, the market will go straight back to underwriting these operating misses.
med
revenue mix is less software-pure than the headline
Of the disclosed revenue shown here, $191M of $302M sits in “other revenue,” while subscription fees are $68M. That makes the business harder to value like a neat SaaS platform.
If investors re-rate the company on business mix instead of deal math, the multiple can compress fast.
A delayed or broken deal would push investors back toward the underlying business — one that just posted -$0.02 EPS against a $0.07 estimate and has a disclosed revenue base of roughly $302M.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
deal risk
365 Retail Markets closing timeline
The June 16, 2025 agreement is the whole story now. Any shift in approvals or timing can move the stock more than operating updates.
metric
whether losses were a one-quarter issue
Q1 2026 EPS was -$0.02 versus a $0.07 estimate. You want to know if that miss was noise or a sign the business softened while waiting for the deal.
calendar
May 7, 2026 earnings call
This is the next scheduled checkpoint for management commentary on both operations and the acquisition process.
trend
mix between recurring fees and everything else
Subscription fees are $68M while “other revenue” is $191M. If you want to believe the software narrative, that gap needs to narrow or at least get better explained.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
35 / 100
in human-speak, analysts do not view this as a smooth quarter-to-quarter story.
risk rank
3
middle-of-the-pack safety. safer than the wildest small caps, nowhere near a bunker stock.
balance sheet grade
B+
good enough to matter, not strong enough to erase execution risk or deal risk.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutional ownership data for CTLP is being compiled.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a
n/a
$11
current price
n/a
target midpoint · n/a from current
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