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what it is
Crimson Wine Group sells luxury wine through wholesalers and directly to drinkers.
how it gets paid
Last year Crimson Wine made $73M in revenue. Wholesale was the main engine at $31M, or 42% of sales.
what just happened
Crimson posted $45M of revenue last quarter, but EPS was -$0.01.
At a glance
B+ balance sheet — decent shape, but not bulletproof
30/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
99.8x trailing p/e — you're paying up for this one
0.6% return on capital — nothing to write home about
$0.04 fy2024 eps est
xvary composite: 61/100 — average
What they do
Crimson Wine Group sells luxury wine through wholesalers and directly to drinkers.
You are buying seven estate wineries, not one shelf tag. Wholesale means sales through a third party, while direct to consumer means the company sells straight to drinkers. That mix reaches fine restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, club stores, cruise lines, and about 40 countries, and the balance sheet is B+ with $15M of long-term debt, or 14% of capital.
How they make money
$73M
annual revenue
Wholesale
$31M
flat
Wine clubs
$17M
up
Tasting rooms and events
$13M
up
Remote and phone sales
$12M
up
The products that matter
sales to distributors and retailers
Wholesale
$49M · 67% of revenue
it's the larger of the two channels at $49M, which means CWGL still depends more on third-party distribution than on its own customer relationships.
core revenue engine
tasting room and wine club sales
Direct to Consumer
$24M · 33% of revenue
this $24M segment matters because it sells straight to the buyer instead of through a distributor, but the snapshot does not disclose segment margins yet.
mix shift watch
portfolio of boutique wineries
Winery Portfolio
7 wineries · $73M total revenue
seven wineries give the company brand variety, but the full portfolio still produced only $73M in annual revenue and 0.6% return on capital.
scale question
Key numbers
99.8x
trailing p/e
You are paying 99.8 times trailing earnings for a business with a 0.1% operating margin, which is a premium price for almost no profit.
0.1%
operating margin
That is $0.01 of operating profit for every $10 of sales, so one weak harvest can erase the year's profit.
46.2%
gross margin
Gross margin is 46.2%, so the wine leaves room before overhead, even if the rest of the business eats the spread.
$15M
long-term debt
$15M of long-term debt equals 14% of capital, so the balance sheet is not stretched.
Financial health
B+
strength
- balance sheet grade B+ — solid but not elite
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 95 / 100
- long-term debt $15M (14% of capital)
B+ — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for CWGL right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
missed estimates
Crimson posted $45M of revenue last quarter, but EPS was -$0.01.
Revenue was up 236% vs. prior year in EDGAR, and gross margin held at 46.2%. The problem is that profit still slipped below zero.
$45M
revenue
$0.01
eps
46.2%
gross margin
revenue jump
The $45M quarter mattered because the company still lost $0.01 a share, which says sales volume is not yet turning into durable profit.
source: EDGAR SEC filing
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is a premium valuation on $0.05 of trailing EPS.
high
extreme valuation vs. tiny profit
CWGL trades at 99.8x trailing earnings on $0.05 EPS. That leaves almost no room for a stumble.
a move from 99.8x to 30x earnings — still not cheap — would imply a share price roughly 70% lower if earnings stayed the same.
med
wholesale still does most of the work
$49M of revenue, or 67%, comes from wholesale. You are relying on third-party channels for most sales while the more controllable direct business is only $24M.
if the revenue mix does not improve, margin expansion has a harder path from here.
med
asset intensity without payoff
46.2% gross margin sounds healthy. A 0.6% return on capital says the full system is not converting that gross profit into strong returns.
until return on capital improves, the business looks more like a collection of nice assets than a compounding machine.
low
small-cap liquidity
at roughly $93M in market value, CWGL is a small stock. Price stability is high at 95/100, but small-cap trading can still get awkward fast.
if you need out quickly, the market may not be interested in helping at your preferred price.
at a $93M market cap on $73M of revenue and $0.05 of trailing EPS, the stock needs better economics fast to defend its current multiple.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
key metric
return on capital moving off the floor
0.6% is the number to watch. If that does not improve, the premium multiple gets harder to defend.
mix shift
direct-to-consumer as a bigger slice than 33%
the cleaner story here is more direct sales and less dependence on the $49M wholesale channel.
filing calendar
the next report after the september 30, 2025 10-Q
this is the next chance to see whether flat growth and thin returns are improving or just persisting politely.
valuation risk
whether earnings stay microscopic
a 99.8x P/E is really a bet that $0.05 of trailing EPS is a temporary problem, not the business model.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
30 / 100
low predictability score. in human-speak: analysts do not trust this earnings stream to stay smooth.
risk rank
3
middle-tier risk profile. safer than the fragile names, but not the kind of stock you buy for fortress-like durability.
price stability
95 / 100
the stock price has been steadier than the fundamentals. that's useful, but it's not the same thing as quality.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutional ownership data for CWGL is being compiled.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a
n/a
$5
current price
n/a
target midpoint · n/a from current
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