Where CCSI sits among all investable US stocks
Cheapness against five-year return on assets, as percentiles. Upper left is cheaper with higher returns; larger dark dots are its industry (Software).
A cheap, high-return digital-fax business where a live buyback is the catalyst; debt and a classified board are the limits.
Consensus sells digital fax to regulated industries. Its shares are down 30.4% over five years, against peers at −16.8% and Technology at +112.0%, after a 2023 collapse that came from the company itself. They have climbed since May on Corporate growth. The question is whether the cheap multiple, with net debt behind it, is a bargain or a trap. The numbers say bargain, with a live buyback as the catalyst.
The last five years on the numbers
Where CCSI has ranked among investable US stocks each quarter since 2021. Hollow dot: five years ago; solid dot: the latest quarter. The share price over the same years is in the five-year record below.
Cheap and high quality: 10th percentile multiple, 93rd percentile return on assets
8.6× EV to operating income, 10th percentile; industry median 70th, sector 63rd. Earnings yield 11.6% vs 4.9% Treasury. FCF yield 13.6% (90th percentile). Net debt $453M. Returns near usual level, so multiple holds if earnings normalize.
Against the market, its industry and sector
CCSI as a percentile of all 3,189 investable US stocks, against the 141 in Software and the 407 in the Technology sector.
| Metric | CCSI | Position | In its industry | Industry median | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acquirer's Multiple | 10th | #4 of 141 | 70th | 63rd | |
| Free cash flow yield | 90th | #9 of 141 | 53rd | 44th | |
| Shareholder yield | 84th | #27 of 141 | 54th | 45th | |
| Dividend yield | 26th | #17 of 141 | 26th | 26th | |
| Return on assets, 5-yr avg | 93rd | #11 of 141 | 29th | 49th | |
| Debt to book equity | 92nd | #129 of 141 | 38th | 38th | |
| Market cap | 26th | #115 of 141 | 63rd | 57th |
Percentiles of the number itself. For the Acquirer's Multiple and debt to equity, lower is better: the 5th percentile on the multiple is cheaper than 95% of investable US stocks. Green is the better end, red the worse. Orange dot: CCSI; bar: industry median; diamond: sector median. Data as of 2026-11-07.
Over- or under-earning?
Earning about normallyReturn on assets ranks at the 91st percentile of investable US stocks, against a median of the 89th and a low of the 2nd since 2021. That is close to its usual level, so today's multiple is about right on a normalized basis. If earnings normalize, the multiple would likely stay about where it is: from the 6th percentile today (cheaper than 94% of investable US stocks), around the 4th, judging by where it sat in past quarters when returns were at their usual level. If returns fell to their low, it would be around the 96th (dearer than 96% of investable US stocks).
| Percentile | Today | Returns normal | Returns at low |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on assets (higher is better) | 91st | 89th (median) | 2nd (low) |
| Acquirer's Multiple (lower is cheaper) | 6th | 4th | 96th |
Percentiles among investable US stocks. Return on assets is operating income over total assets, trailing 12 months. The last two columns show where it sat in past quarters when returns were within 7.5 points of their median (14 quarters) and of their low (4). The past, not a forecast.
Price v Return
What the shares and assets earn, against the 10-year Treasury.
Its industry against its own history
Software report →Software's Acquirer's Multiple is 70th percentile, cheaper than in 65% of quarters since 1999. Return on assets is 29th percentile, usual range; free cash flow yield 52nd, higher than usual. This stock is cheap in a middling-priced industry.
| Metric | Percentile now | Usual range | Against its history | Last 10 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acquirer's Multiple | 70th | 62nd–80th | Usual range | |
| Free cash flow yield | 52nd | 36th–58th | Higher than usual | |
| Shareholder yield | 52nd | 29th–43rd | Near its highest | |
| Dividend yield | 26th | 24th–30th | Usual range | |
| Return on assets, 5-yr | 29th | 22nd–50th | Usual range | |
| Debt to equity | 36th | 8th–40th | More debt than usual | |
| Company size | 64th | 35th–62nd | Near its largest |
The industry's median stock as a percentile of all investable US stocks on each number. For the Acquirer's Multiple and debt to equity, lower is better: the 10th percentile is cheaper than 90% of the market. For yields, returns and size, higher is bigger. Usual range covers the middle 80% of quarters since 1999; it's the shaded band in each chart. Each chart is zoomed to its own range (the numbers on the left): green shading marks the metric's better side and red its worse side, the dashed line is the 50th percentile, and the dot is today, coloured by where it sits.
A live buyback is the catalyst; no activist or bidder found.
Q3 buyback of 551,000 shares for $20.7 million; $97.5 million remains. Nov 5 debt repurchase up to $348.2 million. No activism or takeover found; management expects no near-term M&A.
Catalyst check
Likelihood of a catalyst: HighA live buyback is the catalyst; research found no activist, bid or sale process.
Debt and a classified board are the blockers; returns look normal.
Debt to book equity is in the 92nd percentile, net debt is 56.2% of market cap. Classified board deters bids. SoHo revenue fell 6.0% and Q3 free cash flow fell to $38.6 million.
Value-trap check
Grades miss that net debt is 56.2% of market cap and that small-office revenue, a third of sales, is shrinking.
Company news, not the market, drove the swings; shares still lag.
Down 30.4% over five years against peers −16.8%, Technology +112.0%, S&P 500 +70.9%. Fell 69.2% after the 2022 peak; since May 22 up 53.1%, 67.3% ahead of the sector.
Five years of moves
CCSI −30.4% since 2021-11-01, against the median of MITK, NABL, OOMA, OSPN −16.8%, Technology (XLK) +112.0% and the S&P 500 (SPY) +70.9%. Numbered dots mark inflections (peaks and troughs); shaded bands mark divergences from the sector or market.
What drove each turning point
| # | Turning point | CCSI | Peers | Sector | S&P 500 | Driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peak · also −73.9% vs market · 2022-11-18 → 2023-12-01 | −69.2% | −7.6% | +41.8% | +17.8% | Company |
| Company-driven: a Feb 2023 restatement cut Q3 2022 revenue by $4.1 million; shares fell 69.2% to December 2023 while peers fell 7.6% and the sector rose. glancylaw.com (1537 days ago) | ||||||
| 2 | Trough · 2023-12-01 → 2023-12-15 | +39.1% | +4.7% | +3.3% | +2.6% | Company |
| Company-driven: slow healthcare buying cut Q3 2023 revenue 1.3%, and a $300 million debt repurchase program came in November. No cause found for the 39.1% rebound; peers rose 4.7%. SEC filing; investor.consensus.com (1096 days ago) | ||||||
| 3 | Peak · also −58.0% vs market · 2023-12-15 → 2024-05-03 | −54.1% | +2.6% | +6.1% | +9.3% | Company |
| Company-driven: analysts cut ratings, Q4 2023 EPS of $1.11 missed $1.17, and management said slow decisions had not produced new business. Shares fell 54.1% while peers rose 2.6%. finviz.com (1834 days ago); Yahoo Finance; Yahoo Finance (991 days ago) | ||||||
| 4 | Trough · 2024-05-03 → 2025-02-14 | +136.0% | +21.5% | +19.1% | +20.4% | Company |
| Company-driven: Q1 2024 adjusted EPS of $1.55 beat $1.27, and $126.0 million of debt had been retired. Shares rose 136.0% against peers' 21.5%. SEC filing; tipranks.com (110 days ago) | ||||||
| 5 | Divergence vs sector · 2025-01-31 → 2025-08-01 | −30.6% | −21.6% | +11.8% | +3.9% | Sector |
| Not among the most significant turning points; not researched. | ||||||
| 6 | Peak · 2025-02-14 → 2025-04-17 | −34.8% | −26.3% | −19.5% | −13.4% | Sector |
| No company cause found; the 34.8% fall to April 2025 came with a tariff-driven market selloff. Peers fell 26.3%, the sector 19.5%. cnn.com (6 days ago) | ||||||
| 7 | Trough · 2025-11-21 → 2026-11-06 | +105.9% | +75.6% | +21.2% | +12.8% | Sector |
| Sector-led with company help: shares rose 105.9% as peers gained 75.6%; Corporate growth passed 9%, the buyback was raised to $200 million, and EPS guidance rose. SEC filing; stockhouse.com (3 days ago); Business Wire (3 days ago) | ||||||
| 8 | Divergence vs sector · 2026-05-22 → 2026-11-06 | +53.1% | +19.9% | −8.5% | −0.9% | Company |
| Not among the most significant turning points; not researched. | ||||||
Prices: daily closes. Peers chosen by the AI analyst as the closest US-listed businesses. Moves are over each window: for a peak or trough, the move that followed it. Driver is Company, Sector or Market; see Definitions below.
Every report on CCSI
Each AI analyst report as it was published, with the share price that day and the move since (today $44.01). Past performance is not a guide to the future.
| Report | Price then | Since | What it said |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 9, 2026Latest | $44.01 | +0.0% | Buyback live at a cheap digital-fax leader trading at 8.6× operating income · Catalyst: High |
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Definitions
- Acquirer's Multiple®
- Enterprise value ÷ operating income (trailing 12 months). What an acquirer would pay for the whole business against what it earns before interest and tax. Lower is cheaper.
- Enterprise value
- Market cap at today's price, plus debt, preferred stock and minority interests, less cash.
- Operating income
- Trailing 12 months, after depreciation and amortization.
- Operating earnings yield
- Operating income ÷ enterprise value: the Acquirer's Multiple turned upside down.
- Free cash flow yield
- Trailing 12-month free cash flow (cash from operations less capital spending) ÷ market cap.
- Shareholder yield
- Trailing 12-month dividends plus net buybacks (shares bought back less shares issued) ÷ market cap. Dividend yield and buyback yield are its two parts.
- Return on assets
- Trailing 12-month operating income ÷ total assets at the latest quarter.
- Net debt : market cap
- Debt less cash, as a share of market cap. Negative means net cash.
- E(r)
- Expected annual return if the Acquirer's Multiple doesn't change. It has three parts: return on assets (what the business earns on what it owns); incremental growth (return on assets × the reinvestment rate, where the reinvestment rate is five-year average capital spending ÷ five-year average total assets: what reinvested capital adds); and shareholder yield (what is paid out through dividends and buybacks). E(r) = return on assets × (1 + reinvestment rate) + shareholder yield.
- 10-year Treasury
- The latest monthly 10-year US Treasury yield, the risk-free rate the yields are compared with.
- Percentiles
- Where the stock sits among investable US stocks (price above $3, market cap above $75M, average daily trading above $850,000, no ADRs or MLPs), updated each week. Each is the percentile of the number itself: for the Acquirer's Multiple (here EBIT ÷ enterprise value) and debt (total debt ÷ book equity), lower is better; for yields, five-year average return on assets and market cap, higher is bigger. Stocks outside the investable set, such as ADRs, are placed against it.
- Industry and sector
- FactSet RBICS industry. Industry and sector medians are the middle investable stock's percentile. Industry history is that median each quarter since 1999; the usual range is the middle 80% of quarters.
- Turning points
- Inflection points are the peaks and troughs where the stock's trend reversed by about 25% or more on weekly closes; each is compared over the move that followed. Divergences are stretches where the stock pulled away from its sector fund or the S&P 500 by about 20% or more. Each is set against its peers' median, its sector fund and the S&P 500 over the same window. Driver: Market if the market moved with it (same way, at least half as far) and so did its peers or sector; Sector if only its peers or sector did; Company otherwise.
- Value-trap grades
- Return on assets: Strong at 10% or more, Mixed at 5% or more. Net debt : market cap: Strong at 30% or less, Mixed at 100% or less. Free cash flow yield: Strong at 10% or more, Mixed at 5% or more. Shareholder yield: Strong at 8% or more, Mixed at 3% or more.