WinstonWınston
Back

Deep Value: cash covers more than 100% of the stock price

This company holds roughly $4.8B in cash and investments — more than its entire stock-market value, based on its latest quarterly filing. You're paying very little for the actual business. Sometimes that's a genuine bargain or a takeover target, sometimes it's cheap for a reason. Not a buy signal on its own — always ask why it's this cheap.

Liberty Global logo

Liberty Global

LBTYA
32
Telecommunications Services · Communication Services
Price
$10.65
+0.01 (+0.09%)
Market Cap
$3.50B
Exchange
NASDAQ Global Select
Winston Score
32
Winston is serious
Below-average fundamentals — multiple weak pillars.
Data as of Aug 23, 2026 · filings through Jun 30, 2026
How the score breaks down
Quality
Mixed
Growth
Mixed
Cash Flow
Weak
Stability
Mixed
Valuation
Data not available

Share count falling — buybacks

36.2% over 4y

The company has reduced its share count over this period, returning value to shareholders through buybacks.

Diluted shares outstanding: 569.1M (2021) → 363.2M (2025)

Winston Score History

The full picture

Liberty Global is a large international cable and broadband company based in the United Kingdom. It provides internet, TV, and phone services to homes and businesses, mainly in Europe. Its brands include Virgin Media O2 in the UK and various cable networks across countries like Belgium, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.

Liberty Global earns money by charging customers monthly fees for internet, television, and telephone bundles. It operates almost entirely in Europe and generates billions in revenue, though its thin operating margin shows how expensive it is to run and maintain cable infrastructure. The company's main competitive advantage is owning the physical cable networks in its markets, which are costly for rivals to replicate. The key risk is that heavy debt loads and ongoing infrastructure investment squeeze profits, while competition from fiber-based telecom rivals and streaming services continues to pressure both pricing and customer retention.

Growth Profile

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

-7.7% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Revenue declining

EPS Growth

+86.8% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

EPS growth accelerating

R&D Spend

$0/ year

0.0% of revenue

Below sector average (12%)

Research and development spending

Insider Activity

18.1%ownership

Insiders own a meaningful stake in the company

Cash Runway

5+ years

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↓ Burn rate worsening

$9.1B cash & investments at current burn rate

Revenue declining

Liberty Global's revenue is actually shrinking. In a growth stock, that removes the core investment thesis. The low Winston Score here may be warranted — unless there's a turnaround story.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

Each metric is explained in plain language so you know exactly what you're looking at. Start your free trial now.

Quality

Profit per sale
Gross Margin
45.6%
Healthy — 45.6% gross margin
Profit after running costs
Operating Margin
0.3%
Thin — 0.3% operating margin
Return on the money invested
ROCE
0.2%
Weak — 0.2% return on capital

ROIC between 0% and 5%. They earn a few cents back per dollar invested in the business.

Full breakdown available with your free trial

See every metric, trend, and what it means for this stock.

Try free

Growth

Sales growth
Sales YoY
+132.9%
Fast-growing sales (+132.9% YoY)
Profit growth
EPS YoY
N/A
Data not available
How steady the profit is
EPS Consistency
4/8 quarters
Earnings inconsistent quarter-to-quarter

Full breakdown available with your free trial

See every metric, trend, and what it means for this stock.

Try free

Cash Flow

Profit that turns into cash
Cash Conversion
N/A
Data not available
Spare cash per sale
FCF Margin
-10.5%
Burning cash (-10.5%)

Free cash flow is negative. They are burning cash, not generating it.

Full breakdown available with your free trial

See every metric, trend, and what it means for this stock.

Try free

Stability

What it owes vs what it owns
Debt / Equity
0.91
Moderate — manageable debt (0.91)
Covers its interest
Interest Cover
0.17x
Dangerous — barely covers interest (0.2x)

Interest coverage below 1. Their profits don't cover the interest bill.

Full breakdown available with your free trial

See every metric, trend, and what it means for this stock.

Try free

Valuation

Price vs profit
P/E Ratio (TTM)
N/M
Negative earnings — P/E not meaningful
Cheaper or dearer next year
P/E vs Forward
N/A
not available
Data not available

Full breakdown available with your free trial

See every metric, trend, and what it means for this stock.

Try free

Dividends

Not applicable for this business.
🔒 See full fundamentals and if they are improving or declining — click here for your free trial now.
Start free trial