Skip to main content
CLFDClearfield, Inc.Sell3.2·$33.27-4.82%
SellHigh Confidence
Investment thesis

Clearfield's quality sits below the engine's floor amid declining revenue, notable insider selling, and an elevated put/call ratio, though the recent RSI pullback is framed by the engine as a buying opportunity within an ongoing uptrend.

Thesis pillars

  • Declining RevenueStable
  • Quality Below Floor Value TrapStable
  • Notable Insider SellingStable
  • +2 more pillars — see the Why tab for full reasoning

Full reasoning →

Open full analysis

Clearfield, Inc. (CLFD) Stock Analysis

SellVALUE-TRAP 1/5High Confidence

Technology · Communication Equipment

Sell if holding. Engine safety override at $33.27: Quality below floor (2.1 < 4.0) triggers a hard block regardless of the otherwise-positive setup — overall score 3.2/10. Specifically: High short interest: 13%; Elevated put/call ratio: 1.80; Below-average business quality.

Clearfield designs, manufactures, and distributes fiber protection, fiber management, and fiber delivery products that speed up fiber network deployment for broadband service providers, primarily across North America. The company builds most of its products at plants in Brooklyn... Read more

$33.27+11.8% A.UpsideScore 3.2/10#24 of 25 Communication Equipment
QualityF-score5 / 9FCF yield4.25%
Stop $32.18Target $37.19(analyst − 15%)A.R:R 0.9:1
Analyst target$43.75+31.5%4 analysts
$37.19our TP
$33.27price
$43.75mean
$45

Sell if holding. Engine safety override at $33.27: Quality below floor (2.1 < 4.0) triggers a hard block regardless of the otherwise-positive setup — overall score 3.2/10. Specifically: High short interest: 13%; Elevated put/call ratio: 1.80; Below-average business quality. Chart setup: No clear chart pattern; technical signals are mixed. Score 3.2/10, high confidence.

Passes 5/8 gates (no SEC red flags, news events none recent, earnings proximity 31d clear, semi cycle peak clear, materials cycle peak clear). Fails on weak momentum and favorable risk/reward ratio. Suitability: aggressive.

10-K grounded · weekly refresh

About Clearfield, Inc.

About Clearfield, Inc.

Clearfield generated net sales primarily from fiber management, fiber protection, and fiber delivery products for the broadband industry, following its November 2025 divestiture of the Nestor Cables business, which leaves the company with a single reportable segment. The company builds and assembles most of its products at plants in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota and Tijuana, Mexico, employing approximately 243 full-time U.S. workers plus roughly 375 contracted Maquiladora personnel in Mexico as of September 30, 2025.

Clearfield sells across five customer categories — national Tier 1 carriers, Community Broadband providers (Tier 2/3 telcos, utilities and municipalities), large regional ILECs, cable multiple-system operators, and international customers in Canada, the Caribbean and Latin America — through a mix of direct sales, distributors and manufacturing representatives. Two distributor customers, identified only as Customer A and Customer B, accounted for approximately 18% and 13% of net sales in fiscal 2025, both down slightly from the prior year. The company competes against larger, better-resourced suppliers including Corning, OFS, AFL Telecommunications, Nokia and CommScope, and describes its edge as serving customers who value the cost savings of its Clearview Cassette design and quick-turn, customized products over large-volume commodity buyers. Some critical components, including injected molded parts, cabling and optical connectors, come from single- or limited-source suppliers, and a portion of final assembly work in Mexico depends on personnel contracted through a single Maquiladora services provider.

Show full overview

Clearfield's own risk factors flag a concentrated dependency structure on both ends of its supply chain: it warns that it relies on single-source suppliers for critical components such as connectors and optical parts, and separately discloses contracting with a single company to provide the personnel who complete final build and assembly of a significant portion of its products at the Tijuana, Mexico Maquiladora facility. On the demand side, the loss of either top distributor customer, which together represented roughly 31% of fiscal 2025 net sales, would, in the company's own assessment, likely be redirected through other channels, though management concedes there is no assurance such a transition would avoid harming sales or gross margins.

See also: Technology · Communication Equipment

From Clearfield, Inc.'s most recent 10-K filing, extracted July 6, 2026.

TrendMatrix Research · upcoming catalyst calendar

Upcoming dated catalysts

Wed, Aug 5, 202631d to earnings· next earnings call

Thesis

Rewards
No bull case signals
Risks
Quality below floor (2.1 < 4.0)

Key Metrics

P/E (TTM)147.7
P/E (Fwd)23.4
Mkt Cap$462M
EV/EBITDA78.8
Profit Mgn-5.8%
ROE1.3%
Rev Growth-15.3%
Beta2.11
DividendNone
Rating analysts10

Quality Signals

Piotroski F5/9

Options Flow

P/C1.80bearish
IV85%elevated
Max Pain$23-32.4% vs spot

Model-generated analysis — not investment advice. Not a registered investment advisor. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Show full disclosure ▾

About TrendMatrix. TrendMatrix is a publisher of general securities research and market commentary. We publish on a regular schedule. All content is the same for every subscriber in a tier — we do not provide personalized investment advice and we do not take into account any individual subscriber's financial situation, investment objectives, risk tolerance, tax situation, or holdings.

Not investment advice. TrendMatrix is not a registered investment adviser. Our content is for informational and educational purposes only. Consult your own licensed investment adviser, broker, or tax professional before making any investment decision.

Conflicts and positions. The TrendMatrix editorial team frequently holds personal long-term positions in securities discussed. We disclose positions held at the time of publication on each piece. We maintain a trading-window policy: we do not initiate or close positions in the same direction as a TrendMatrix publication within 24 hours before or 72 hours after publication.

No paid promotion. TrendMatrix does not accept payment from any issuer, broker, or third party in exchange for coverage of any security. Our sole compensation is subscription revenue.

No fiduciary duty. No fiduciary, advisory, or agency relationship is created between you and TrendMatrix by reading our content or subscribing to our service.

Performance. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Performance figures reflect the published model only and do not reflect any individual subscriber's actual results.

Methodology · Editorial policy & full disclaimer

Rating Breakdown

6 floor-breakers

Revenue shrinking — -15.3% YoY. Growth thesis broken unless recovery story develops.static

Revenue Growth
0.0
Declining revenue: -15%
Low model confidence on this dimension (33%).

Ranks in the bottom of its industry peers on the composite signal. Better names in the same sector exist.static

Growth Rank
0.4
Quality Rank
2.1
Value Rank
3.6

Unprofitable operations — net margin -5.8%. Quality floor flags this regardless of sector context.static

Roa
0.0
Operating Margin
0.0
Net Margin
0.0
Roe
0.4
Gross Margin
2.8
Moat
3.1
Current Ratio
5.0
Piotroski F
5.6
No competitive moatQuality concerns

Volatile — 6.9% daily ATR makes tight stops impractical. Position-size conservatively.static

Volatility
0.0
Implied Vol
0.0
Debt Equity
0.5
Put Call
1.3
Max Pain Risk
3.0
Beta
3.0
Short Interest
3.6
Days To Cover
6.9
Elevated put/call: 1.80High IV: 85%Above max pain $22

No near-term catalyst priced in. Thesis progression will come from fundamentals grinding, not event reaction.static

Earnings History
0.0
Surprise Avg
0.0
Erm
5.0
Earnings Timing
5.0
Earnings concerns: 0B/2M

Momentum below the gate floor. Component breakdown shows what dragged the score down.static

Macd
0.0
Volume
0.0
Obv
1.0
Ma Position
4.0
Rsi
8.4
Uptrend pullback (RSI 31) - buy opportunityVolume distribution (falling OBV)Above 200-day MA
GatesMomentum 2.7<4.5A.R:R 0.9 < 1.5@spotINSIDER 0.21%=MODERATENo SEC red flagsNEWS EVENTS NONE RECENTEARNINGS PROXIMITY 31d clearSEMI CYCLE PEAK CLEARMATERIALS CYCLE PEAK CLEARSuitability: Aggressive
RSI
31 · Neutral
20D MA 50D MA 200D MAGOLDEN CROSSSupport $33.18Resistance $42.59

Price Targets

$32
$37
A.Upside+11.8%
A.R:R0.9:1

Position Sizing

ConvictionNone
Suggested %0.5%
Max %1%
RegimeSteady

Risk Alerts

! Quality below floor (2.1 < 4.0)
! momentum at 2.7 (below the engine's 4.5 threshold)
! asymmetry at 0.9 (below the engine's 1.5 threshold)@spot

Earnings

M
M
M
M
0/4 beats
Next Earnings2026-08-05 (31d)

Verdict History

reverse chrono — latest first
Loading history...
Verdicts are recorded on every nightly pipeline run. Rows capture transitions (verdict flips, score deltas ≥0.3, entry/TP/SL changes). Rows with a ▶ can be expanded to see the change reason. Aggregate cohort performance is tracked in the recommendation ledger.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CLFD stock a buy right now?

Sell if holding. Engine safety override at $33.27: Quality below floor (2.1 < 4.0) triggers a hard block regardless of the otherwise-positive setup — overall score 3.2/10. Specifically: High short interest: 13%; Elevated put/call ratio: 1.80; Below-average business quality. Chart setup: No clear chart pattern; technical signals are mixed. Prior stop was $32.18. Score 3.2/10, high confidence.

What is the CLFD stock price target?

Take-profit target: $37.19 (+11.8% upside). Prior stop was $32.18. Stop-loss: $32.18.

What are the risks of investing in CLFD?

Quality below floor (2.1 < 4.0).

Is CLFD overvalued or undervalued?

Clearfield, Inc. trades at a P/E of 147.7 (forward 23.4). TrendMatrix value score: 5.9/10. Verdict: Sell.

What do analysts say about CLFD?

10 analysts cover CLFD with a consensus score of 4.1/5. Average price target: $44.

What does Clearfield, Inc. do?Clearfield designs, manufactures, and distributes fiber protection, fiber management, and fiber delivery products that...

Clearfield designs, manufactures, and distributes fiber protection, fiber management, and fiber delivery products that speed up fiber network deployment for broadband service providers, primarily across North America. The company builds most of its products at plants in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota and Tijuana, Mexico, selling to national carriers, community broadband providers, cable operators, and international customers, with its two largest customers, both distributors, accounting for a combined 31% of fiscal 2025 net sales.

Related stocks: VISN (Vistance Networks, Inc.) · GILT (Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd.) · ADTN (ADTRAN Holdings, Inc.) · HLIT (Harmonic Inc.) · NTGR (NETGEAR, Inc.)
Home Stocks CLFD

Latest news

No recent news