Public Markets
On the plus side, the FOCUS Communications Service Provider Index (CSPI) turned in a positive return for the current reporting period with a three month gain of 1.5%. However, this return trailed the broader indices by a wide margin as the S&P 500 was up 8.5% and the NASDAQ was up 12.2% over the corresponding time period. The CSPI also trails the broader indices for the full year period, although the gap is certainly narrower. The return for the CSPI over the last 12 months was 24.0%, while the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ gained 28.9% and 35.2%, respectively. Sector multiples are meaningfully higher than they were a year ago. The CSPI revenue multiple increased from 2.5x to 2.8x, while the EBITDA multiple climbed from 7.3x to 8.5x.
