Public Markets
After a general upwards trend in our last several reports, the FOCUS Carrier-Focused Telecom Technology Index (CFTTI) reversed course and dropped 7.0% in our winter three-month reporting period. This was despite a reasonably favorable market environment in which the S&P 500 gained 1.0% and the NASDAQ gained 1.8%. Sector losses were broad-based as only one CFTTI sub sector managed to deliver a positive return. For the full year, the CFTTI is still in the black with a year-over-year return of 19.3%. Even with this strong performance, the sector still lags both the 26.1% return in the S&P 500 and the 27.4% return in the NASDAQ over the past 12 months. Sector multiples have shown meaningful increases com- pared to this same time last year. The sector revenue multiple went from 2.2x a year ago to 2.5x currently, while the sector EBITDA multiple increased from 11.3x to 12.0x.
