Cheap-to-serve incremental business: management says the next tranche of volume costs it almost nothing extra
The model's full reasoning — Q2 2017 call → NOThe question asks whether management conveys that the cost of serving the next increment of business has become unusually low — that additional volume can be delivered largely with resources already built and paid for — and that additional business of that kind is already arriving now. Let me scan the transcript for relevant statements. George Cope discusses the fiber build: "Strategically we now expect to service more than 3.7 million FTTH locations by the end of this year, up about 100,000 households and businesses and resulting in approximately 40% of our entire long-term fiber program being completed by the end of this calendar year." On the fiber footprint: "I thought the most interesting to me in the quarter was where we actually had the fiber footprint. we literally had no NAS losses." On Alt TV: "a new innovative app based live TV streaming service was launched on May 15, branded All TV targeting cord cutters and cord nevers." "It's the identical content of five TV, but the monthly price is at a discount basically reflecting the fact no truck rolls required and no set-top box required." "we are indifferent between the two from a cost perspective." On the fiber expansion: "we are just getting a little bit more done than we expected and sometimes it's -- some of markets that are little more aerial are just a little bit easier to do and so we can get those done quicker, we are just working as fast as the team can go to get this program executed on." On wireless: "we saw an approximate 27% increase year-over-year on our postpaid additions" and "It was the strongest absolute dollar service revenue growth in the history of our wireless business." On the fiber footprint results: "we added 17.4000 net Internet additions in our fiber footprint." Now, does management convey that the next unit of business is cheap to serve? The Alt TV product is described as having no truck rolls and no set-top box required, and they are indifferent between Alt TV and traditional TV from a cost perspective. This suggests incremental TV subscribers via Alt TV are cheap to serve. But is this a "base already built and paid for"? The fiber network is being built — they are in the middle of a build program, expecting to complete 40% by end of year. So the build is ongoing, not complete.
| Ticker | Company | Call | Date | Call grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TGLS | Tecnoglass Inc. | Q2 2023 | 2023-08-08 | A |
| ADPT | Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation | Q4 2022 | 2023-02-14 | C+ |
| SIBN | SI-BONE, Inc. | Q3 2022 | 2022-11-07 | C+ |
| FAT | FAT Brands Inc. | Q4 2021 | 2022-03-21 | F |
| HFWA | Heritage Financial Corporation | Q4 2021 | 2022-01-27 | A |
| AMC | AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. | Q2 2021 | 2021-08-09 | D |
| ESRT | Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. | Q2 2021 | 2021-07-29 | C+ |
| UMH | UMH Properties, Inc. | Q3 2018 | 2018-11-02 | C+ |
| WES | Western Midstream Partners, LP | Q3 2018 | 2018-10-31 | D |
| SATS | EchoStar Corporation | Q1 2018 | 2018-05-10 | C+ |
| ATI | Allegheny Technologies Incorporated | Q1 2018 | 2018-04-24 | B |
SATS · Q1 2018 → YESThe question is about whether management conveys that the cost of serving the next increment of business has become unusually low, meaning additional volume can be delivered with already built and pai...NO The transcript shows management describing high growth with significant upfront acquisition costs, fixed costs leading to margin expansion as growth slows, and beams filling up faster than expected on Jupiter-2 (implying approaching capacity limits rather than excess capacity). However, there is no clear indication of an already-built, underutilized base where additional business is arriving on resources already paid for without new capacity investment. Instead, they highlight ongoing build-out (Jupiter-3 in 2021) and potential slowdowns, which aligns with the "NO" criteria for being near limits or in a growth cycle requiring new spending.
ATI · Q1 2018 → YESThe question is about whether management conveys that the cost of serving the next increment of business has become unusually low, meaning additional volume can be delivered with already built and pai...YES Management describes the HPMC segment’s leverage from “additional volume across our asset base” and “utilization increases across our isothermal and conventional forging assets” that already generated “significant incremental margin growth,” with next-generation jet engine sales up 65% and now at 48% of total jet engine sales. They state they are “well positioned both in capability and capacity to continue to benefit from these trends well into the future” after noting the fourth press is coming on stream in a couple of years.
UMH · Q3 2018 → YESThe question is about whether management conveys that the cost of serving the next increment of business has become unusually low, meaning additional volume can be delivered with already built and pai...YES The transcript shows management conveying exactly this situation: the company already owns 3,600 vacant sites (most acquired) plus 6,215 rental homes (93.3% occupied), so the next increment of rental-home business can be served on infrastructure already paid for and in place. They explicitly call the rental program “the most efficient way to fill the vacant sites,” and they are already adding 608 homes this year on track for 800, with Same-Property occupancy rising to 83.2% and expense ratios improving as occupancy climbs.