Anterix posts $90.6m net income in FY2026 on spectrum licence gains
Anterix (NASDAQ: ATEX) has reported net income of $90.6 million for the full fiscal year ended 31 March 2026, reversing a $11.4 million loss in the prior year. The New Jersey-based company, which holds and clears 900 MHz licensed spectrum for private broadband networks in the US utility sector, recorded operating income of $93.9 million, driven almost entirely by non-cash and transactional gains rather than recurring spectrum revenue.
Spectrum revenue for the full year was $6.5 million, up modestly from $6.0 million in FY2025. The headline profit figure was shaped by two large accounting gains: a $105.4 million gain on the exchange of narrowband licences for broadband equivalents across 219 counties, and a $34.8 million gain on outright licence sales across 155 counties. Anterix spent $27.2 million on spectrum clearing costs during the year. General and administrative expenses fell to $36.1 million from $42.7 million, reflecting the severance charges of $4.6 million recorded as the company reduced its headcount.
Contracted pipeline and FCC tailwind
The company secured new spectrum sale agreements with CPS Energy, Texas-New Mexico Power, and NorthWestern Energy during FY2026, adding $23.9 million in contracted proceeds. A further $0.8 million agreement with Benton PUD was signed in April 2026, after the fiscal year closed. With $127 million received from customers to date and $50 million of contracted proceeds still outstanding, Anterix's forward revenue table points to $25.3 million expected in FY2027 and $23.4 million due in the FY2028-to-FY2034 window, from customers including Ameren, Xcel Energy, and LCRA.
A material regulatory development landed in February 2026, when the US Federal Communications Commission adopted a Report and Order expanding the 900 MHz broadband segment from 6 MHz to 10 MHz. The additional 4 MHz widens the channel available to utility customers for mission-critical private LTE deployments — applications such as advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), distributed energy resource (DER) management, and operational technology (OT) network modernisation. Anterix holds the dominant licensed position in this band, and the FCC's decision reinforces its commercial runway by making the spectrum more attractive for LTE and eventually 5G NR private network builds.
The company also launched two new service offerings during the year: TowerX, a managed tower-site access service, and CatalyX, a turnkey connectivity management solution. Neither product generated material disclosed revenue in FY2026, but they signal an intent to move up the value chain beyond pure spectrum licensing.
Market context and competitive positioning
The private wireless market for utilities is contested by a range of approaches. FirstNet (AT&T) offers a public-safety broadband network that utilities can access under certain conditions, while Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) licences at 3.5 GHz provide an alternative shared-spectrum path. Anterix's proposition — licensed, exclusive, sub-GHz spectrum with superior in-building and underground penetration — is positioned by the company as better suited to the reliability requirements of critical infrastructure than shared or higher-frequency alternatives.
Anterix's balance sheet at 31 March 2026 showed no debt and $98.5 million in cash, up from $47.4 million a year earlier, alongside $310.7 million of intangible assets (its spectrum portfolio). A $250 million share repurchase authorisation remains largely untouched, with $226.7 million available before its September 2026 expiry. Management will address analysts on 11 June 2026 at 09:00 ET. Investors will be focused on the pace of licence delivery to contracted customers and whether TowerX and CatalyX can generate recurring service revenue to supplement the episodic gains from spectrum transactions.