Ticker Teardown Dossier
Credo ($CRDO), taken apart the way the desk does.
Credo (CRDO) Teardown Dossier · As of 2026-11-02, refreshed after FQ1 2027 results
The CRDO dossier is the desk's Credo teardown written out as a document, plus what a five-minute video cannot carry: the last eight quarters of Credo's own SEC filings in one table (fiscal years for a foreign filer whose quarterly reports carry no structured data), a peer comparison with numbers, the level map rebuilt from the latest close, and a link to every filing used. Rebuilt after each quarterly print.
Look inside before you buy
2,174 words · about 9 min to read · 10 sections · data as of 2 November 2026 · last refreshed after FQ1 2027 results
Table of contents
- What is in this dossier
- What this is not
- 1. The teardown
- The setup
- The business: not a processor
- Why it wins: the back-end network
- The customers: cuts both ways
- Valuation: mind the multiple
- The street: an estimate, not a promise
- The bear case
- The chart: be honest
- The verdict
- 2. What changed since it was written
- 3. The filings: the last eight quarters
- 4. Valuation against the peers
- 5. Level map
- 6. Sources
- 7. What this dossier cannot do
- More dossiers in this theme
Excerpt
1. The teardown
Written 2026-09-09, with prices as of 2026-09-11. Figures in this part are as the desk read them that day; parts 2 to 5 carry the numbers as of 2026-11-02.
The setup
Credo Technology is down 30% in a single month. Down 28% over three months. And after all of that it is still up about 14% on the year, which tells you almost the entire year's gain has been handed back in one stretch. Meanwhile the average Wall Street target sits 67% above where the stock trades today. Broken, or on sale?
The business: not a processor
Start with what Credo actually sells, because it is one of the least understood names in the AI supply chain. Credo is a $31 billion chip company, and its main product is not a processor. It is a cable. Specifically an active electrical cable, an AEC: a copper cable with Credo's own silicon built into the connector at each end, cleaning up the signal so that copper can run further and faster than it has any right to.
Why it wins: the back-end network
Why does that matter? Because of where an AI cluster spends its wiring. There are two networks in a cluster. The front-end connects servers to the outside world. The back-end connects GPUs to each other, and the back-end needs roughly 4 to 8x the cabling of the front-end. As the industry moves from 800 gigabit links to one point six terabit, plain passive copper runs out of reach, while optics cost more and burn more power. The AEC sits exactly in that gap. That is the structural bet: AI scale-out expands the interconnect market, and Credo is the merchant leader in the piece of it that is growing fastest.
One table from the document
3. The filings: the last eight quarters
| USD millions, period ended | 2024-11-02 | 2025-02-01 | 2025-05-03 | 2025-08-02 | 2025-11-01 | 2026-01-31 | 2026-05-02 | 2026-08-01 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal period | FQ2 2025 | FQ3 2025 | FQ4 2025 | FQ1 2026 | FQ2 2026 | FQ3 2026 | FQ4 2026 | FQ1 2027 |
| Source filing | 10-Q 2024-12-03 | 10-Q 2025-03-10 | 10-K 2025-07-02 | 10-Q 2025-09-04 | 10-Q 2025-12-02 | 10-Q 2026-03-03 | 10-K 2026-06-15 | 10-Q 2026-09-02 |
| Revenue | 72.0 | 135.0 | 170.0 | 223.1 | 268.0 | 407.0 | 437.0 | 479.0 |
| Gross margin | 63.2% | 63.6% | 67.2% | 67.4% | 67.5% | 68.5% | 68.2% | 64.5% |
| Operating income | -8.4 | 26.2 | 33.8 | 60.7 | 78.8 | 149.6 | 155.8 | 120.7 |
| Net income | -4.2 | 29.4 | 36.6 | 63.4 | 82.6 | 157.1 | 169.1 | 129.4 |
| Operating cash flow | 10.3 | 4.2 | 57.8 | 54.2 | 61.7 | 166.2 | 182.2 | 90.2 |
| Capex | -21.9 | -4.6 | -3.7 | -2.8 | -23.2 | -26.5 | -4.8 | -7.3 |
| Free cash flow | -11.7 | -0.4 | 54.2 | 51.3 | 38.5 | 139.7 | 177.5 | 82.9 |
| Cash and equivalents | 239.2 | 299.2 | 236.3 | 219.6 | 567.6 | 1,220 | 1,165 | 466.9 |
| Debt (book, excl. leases) | n/r | n/r | n/r | n/r | n/r | n/r | n/r | n/r |
| Diluted shares (M) | 166.5 | 182.5 | 181.2* | 184.6 | 187.7 | 192.0 | 188.2* | 194.4 |
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It reads our $CRDO data (thesis, key levels, peers, a year of prices) and any chart screenshot you paste, then explains the setup in plain English. Free with an email login, 5 questions a day. Education only: it never tells you to buy or sell, and it can be wrong, so check the numbers.
What the dossier has that the video does not
The filings themselves: revenue, gross margin, operating income, net income, operating cash flow, capex, free cash flow, cash, debt and diluted shares, quarter by quarter, each column dated with the filing it comes from. A foreign filer whose quarterly reports carry no structured data gets its fiscal years, and the dossier says so.
Never stale
Every dossier carries an "as of" date and the quarter it was last refreshed after. It is rebuilt after each print, and the desk's daily check flags any dossier left more than 45 days without a refresh. The written teardown keeps its date, and a "what changed since" section gives the move in the price and the filings since.
What is inside
- The teardown in writing: the business, the bull case, the full bear case and the verdict, dated.
- What changed since it was written: the price move and every SEC filing since.
- Eight quarters of the company's own SEC filings in one table, each column dated, with a plain read of what the table says.
- Peers with numbers: market cap, revenue growth, operating margin, EV / sales and distance from the 52-week high.
- The level map rebuilt from the latest close: where the price sits against the 52-week range and each level.
- Sources: a link to every filing and results release used.
Buy it if
- You hold or watch $CRDO and want a structured read before acting.
- You want levels you can check on the chart, not an opinion.
Skip it if
- You want a buy signal. A dossier explains and maps; it does not signal.
- You want every name on the desk. The Teardown Library covers every dossier, current and future, for less than four dossiers.
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An educational research publication, not investment advice, trade signals, a managed account, or an advisory service. Nothing in it is a recommendation to buy or sell any security. See our disclosures.