Cantaloupe, Inc. (CTLP): BCG Matrix [Dec-2025 Updated]

As you map out Cantaloupe, Inc.'s (CTLP) portfolio heading into late 2025, you see a classic story: a rock-solid core generating between $46 million and $50 million in adjusted EBITDA from over 1.26 million active devices, but the future hinges on a few big bets. We've got high-margin Subscription Fees acting as the ultimate Cash Cow, while Transaction Fees are clearly the Star, growing at 10.0% year-over-year, but you've got to decide if the new Cantaloupe Capital and international pushes are worth the risk. Let's dive into the four quadrants to see exactly where you should be allocating capital right now.

Background of Cantaloupe, Inc. (CTLP)

You're looking to map out Cantaloupe, Inc. (CTLP)'s current strategic position, so let's first ground ourselves in what the company actually does and how it performed heading into late 2025. Cantaloupe, Inc. is a global technology leader that powers self-service commerce, providing end-to-end technology solutions for that space. Think micro-payment processing, self-checkout kiosks, mobile ordering, connected point-of-sale (POS) systems, and enterprise cloud software, like their Seed ERP offering.

The company's value proposition is pretty clear: they help businesses see a 20-35% revenue lift and a 30-40% reduction in operating expenses once fully onboarded to the platform. As of the second quarter of fiscal year 2025, Cantaloupe, Inc. was serving over 32,000 customers who collectively operated about 1.27 million active devices. These customers process a significant amount of money, with over $3 billion in annual transaction volume flowing through the platform.

When we look at the revenue breakdown for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, the core business is clearly software and transactions. For that fiscal year, Cantaloupe, Inc. reported total annual revenue of $302.55 million, which was a 12.64% increase year-over-year. Their Q3 2025 revenue specifically came in at $80.85 million, marking a 14.14% jump compared to the same quarter last year. Management had guided for full fiscal year 2025 revenue to land between $308 million and $322 million.

Drilling into those revenue streams based on Q2 2025 figures shows where the momentum is. Transaction fees were the largest component at $44.4 million, up 17.2% year-over-year, while subscription fees followed at $20.7 million, growing 14.1%. Honestly, the equipment sales segment is lagging; it brought in only $8.6 million in Q2 2025, actually declining by 7.4% compared to the prior year's second quarter. This shift is intentional, as the subscription revenue-especially from bundled SaaS under programs like Cantaloupe ONE-carries a much higher gross margin, approaching 89.7% in Q2 2025.

Profitability has definitely been improving, which is a key focus for the leadership team. For the twelve months ending September 30, 2025, Cantaloupe, Inc. reported earnings of $59.5 million, leading to a net profit margin of 19%. That's a big step up from the 4.7% net margin reported the previous year. In the second quarter of fiscal 2025, the company posted a net income applicable to common shares of $5.0 million, and their overall Adjusted Gross Margin improved to 41.7%.

Cantaloupe, Inc. (CTLP) - BCG Matrix: Stars

Stars are the business units or products that command a high market share within a rapidly expanding market. For Cantaloupe, Inc. (CTLP), this quadrant is characterized by core recurring revenue streams that are leaders in the self-service commerce space but still require significant investment to maintain their growth trajectory and market position. These are the engines Cantaloupe is investing in heavily now, expecting them to mature into Cash Cows as the overall market growth rate eventually decelerates.

The performance indicators for these high-growth, high-share assets show strong momentum as of the third quarter of fiscal year 2025. You see this in the transaction processing side of the business, which is the lifeblood of the platform.

Here's a look at the key financial metrics defining the Star segment:

The monetization of the installed base is clearly accelerating. The Average Revenue Per Unit (ARPU) increased to $206 in Q3 FY2025, reflecting a 10.7% year-over-year increase. This demonstrates that as more devices are deployed and utilized, the revenue generated per unit is climbing, which is exactly what you want to see from a market leader.

The Smart Stores segment, a key component of the high-growth offering, is showing superior customer spending habits compared to legacy models. The average purchase in a Smart Store reached $4.25. This figure is significantly higher than traditional vending, indicating that the advanced technology and product mix offered in this format drive greater customer spend per interaction. Honestly, this differential is why Cantaloupe, Inc. is pushing this technology so hard.

Looking at the full fiscal year 2025 outlook, management expects the combined Subscription and Transaction revenue-the core recurring business-to land in the low end of the 15% - 20% growth range. This sustained double-digit growth validates the Star positioning, showing the market is still expanding rapidly while Cantaloupe, Inc. maintains its leading share.

The characteristics supporting the Star classification for these units include:

• Transaction fees reached $44.0 million in Q3 FY2025.
• Subscription fees grew 10.3% to $21.2 million in the same quarter.
• Total dollar volumes of transactions increased 11.1% to $852.4 million in Q3 FY2025.
• The company is focused on expanding the footprint of active devices to pull through this recurring revenue.

If Cantaloupe, Inc. can sustain this success while the market growth rate naturally slows down over time, these assets will transition into the Cash Cow quadrant, providing stable, high-margin cash flow to fund future growth initiatives elsewhere in the portfolio. Finance: review the Q4 projections against the low end of the 15% - 20% guidance by next Tuesday.

Cantaloupe, Inc. (CTLP) - BCG Matrix: Cash Cows

You're looking at the core engine of Cantaloupe, Inc. (CTLP) here-the business units that generate more cash than they need to maintain their dominant position. These are the mature, high-market-share assets that fund the rest of the portfolio.

Subscription Fees are definitely the high-margin bedrock. For the second quarter of fiscal year 2025, the adjusted gross margin on these recurring fees hit 89.7%. That margin actually improved sequentially, reaching 90.7% by the third quarter of fiscal year 2025, showing excellent operating leverage on that revenue stream.

The Installed Device Base provides the massive, stable platform for these recurring fees. As of the end of the third quarter of fiscal year 2025, Cantaloupe, Inc. reported over 1.26 million active devices. To give you context on the growth leading up to that, the first quarter of fiscal year 2025 ended with 1.23 million active devices.

The Core Vending Management Software, which includes platforms like Seed Pro and Seed Markets, represents the high-penetration, low-growth segment. This software captures the stable maintenance and service revenue component of the business. Because the market for basic vending management software is mature, the investment here is focused on efficiency, not aggressive expansion. You want to milk these gains passively, ensuring the infrastructure supporting these devices runs smoothly.

The financial output from these stable operations is clear in the Total Adjusted EBITDA projections. For the full fiscal year 2025, Cantaloupe, Inc. projects Total Adjusted EBITDA to fall between $46 million and $50 million. This strong cash generation is underpinned by the performance in the third quarter of fiscal year 2025, where Adjusted EBITDA reached $13.9 million, a 37% increase compared to the prior year period.

You should note the following key drivers supporting this Cash Cow status:

• Subscription fees Adjusted Gross Margin reached 89.7% in Q2 FY2025.
• Active device base stood at 1.26 million as of Q3 FY2025.
• FY2025 Adjusted EBITDA guidance is set between $46 million and $50 million.
• Q3 FY2025 Adjusted EBITDA was $13.9 million, up 36.6% year-over-year.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Cantaloupe, Inc. (CTLP) - BCG Matrix: Dogs

You're looking at the segments of Cantaloupe, Inc. (CTLP) that fit the profile of a Dog in the Boston Consulting Group Matrix-low market share in a low-growth area, often consuming management attention without delivering substantial returns. These units frequently break even or require significant effort just to maintain their position.

The hardware component of Cantaloupe, Inc.'s business, specifically the sale of payment terminals like ePort and Card Readers, clearly falls into this category. These are low-margin transactions that contrast sharply with the high-margin recurring revenue streams. Expensive turn-around plans for these commoditized hardware sales usually don't pay off because the market is mature and growth is limited.

Here's a look at the key indicators supporting the classification of certain hardware and legacy segments as Dogs:

• Equipment Sales (ePort/Card Readers): The adjusted gross margin for equipment sales in Q2 FY2025 was only 9.1%.
• Legacy Vending Hardware: Older models face intense competition and commoditization in the mature vending market.
• Low-Volume, Non-Core Segments: These are older, non-integrated payment solutions that contribute minimally to the overall revised full fiscal year 2025 revenue guidance of between $302 million and $308 million.
• Low Active Device Growth: The year-over-year increase in active devices was only 3.6% in Q3 FY2025.

To see how this low-margin hardware compares to the core business, look at the margin differences across the reported quarters:

The equipment sales revenue itself shows mixed signals, which can be a trap. While Q3 FY2025 equipment sales revenue increased by 17.9% year-over-year to $10.2 million, Q2 FY2025 equipment sales revenue was $8.6 million, representing a 7.4% decrease year-over-year. This volatility, coupled with the persistently low gross margin, suggests these are not strategic growth drivers.

The slow pace of device expansion confirms the low-growth market aspect. For instance, the active device count grew only 3.5% year-over-year in Q2 FY2025, reaching 1.27 million units, and then grew by 3.6% year-over-year in Q3 FY2025 to 1.26 million units. This low unit volume growth forces Cantaloupe, Inc. to rely on higher Average Revenue Per Unit (ARPU) from its core subscription and transaction services to drive overall revenue growth, which for Subscription and Transaction revenue was expected to be in the 15% - 20% range for FY2025, though revised down to the low end of that range in Q3 FY2025 guidance. The contrast is stark; the core business is growing double-digits on revenue, while device count growth is in the mid-single digits.

These Dog units are prime candidates for divestiture or minimal investment, as the capital tied up in managing low-margin hardware inventory and support could be better deployed into the high-margin subscription and transaction services.

Cantaloupe, Inc. (CTLP) - BCG Matrix: Question Marks

You're looking at the newest ventures at Cantaloupe, Inc. (CTLP)-the Question Marks. These are the areas where the market is clearly growing, but Cantaloupe, Inc.'s footprint is still small, meaning they require significant cash investment to secure market share before they mature into Stars. Honestly, these are the bets management is making for future dominance.

The overall financial context shows a company growing, but one that is actively spending to fuel that growth, which aligns with the cash-consuming nature of Question Marks. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, Cantaloupe, Inc. reported total revenue of $302.55 million, representing a 13% year-over-year increase. However, the cash position reflects investment needs; Cash and Equivalents at the end of Q4 2025 were $46.3 million, a decrease of 21.4% compared to the prior year. This dynamic-revenue growth coupled with cash burn-is the classic profile for funding Question Marks.

Initiatives in the Question Mark Quadrant

The following business units fit the high-growth market/low relative share profile, demanding immediate strategic decisions on investment or divestiture:

• AdVantage Program: Launched in October 2024, this targets the high-growth digital advertising spend directly on Cantaloupe, Inc.'s point-of-sale (POS) touchscreen devices across the U.S. and Canada. The goal is to quickly capture advertising revenue share from this new digital channel.
• Cantaloupe Capital: This micro-lending service, launched in collaboration with Fundbox in February 2025, targets equipment financing for small business operators. It taps into the high-growth fintech opportunity but requires significant capital deployment and market adoption to prove its scale.
• International Expansion: Cantaloupe, Inc. serves the U.K., EU countries, Australia, and Mexico. While the company has a dominant position in the U.S., its relative market share in these growing international territories is low, necessitating heavy investment to build local traction. The acquisition of SB Software in the U.K. during Q1 2025 was a direct investment move to bolster this segment.
• Smart Lock Connect: This IoT solution for unattended retail security is positioned in a high-growth segment. It allows remote management and monitoring of coolers, but its market penetration and resulting revenue contribution must rapidly increase to justify the development and integration costs.

The scale of the existing platform that these new services plug into is substantial, providing the base for rapid adoption if the strategy works. As of the end of the third quarter of fiscal year 2025, Cantaloupe, Inc. managed approximately 1.26 million active devices across over 34,115 active customers.

Here is a snapshot of the core business performance framing the investment environment for these new products as of late 2025:

The strategy for these Question Marks must be clear: either commit heavy investment to rapidly scale adoption-like the AdVantage program aiming for advertising revenue on the existing 1.26 million devices-or plan for divestiture if market adoption stalls. The launch of Cantaloupe Capital in February 2025 is a direct cash-consuming investment designed to help operators buy more equipment, thereby increasing the installed base for the core subscription and transaction services.

For the international push, the focus is on proving the model outside the U.S. dominance. The company serves the U.K. and Mexico, among others. The growth in equipment sales, which was up 17.9% in Q3 2025 to $10.2 million, is partly attributed to new hardware like the Smart Stores, which are also being deployed internationally.

The high-growth nature is evident in the segment growth rates that these new products are designed to feed:

• Subscription and Transaction revenue growth was guided for the 15% - 20% range for FY2025.
• In Q2 2025, transaction fees grew 17.2% year-over-year to $44.4 million.
• In Q3 2025, equipment sales grew 17.9% year-over-year.

These growth rates confirm the market is expanding, but Cantaloupe, Inc.'s relative share in these specific new areas-advertising, lending, and new geographies-remains low, classifying them as Question Marks.