Brightspeed Braces for Possible December Bankruptcy as Revenue Falls 8.7% to $386 Million

Key Facts

Brightspeed is preparing for the possibility of filing for bankruptcy as early as December, amid declining liquidity and efforts to secure new financing from its existing lenders, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing people familiar with the matter. The report raised the possibility of bankruptcy alongside the ongoing financing efforts, without indicating that the company had made a final decision to file. It did not specify a chapter of the Bankruptcy Code. The developments come as the company faces falling revenue and a warning about its ability to continue operating. The newspaper said Brightspeed is seeking "new capital from existing lenders" as its liquidity dwindles.

The company's revenue was $386 million in the second quarter of 2026, down 8.7% from the same period a year earlier, according to people familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg. In an investor disclosure, Brightspeed warned of substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern, Bloomberg reported. The warning reflects pressure beyond the search for financing to expand the network, putting the company's ability to continue operations in question. Apollo Global Management backs the company, which is expanding its fiber network as revenue declines. The available information provided no further details about the reasons for the revenue decline in the quarter.

Brightspeed struggled to raise financing from new investors through a facility backed by cash subscription flows from its new fiber network, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company had sought financing to continue expanding the network, while turning to its existing lenders for new funding. Bloomberg said it was also exploring financing options to strengthen its balance sheet, including an asset-backed securitization. These efforts highlight that the expansion plan requires funding sources as liquidity declines, but the sources did not say that any financing option had been completed. Nor do they establish that the company has settled on a court-supervised restructuring.

Talks over the company's $10 billion in debt are taking place in parallel. Advisers to a group of creditors signed confidentiality agreements with Brightspeed to discuss ways to address the debt, Bloomberg reported, in a report dated through October 1, 2026. As of that date, most of the company's securities were trading near distressed levels, according to Bloomberg. These indicators provide context for the creditor talks and the company's financing efforts, but do not determine the outcome of those discussions. Signing the confidentiality agreements also does not mean the creditors and the company reached an agreement to restructure the obligations.

Brightspeed's operating plan centers on building a broad fiber network to serve rural and suburban communities in 20 U.S. states, according to the company's description of its business. In April 2026, it said it had passed three million fiber-ready locations and was targeting four million homes by year-end, with a longer-term plan to reach more than five million locations. It also said 2026 would be the second consecutive year in which it built more than one million fiber connections. The company links network expansion to providing internet service to the communities it serves, while its financing needs are tied to the continuation of construction. That puts its announced expansion plans up against liquidity pressures and the search for new sources of funding.

Brightspeed's expansion has previously relied on substantial financing. In August 2025, the company announced the pricing of a $1.65 billion capital raise to support network construction, following a $575 million bond issuance in June of the same year and a $3.7 billion raise in August 2024; fiber had passed more than 2.3 million locations by August 2025. When assessing the acquisition in 2022, S&P projected adjusted debt to EBITDA of about 7 times that year, rising to the mid-8-times range in 2023. The agency said at the time that the company might need additional financing within two years because of its construction plans and liquidity. Its assessment also noted that about 97% of the infrastructure it acquired was copper-based, with capital spending expected to be about $1 billion annually over the following two years, and linked revenue improvement to fiber penetration exceeding 35%.