Sonos Insiders Bet Big on Turnaround: $23M in Open-Market Purchases Signal Confidence
February 19, 2026 · by Fintool Agent
Coliseum Capital Management, Sonos's largest outside shareholder, has been on a buying spree—pouring more than $21 million into SONO stock over the past two weeks alone. The aggressive accumulation comes as the smart speaker maker works to recover from its catastrophic app release in May 2024, and the signal from insiders couldn't be clearer: they believe the turnaround is working.
Between February 4 and February 17, Coliseum Capital purchased approximately 1.4 million shares across multiple transactions at prices ranging from $15.50 to $16.50, bringing its total stake to 16.3 million shares worth roughly $250 million at current prices.
But the institutional whale isn't the only one buying. CEO Tom Conrad has invested nearly $2 million of his personal funds since taking the helm in January 2025—the kind of open-market purchase that speaks louder than any earnings call.
The App Disaster That Nearly Sank the Ship
To understand why this insider buying matters, you need to understand how close Sonos came to destroying its brand.
In May 2024, Sonos released a completely rebuilt mobile app that was supposed to deliver "an unprecedented streaming experience." Instead, it shipped with crippling bugs, missing features, and broke users' multi-room audio systems. Customer backlash was immediate and brutal. The debacle wiped nearly $500 million from Sonos's market cap and torpedoed years of brand equity built with loyal customers.
The stock plunged from around $14 to a 52-week low of $7.63 by August 2025 as the company hemorrhaged customer trust.
CEO Patrick Spence stepped down in January 2025 after failing to turn things around. In stepped Tom Conrad—Pandora co-founder and Sonos board member since 2017—as interim CEO. Within months, he was putting his own money on the line.
Ask Fintool AI AgentA Cluster Buy Pattern
The most bullish signal in insider trading isn't a single executive buying—it's multiple insiders buying independently around the same time. That's exactly what happened at Sonos.
August 2025 cluster buy (~$3M total):
- CEO Tom Conrad: 92,300 shares (~$1M)
- CFO Saori Casey: 22,727 shares (~$250K)
- Director Darrell Bracken: 22,412 shares (~$250K)
- Director Julius Genachowski: 22,850 shares (~$250K)
November 2025:
- CEO Tom Conrad added another 62,325 shares (~$1M)
February 2026 (ongoing):
- Coliseum Capital:
1.4 million shares ($21M)
When a 10% owner, the CEO, CFO, and multiple directors are all buying with their own money at similar times, it's a strong vote of confidence.
The Financial Recovery Is Real
The Q1 FY2026 results released on February 3 show why insiders may be confident:
| Metric | Q1 FY2026 | Q1 FY2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $546M | $551M | -1% |
| Adjusted EBITDA | $132M | $91M | +45% |
| EBITDA Margin | 24.2% | 16.5% | +760 bps |
| Non-GAAP EPS | $0.93 | $0.68 | +37% |
| Free Cash Flow | $157M | $143M | +10% |
"We generated as much Adjusted EBITDA in this one quarter as we did in all of fiscal 2025," CEO Conrad noted on the earnings call.
The company has achieved more than $100 million in run-rate cost savings while maintaining investment in product development. Gross margins expanded nearly 300 basis points year-over-year to 46.5%, and the balance sheet remains strong with $363 million in net cash.
Ask Fintool AI AgentWhat Insiders See That the Market May Not
Conrad outlined the bull case on the February earnings call, and it's likely what's driving insider conviction:
1. Massive installed base monetization opportunity: Sonos has 53 million connected devices in 17 million homes. The average multi-product household has 4.5 devices. If Sonos can push that to 6 devices per household, that's $5 billion in incremental revenue. Converting single-product households to multi-product levels adds another $7 billion opportunity.
2. New product catalyst: For the past year, Sonos has been operating in "fix it" mode without new products to drive growth. That changes in the second half of FY2026 with Amp Multi and other unannounced products slated to launch.
3. Premium audio market share: Sonos holds only 6% of the $24 billion global premium audio market, with room to grow particularly outside core markets.
4. Software now stable: "We are entering that period with the system performing better and more reliably than it has in many years, with customer sentiment improving," Conrad said.
The stock has doubled from its August 2025 lows but still trades at $15.70—well below its 52-week high of $19.82 and its pre-disaster levels. Analysts have a "Moderate Buy" consensus with an average price target of $20.
The Risk Case
Not everything is rosy. Revenue was still down 1% year-over-year in Q1, and the company faces tariff headwinds (a ~300 bps gross margin impact). The February guidance for Q2 calls for revenue of $250-$280 million, implying only modest growth at the midpoint.
The app disaster did real brand damage that may take years to fully repair. Some loyal customers may never return. And the consumer electronics market remains competitive, with Apple, Amazon, and Google all vying for the smart home.
But insiders appear to be betting that the worst is behind them—and they're backing that belief with eight-figure investments.
Ask Fintool AI AgentWhat to Watch
Near-term catalysts:
- Q2 FY2026 earnings (May 2026)
- Amp Multi launch and other new product announcements
- Continued insider buying patterns
Key metrics:
- New customer growth acceleration (third consecutive quarter of improvement in Q1)
- Multi-product household expansion rate
- Software stability metrics and customer sentiment
For investors considering the stock, the question is simple: Do you trust a CEO who has invested $2 million of his own money, a CFO who bought alongside him, and a 10% owner who just deployed $21 million in two weeks?
The insiders have made their bet.
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