Charter Communications, Inc.

CHTR · NASDAQ · USD

Analysis

Last 4 earnings calls · through Q2 FY2026

Broadband is still losing customers and EBITDA has started to fall, so Charter is fixing the cash instead: capital spending has peaked and management is cutting it hard, betting that mobile, video and Cox pull Internet back to growth before the money arrives. How much of the falling EBITDA comes from broadband versus mobile?

  • Internet losses widened, and management calls it a funnel problem.

    Churn is at historic lows and sales yield is strong, so the shortfall is fewer people shopping at all, as AT&T's home internet and new fibre take the movers. That is why the base keeps shrinking. Which competitors took the low-income Internet customers Charter lost?

  • Mobile is the growth engine and it is what holds the broadband base together.

    Charter added about 1.7 million mobile lines in the last year, and those customers cancel nearly 40% less often. Video losses fell to 21,000. Households that take both are the ones that stay.

  • EBITDA is shrinking, and the cash story now rests on spending less.

    Management cut 2026 guidance to a small EBITDA decline, after a retention offer gave less lift than hoped. Capital spending falls below $8 billion a year by 2028. Cash grows because Charter builds less, not because it earns more. What does the lower capex plan assume about finishing the network upgrade?

Bullish
  • Mobile attach to broadband base
    The bull case leans on selling more mobile lines into the existing internet base, because those households pay more and stay far longer than internet-only accounts.
  • Converged network economics
    Charter carries most of its own mobile traffic over wires and WiFi it already owns, so it can sell wireless cheaply without funding a nationwide cellular network.
  • Cox cost synergies
    Buying Cox adds passings and lets Charter remove duplicated overhead, and management has repeatedly raised how much expense it expects to take out of the combined company.
Bearish
  • Fixed wireless competition
    The bear case is that fixed wireless and fiber overbuilders have permanently enlarged the number of companies chasing each household that moves or switches.
  • Broadband turnaround timing
    Management keeps moving back when internet growth returns, so the recovery the entire plan rests on has no date attached and cannot be checked quarter to quarter.
  • Leverage and debt load
    Charter already carries debt that is large relative to its declining revenue, and buying Cox adds more borrowing before any of the promised savings arrive.
See the full bull & bear case
PoliticiansInstitutionsInsiders
PoliticianTransactionAmountTradedFiled
Donald Trump
Republican · Executive
Sale≥$15KJul 27Sep 22
Donald Trump
Republican · Executive
Sale≥$1KJul 24Sep 22
Donald Trump
Republican · Executive
Purchase≥$15KJun 24Aug 22
Donald Trump
Republican · Executive
Purchase≥$1KJun 23Aug 22
Donald Trump
Republican · Executive
Sale≥$1KJun 16Aug 22

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Product segmentsGeography
FY2025 · USD

How Charter Communications turned $54.8B of revenue into $12.9B of operating income.

Revenue
Residential Product Line$42.6B▼ 0.99% YoY
Residential Internet Product Line$23.8B▲ 1.73% YoY
Residential Video Product Line$13.7B▼ 9.41% YoY
Commercial Product Line$7.3B▲ 0.84% YoY
Residential Mobile Service Product Line$3.8B▲ 22.02% YoY
Advertising sales$1.5B▼ 17.53% YoY
Residential Voice Product Line$1.4B▼ 6.05% YoY
Total revenue$54.8B
Gross profit$25.4B46.3%
Operating income$12.9B23.6%
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