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what it is
Charter sells your home internet, cable TV, mobile plans, phone service, and local ads under the Spectrum brand.
how it gets paid
Last year Charter Comm made $54.8B in revenue.
why growth slowed
Revenue fell 0.6% last year. Indeed, service disconnects totaled 119,000 in the period, marking the ninth-straight quarter of broadband-subscriber losses for the connecticut-based cable service provider.
what just happened
Charter's last reported quarter was mixed: diluted EPS beat at $10.34 versus about $10.01 expected, while revenue missed the sales consensus.
At a glance
B+ balance sheet — decent shape, but not bulletproof
70/100 earnings predictability — reasonably predictable
6.3x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
6.0% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 71/100 — average
What they do
Charter sells your home internet, cable TV, mobile plans, phone service, and local ads under the Spectrum brand.
Charter wins because your internet bill is sticky and switching is annoying. It had 29.7 million internet customers at 12/31/25, versus 12.6 million pay-TV and 6.0 million voice customers. That local network footprint gives it repeat monthly revenue, even while weaker products shrink.
How they make money
$54.8B
annual revenue · revenue declined -0.6% last year
total revenue
$54.8B
0.6%
The products that matter
home internet, video, and connectivity
Broadband & Video Services
$54.8B revenue
It's effectively the whole machine. The business generated $54.8B in revenue last year with about a 9.1% net profit margin. That's fine when the core line is steady. It's harder when the same core line is shrinking and there is no second engine to bail you out.
core
Key numbers
$94.6B
total debt (principal)
This is the whole story. Your company owes more than 3 times its market value, which makes every operating miss feel larger.
6.3x
trailing p/e
P/E → price-to-earnings → how much you pay for each dollar of profit. So what: the stock is priced like investors do not trust the earnings.
23.6%
operating margin
Operating margin → profit after running the business → what is left before interest and taxes. So what: the core network still throws off real cash.
29.7M
internet customers
That customer base is why Charter still matters. Lose too many of them, and the cheap multiple is not cheap anymore.
Financial health
B+
strength
- balance sheet grade B+ — solid but not elite
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 40 / 100
- total debt (principal) $94.6B (~82% of debt plus book equity)
- net profit margin 9.1% — keeps about 9 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity ~25% — strong on book equity, amplified by leverage
B+ — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in CHTR 3 years ago → it's now worth $5,940.
The index would have given you $13,880.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
eps beat · revenue light
Charter's last reported quarter was mixed: diluted EPS at $10.34 beat a street consensus near $10.01, while Q4 revenue of $13.6B missed sales estimates.
The EPS beat was roughly 3% versus that consensus—not the whole story. Revenue fell 2.3% vs. prior year in the quarter, and full-year revenue slipped 0.6% to $54.8B while broadband losses kept piling up.
$13.6B
Q4 revenue
$10.34
eps
23.6%
FY operating margin
the number that mattered
The number that mattered was still broadband: an EPS beat did not offset another quarter of internet subscriber losses and a revenue line that missed expectations.
-
indeed, service disconnects totaled 119,000 in the period, marking the ninth-straight quarter of broadband-subscriber losses for the connecticut-based cable service provider.
-
the losses are adding up, even after the company both lowered the price of its service plans across the board in september, 2024 and continues to make use of pricelocks and other retention tools.
-
the market backdrop for charter and its peers may remain challenging this year, as well.
-
underpinning our pessimism is what we expect will be a further down-market move by generally lowerincome households towards both fairly inexpensive fixed-wireless broadband offerings from the likes of t-mobile and basic internet access through unlimited cellphone plans.a silver lining may be less pushback against charter’s proposed merger with privately held cox communications.
-
ahead of the federal communications commission’s decision on whether to allow the $34.5 billion deal, various consumer groups have recently argued that the combination is anti-competitive and that it will lead to higher prices for internet service.that said, market inroads by t-mobile and others, along with the cable sector’s ongoing struggles, suggest to us that a charter-cox combo won’t have undue influence over key industry dynamics.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the main risk here is simple: charter already posted a 0.6% annual revenue decline, so even modest subscriber pressure hits a business with very little growth cushion.
med
fixed-wireless competition
Cheaper broadband substitutes from wireless carriers matter because the whole business generated $54.8B last year. If value-conscious households keep trading down, the pressure lands on the core line, not some side segment you can ignore.
Cheaper broadband substitutes from wireless carriers matter because the whole business generated $54.8B last year. If value-conscious households keep trading down, the pressure lands on the core line, not some side segment you can ignore.
med
cox merger rejection or heavy concessions
The proposed $34.5B acquisition is facing FCC scrutiny and consumer-group pushback. If the deal is blocked or watered down, charter loses the clearest scale reset in the story and goes back to winning the old-fashioned way — one mature market at a time.
The proposed $34.5B acquisition is facing FCC scrutiny and consumer-group pushback. If the deal is blocked or watered down, charter loses the clearest scale reset in the story and goes back to winning the old-fashioned way — one mature market at a time.
med
debt leaves less room for mistakes
Total debt principal is about $94.6B—roughly four-fifths of debt plus book equity. That's manageable while the cash engine keeps humming. It gets harsher fast if revenue keeps drifting lower or investment needs rise.
Total debt principal is about $94.6B—roughly four-fifths of debt plus book equity. That's manageable while the cash engine keeps humming. It gets harsher fast if revenue keeps drifting lower or investment needs rise.
med
there is no hidden growth engine
This is not a story where one weak segment is masking a better one. The page data shows a single $54.8B operating machine with about a 9.1% net margin. If the core slows, the whole thesis slows with it.
This is not a story where one weak segment is masking a better one. The page data shows a single $54.8B operating machine with about a 9.1% net margin. If the core slows, the whole thesis slows with it.
With revenue down 0.6% last year, Q4 revenue down 2.3% vs. prior year, and total debt near $94.6B, the margin for error is thinner than a 6.3x multiple makes it look.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
risk
broadband pressure at the low end
If cheaper fixed-wireless offers keep pulling value-conscious households away, the revenue line stays under pressure. That's the main thing to watch.
calendar
fcc decision on the cox deal
The proposed $34.5B merger is the biggest strategic event on the board. Approval helps the scale story. Rejection sends charter back to organic execution.
metric
revenue needs to stop slipping
Annual revenue fell 0.6% and Q4 revenue fell 2.3% from the prior-year quarter. You do not need hypergrowth here. You do need stabilization.
trend
institutional selling trend
There were 264 buyers versus 333 sellers in 4q2025. If that flips, sentiment may turn before the fundamentals do.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
top 5%
momentum score 1 — the highest rating. In human-speak, analysts still see a shot at near-term outperformance even with the broader story looking messy.
risk profile
average
stability score 3 — middle-of-the-pack risk. You're not hiding in a bunker stock, but this is nowhere near a lottery ticket either.
chart momentum
bottom 5%
technical score 5 — the lowest rating. The tape still looks bad, which usually means the market wants more proof before it buys the value case.
earnings predictability
70 / 100
Predictable enough to underwrite, messy enough to surprise. That's what mature infrastructure plus debt plus competition looks like in practice.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net selling for 2 consecutive quarters — 264 buyers vs. 333 sellers in 4q2025. total institutional holdings: 0.1B shares. net selling for 2 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$109
$297
$228
current price
$203
target midpoint · 11% from current · 3-5yr high: $515 (+125% · 23% ann'l return)
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