Charter Communications NASDAQ: CHTR reported first-quarter 2026 results that reflected continued momentum in Spectrum Mobile and improving video trends, while broadband net adds remained pressured by a competitive environment and softer new-customer activity. Management also provided an update on its pending acquisition of Cox, including regulatory timing, expected synergies, and how the company plans to migrate Cox customers to Spectrum’s pricing and packaging.
Mobile growth continued, video losses improved, broadband remained pressured
In prepared remarks, President and CEO Chris Winfrey said Spectrum Mobile “remained the fastest growing mobile provider” in Charter’s footprint and ended the quarter with “over 12 million mobile lines,” including 370,000 net line additions in the period. Winfrey noted the company added 1.8 million lines over the last 12 months, representing growth of more than 17%, despite what he described as “continued intensity of mobile subsidies” from large national wireless competitors.
Chief Financial Officer Jessica Fischer reported mobile net additions of 368,000 lines, saying higher gross additions were “more than offset by higher disconnects,” and that net adds were lower because of “heavy device subsidy activity by the big telco competitors, including the iPhone 17.”
On video, Winfrey said customer losses “continued to improve year-over-year,” with a 60,000 decline in the quarter that he described as “less than a 1/3 of last year’s first quarter loss.” Fischer said video customers declined by 60,000 versus a loss of 181,000 in the year-ago quarter, attributing the improvement primarily to “much lower video downgrades and customer churn year-over-year” stemming from Charter’s late-2024 pricing and packaging changes, Xumo, and “seamless entertainment product improvements,” including bundled programmer streaming apps. She added that new connects and upgrades to “our fully featured video package with apps were up year-over-year.”
Broadband remained the key area of pressure. Fischer said Charter lost 120,000 Internet customers in the quarter (including residential and small business) due to lower connects year-over-year, partly offset by slightly lower churn. She cited “expanded fixed wireless competition and higher mobile substitution,” along with continued fiber overlap growth at a similar pace to prior quarters. While Charter has “higher market share than our competitors, even in mature fiber markets,” Fischer said the environment drove “first quarter Internet sales lower year-over-year.”
Winfrey framed the broadband challenge as “a top of funnel issue,” saying yield at the point of sale “is as strong as ever” and churn remains at “historical lows,” but new competitive options and a “muted housing environment” have weighed on new sales traffic.
Product, service, and network initiatives centered on convergence and customer satisfaction
Winfrey repeatedly emphasized customer satisfaction, saying service and customer metrics now drive “a meaningful part” of annual incentives and pointing to “the dramatic decline we’ve seen in service and trouble calls per customer.” He also said new AI tools are being used by service agents, improving customer satisfaction while reducing call times.
On the network side, Winfrey said Charter’s “high-capacity network” provides gigabit speeds and low latency throughout its footprint. He highlighted upstream usage growth of roughly 20% annually and said that by the end of 2026, “about 50% of the current Spectrum network will be upgraded to symmetrical and multi-gig service,” with work underway on the remainder. He also described initiatives such as deploying remote OLTs and LoRaWAN transponders to support fiber on-demand and active telemetry.
Charter also spotlighted product changes intended to raise perceived value and reduce churn:
- $1,000 savings guarantee: Launched in February, Winfrey said the offer guarantees $1,000 of first-year savings for customers who sign up for Spectrum Internet and switch two or more mobile lines from Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile, with Charter covering the difference if savings fall short.
- Digital sales flow updates: Winfrey said Charter launched a new online “digital buy flow” that better demonstrates bundle value and “is achieving better yield.”
- Packaging migrations: Winfrey said Charter is migrating existing customers to newer plans that provide “more product…for the same price or slightly more,” and that roughly 45% of residential customers are now on the pricing and packaging launched in late 2024.
- Streaming app inclusion: Winfrey said more than 50% of expanded basic video customers have activated at least one included streaming app, averaging nearly four apps; churn for activators is “1/3 lower.”
- Invincible WiFi: Introduced in February, Winfrey said the product keeps a router running during a power outage via a battery unit and includes a backup 5G cellular connection. He said attach and upgrade rates were “much higher than expected,” prompting near-term supply prioritization.
Financial results: revenue and EBITDA down, CapEx elevated, free cash flow lower
Fischer said consolidated first-quarter revenue declined 1% year-over-year, driven primarily by lower residential video revenue. She said residential revenue fell 2.7%, and was down 1.1% excluding costs allocated to programmer streaming apps that are netted within video revenue in both periods. Fischer said $218 million of costs were allocated to programmer streaming apps in the quarter versus $47 million in the prior-year period, pressuring reported residential revenue per relationship; excluding that headwind, residential revenue per customer relationship increased 0.3% year-over-year.
Commercial revenue grew 1% year-over-year, Fischer said, including mid-market and large business revenue growth of 2.1% (or 2.8% excluding wholesale). Advertising revenue increased 5.3% due to higher political advertising; excluding political, advertising revenue declined 3.4%.
Adjusted EBITDA declined 2.2% year-over-year, Fischer said, and declined 1.8% excluding transition expenses tied to the Cox transaction. Transition expenses related to the pending Cox deal totaled $24 million in the quarter.
Net income attributable to Charter shareholders was “a bit under $1.2 billion,” Fischer said, compared with “a bit over $1.2 billion” in the prior year, reflecting lower EBITDA partially offset by lower other operating expense due to a prior-year non-cash write-down.
Capital expenditures rose to $2.9 billion, $456 million higher than the first quarter of 2025, due to timing, higher network evolution spending, and higher customer premise equipment tied to Wi-Fi 7 routers and Invincible WiFi. Fischer reiterated a full-year 2026 CapEx outlook of approximately $11.4 billion and said that beyond 2026, total capital spending should move “on a meaningful downward trajectory,” with a run-rate expectation below $8 billion per year after evolution and expansion initiatives conclude.
First-quarter free cash flow totaled $1.4 billion, about $200 million lower than last year, driven by accelerated CapEx timing, lower EBITDA, and higher cash interest, partially offset by working capital changes. Charter ended the quarter with $94 billion in debt principal, a weighted average cost of debt of 5.2%, and annualized cash interest run rate of $4.9 billion. The company repurchased 4.3 million shares for $963 million at an average price of $225 per share.
Cox acquisition: California approval pending, synergy estimate raised, migration strategy outlined
Winfrey said Charter had received all federal and state approvals necessary to close the Cox transaction “except from California,” and said the company is working with the California Public Utilities Commission toward “a summer close.” He said that within a couple of months of closing, Charter plans to launch the Spectrum brand and its pricing and packaging within the legacy Cox footprint.
Management emphasized that Charter expects to use mobile and video to support overall household economics as Cox broadband prices are adjusted. Responding to a question about Cox’s higher broadband ARPU, Winfrey said Cox’s “broadband standalone pricing…is going to be lower” under Spectrum’s promotional and retail pricing, which would likely drive Cox’s reported broadband ARPU down. However, he argued that Cox’s “customer ARPU is actually not that different” and said Charter’s goal is to increase mobile and video penetration—areas he described as low for Cox—to keep customer ARPU and margins intact and potentially higher over time.
Fischer said Cox’s EBITDA margin is “also not that different” from Charter’s, adding that Charter sees opportunity to move Cox’s operating cost structure closer to Charter’s over time, particularly because the combined company can avoid duplicative overhead.
On synergies, Fischer said Charter now estimates “run rate operating expense synergies of at least $800 million,” an increase from prior expectations, and said there is “space…to continue to find more.” She attributed the increase in part to procurement synergies, including programming, and improved visibility into Cox’s cost baselines. Fischer noted the estimate excludes revenue synergies, longer-term operating cost synergies from applying Charter’s operating strategy, and potential CapEx savings, which she said the company expects will also be “significant.”
Competitive backdrop and outlook: top-of-funnel pressure, broadband ARPU and pricing decisions not finalized
In the Q&A, Winfrey said Charter continues to see fixed wireless expansion, including what he described as AT&T filling a gap in the category, while fiber overbuild growth remains steady. He said promotional activity varied during the quarter but did not represent “a fundamental change.” Winfrey also said Charter has not seen evidence of “a significant customer share loss to satellite” to date, though he said some subsidized rural markets may have been “pre-seeded” with satellite service. He added Charter is considering whether there could be opportunities to cooperate with satellite providers, including potential resale and bundling.
On pricing strategy, Winfrey said Charter continues to evaluate new ideas, including multi-year price locks, noting the company has tried trials but “haven’t seen the necessary lift ourselves.” He said the company is focused on returning to broadband growth and does not currently see a reason to change its broader strategy, while continuing to test “things left and right.”
Fischer said broadband ARPU growth for the year “will be close either way” depending on offer tuning and pricing decisions. When asked about the cadence of broadband price increases, Winfrey said the company had “not made any determination on that yet,” reiterating that Charter’s strategy is to “keep prices as low as we can” to remain competitive while also considering inflationary cost pressures in parts of the business.
On profitability for the year, Fischer said Charter still expects to “grow EBITDA slightly this year” excluding transition costs, citing a tailwind from political advertising, while acknowledging that offer tuning could influence how close results are to that goal.
About Charter Communications NASDAQ: CHTR
Charter Communications, Inc is a U.S.-based telecommunications and mass media company that provides broadband communications and video services to residential and business customers. Operating primarily under the Spectrum brand, the company offers high-speed internet, cable television, digital voice (phone) and wireless services, as well as managed and enterprise networking solutions for commercial customers. Charter's service portfolio targets both consumer and business markets with bundled and standalone offerings designed to meet streaming, connectivity and communications needs.
The company's consumer-facing products include Spectrum Internet, Spectrum TV and Spectrum Voice, while Spectrum Mobile provides wireless service through arrangements with national wireless carriers.
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