Charter Communications Q4 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Charter saw strong mobile momentum—nearly 2 million mobile lines in 2025 (19% growth) and 428,000 mobile line adds in Q4—while video turned positive (+44,000 customers in Q4) but internet remains pressured with a Q4 loss of 119,000 customers, a situation management called a “game of inches.”
• Management is investing in product and network initiatives to stem churn and boost acquisition, including upgrading 50% of the network to symmetrical multi‑gig by end‑2026, a rural build adding >1.7 million subsidized passings, the launch of “Invincible Wi‑Fi”, and a $1,000 annual savings guarantee for bundled internet plus two mobile lines.
• Financially, 2025 showed slight revenue pressure but EBITDA resilience (revenue down ~0.5%, EBITDA up ~0.5%); capex was $11.66 billion in 2025 with 2026 guidance around $11.4B before a planned decline toward a $7.5–8B run‑rate by 2028, and net leverage near 4.15x with a post‑transaction target of 3.5–3.75x.

Charter Communications NASDAQ: CHTR executives emphasized product-driven competition and improving customer trends during the company’s fourth-quarter 2025 investor call, highlighting strong mobile growth, sharply better video performance, and a strategy aimed at stabilizing broadband results amid intense competition.

Management highlights: mobile strength, improved video, and “game of inches” broadband

President and CEO Chris Winfrey said Charter added nearly 2 million mobile lines in 2025, representing 19% growth, and described Spectrum as the fastest-growing mobile provider in the U.S. He also said video performance improved significantly, with the company “dramatically” reducing video losses and growing video customers in the fourth quarter despite “well-known headwinds.”

In internet, Winfrey said competition for new customers remains high, but customer losses improved year over year. He attributed the new sales environment—particularly for internet—to low move rates, higher mobile substitution, expanded fixed wireless competition, and continued fiber overlap growth, which collectively drove fourth-quarter internet sales slightly lower year over year. Churn improved year over year, which management said was expected given the prior year’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)-related impacts.

Winfrey described returning to positive net additions as a “game of inches,” with a focus on clearer value messaging and service quality that is “recognized by our customers.”

Network, product, and service initiatives for 2026

Winfrey outlined several initiatives intended to support customer acquisition and retention:

• Network upgrades: Charter expects that by the end of 2026, 50% of the current Spectrum network will be upgraded to symmetrical and multi-gig service, with work on the remaining 50% “in flight” and moving to completion in 2027.
• Rural build-out: Charter expects to nearly complete its rural expansion in 2026, which it said will add over 1.7 million new subsidized rural passings over time.
• Converged connectivity: Winfrey said the company already provides converged connectivity across its footprint and is expanding hybrid mobile network capabilities through CBRS and Wi-Fi.
• New “Invincible Wi-Fi” product: Charter plans to launch Invincible Wi-Fi in February, describing it as a “market-first” bundle combining Wi-Fi 7, battery backup, and backup 5G service that seamlessly switches on the same SSID during storms or outages, with Wi-Fi 7 extenders for larger homes.
• Guarantees: Charter said it will begin guaranteeing $1,000 of savings per year for customers who take internet and two mobile lines. If Charter cannot meet that savings compared with “the big three telco carriers,” it will credit the difference on the bill during the first year.

Winfrey also said Charter will incorporate Net Promoter Scores into granular incentives for the first time in 2026 and is investing in technology, including AI tools, to increase customer satisfaction and improve employee capabilities.

Fourth-quarter customer metrics: video turns positive, mobile adds continue, internet remains pressured

Chief Financial Officer Jessica Fischer noted that Charter implemented several reporting changes, including presenting customer relationship statistics inclusive of all mobile customers (including mobile-only customers) and adding a “total connectivity customers” section representing customers receiving internet or mobile services. She also said forward-looking financial and customer information provided on the call excludes Cox and related transition costs.

Key fourth-quarter customer results included:

• Internet: Charter lost 119,000 internet customers in the quarter (residential and small business), an improvement versus the prior year’s fourth quarter as lower disconnects more than offset lower connects. Fischer attributed part of the year-over-year disconnect improvement to last year’s ACP-related impacts.
• Mobile: Charter added 428,000 mobile lines. Fischer said net adds were lower year over year due to heavy device subsidy activity by major telco competitors, including iPhone 17 promotions through the holiday sales cycle.
• Video: Video customers increased by 44,000, compared with a loss of 123,000 in the fourth quarter of 2024. Fischer said the improvement was primarily driven by lower churn year over year, aided by new pricing and packaging introduced last fall, Xumo, and “seamless entertainment” improvements including programmer app inclusion. She also noted a small benefit related to the YouTube TV–Disney dispute.
• Voice: Wireline voice customers declined by 140,000, with year-over-year improvement driven mainly by lower churn.
• Rural: Charter generated 46,000 net customer additions in its subsidized rural footprint and grew subsidized rural passings by 147,000 in the quarter, and by more than 483,000 over the last 12 months—above its 450,000 target.

Financial results: revenue pressure, expense declines, and EBITDA outlook

Winfrey said 2025 revenue declined about 0.5%, driven by customer losses and a difficult political advertising comparison, while EBITDA grew about 0.5%. Fischer reported consolidated fourth-quarter revenue declined 2.3% year over year (down 0.4% excluding advertising revenue and programmer app allocation).

Fischer said residential revenue declined 2.4% year over year (down 1.2% excluding costs allocated to streaming apps and netted within video revenue). She cited several factors affecting residential revenue per customer relationship, including growth in lower-priced video packages, a decline in video customers over the last year, and a larger GAAP allocation of costs to programmer streaming apps ($165 million versus $37 million in the prior year period). She said this GAAP adjustment is neutral to EBITDA due to an equal offset in programming expense and could reach as much as $1 billion for full-year 2026 as more customers authenticate into streaming app offers.

On the commercial side, Fischer said total commercial revenue grew 0.3% year over year, with mid-market and large business revenue up 2.6% (or up 3% excluding wholesale). Advertising revenue fell 26% due to lower political revenue; excluding political, advertising revenue was “essentially flat.”

Total operating expenses decreased 3.1% year over year in the quarter, including an 8.4% decline in programming costs, helped by a mix shift to lighter video packages, lower video customers year over year, and the streaming app cost allocation. Adjusted EBITDA declined 1.2% year over year in the fourth quarter, while full-year 2025 EBITDA grew 0.6%. For full-year 2026, Fischer said Charter is planning for “slight EBITDA growth,” excluding transition costs, with the first half more challenged than the second half due to comparisons and expected political advertising in the back half of 2026.

Capital spending, free cash flow, and balance sheet priorities

Charter reported fourth-quarter capital expenditures of $3.3 billion, up $273 million year over year, driven largely by two multi-year software agreements accrued in the quarter and higher network evolution spending. Full-year 2025 capex totaled $11.66 billion, slightly above the company’s prior expectation, and Charter expects 2026 capex of $11.4 billion.

Fischer said Charter expects capital spending to move meaningfully lower after expansion and evolution initiatives conclude, with a run-rate capex level below $8 billion per year and a return to “normalized” capex of $7.5 billion to $8 billion by 2028. Fourth-quarter free cash flow was $773 million, about $200 million lower year over year due to working capital changes and higher capex.

The company ended the quarter with $95 billion of debt principal and a weighted average cost of debt of 5.2%. Charter repurchased 2.9 million shares for $760 million at an average price of $259 per share. Net leverage was 4.15x last-twelve-month adjusted EBITDA (4.21x pro forma for the pending Liberty Broadband transaction). During the pendency of the Cox deal, the company plans to remain at or slightly under 4.25x leverage pro forma for Liberty.

Fischer also said Charter is moving its post-transaction target leverage to the low end of a new 3.5x to 3.75x range, aiming to reach that level within three years of close. She said the company still expects significant capital returns, primarily through share repurchases, while noting shareholder preference for lower leverage during a slower growth period.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.