Charter Communications (CHTR) Stock Drops After Q2 Revenue Miss and Subscriber Losses

TLDR

• CHTR dropped as much as 13% in early trading before rebounding; currently down around 1.6%
• Q2 revenue fell 1.7% to $13.53 billion, marking the fourth consecutive quarterly decline
• EPS of $10.66 beat estimates of $10.00, but broadband and video losses overshadowed the beat
• Internet subscribers fell by 172,000 to 29.4 million; video customers dropped 21,000 to 12.5 million
• Mobile was the bright spot — 406,000 lines added, total mobile base up 15.5% year-over-year

Charter Communications posted a mixed second quarter on Friday, beating on earnings but falling short on revenue as its broadband and video subscriber losses continued to pile up.

CHARTER $CHTR Q2’26 EARNINGS HIGHLIGHTS

🔹 Revenue: $13.5B (Est. $13.52B) 🟡; -1.7% YoY
🔹 EPS: $10.66 (Est. $9.96) 🟢
🔹 Adjusted EBITDA: $5.4B; -4.3% YoY
🔹 Free Cash Flow: $969M

FY26 Guide:
🔹 Capital Expenditures: ~$11.4B

Segment Revenue:
🔹 Internet: $5.8B; -3.2% YoY
🔹…

— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) July 24, 2026

CHTR stock dropped as much as 13% in early premarket trading before pulling back. By market open, the stock had recovered somewhat and was trading around 1.6% lower.

Charter Communications, Inc., CHTR

Revenue came in at $13.53 billion, down 1.7% year-over-year and roughly in line with analyst estimates. That marked the fourth straight quarter of declining revenue for the company.

Adjusted EPS of $10.66 beat the Wall Street consensus of $10.00. Net profit for the quarter was $1.29 billion.

Despite the earnings beat, the subscriber numbers told a harder story. Charter lost 172,000 internet customers during the quarter, bringing its total broadband base to 29.4 million. Internet revenue fell 3.2% year-over-year to $5.8 billion.

Fixed wireless and fiber competition continue to pressure the core broadband business. Charter has now posted broadband losses for several consecutive quarters.

Video subscribers dropped by 21,000 to approximately 12.5 million. That’s actually an improvement compared to the 80,000 video customer loss recorded in Q2 2025.

Mobile Growth Keeps the Story Interesting

Wireless was the standout performer. Charter added 406,000 mobile lines in the quarter, pushing its total Spectrum Mobile base to 12.5 million — a 15.5% increase from a year ago.

Mobile service revenue grew 18.9% year-over-year to $1.1 billion. That’s become a meaningful revenue contributor as the company leans harder into its wireless push.

CEO Chris Winfrey said the strategy is straightforward: “Deliver the best products, at the best overall value, with the best service.”

Adjusted EBITDA fell 4.3% from the prior year to $5.4 billion. Excluding transition costs tied to the pending Cox deal, the decline would have been 3.2%.

Free cash flow was $969 million, down $77 million from the same period last year, largely due to changes in accrued capital expenditure expenses.

Cox Deal Expected to Close in August

Charter repurchased 4.0 million of its own stock for $838 million during the quarter.

The company also reaffirmed its full-year 2026 capital expenditure guidance of approximately $11.4 billion, excluding the Cox transaction impact.

The $21.9 billion Cox Communications acquisition is expected to close in mid-to-late August.

Winfrey told analysts he expects the merger to “drive better internet customer performance and unit growth, acceleration with very underpenetrated mobile and video.”

Charter said it expects capital spending to be on a “meaningful downward trajectory” after 2026.

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