Charter Communications Inc - Class A
Q2 2026 Earnings
Market Reaction
S&P 500 over the same 30 days: +3.65%.
Did CHTR Beat Earnings? Q2 2026 Results
Charter Communications delivered a stronger-than-expected second quarter, posting diluted EPS of $10.66 against the $9.96 consensus estimate for a 7.03% beat, even as revenue slipped 1.7% year-over-year to $13.53 billion. The headline revenue decline was heavily influenced by a surge in costs allocated to programmer streaming applications, which rose to $251.00 million from $67.00 million a year ago and netted against video revenue; excluding those allocations and advertising sales, the underlying revenue decline was a more modest 0.8%. The EPS gain itself was largely a function of share count, as Charter's 13.1% reduction in weighted average diluted shares outstanding more than offset a 4.3% drop in Adjusted EBITDA to $5.45 billion. Spectrum Mobile remained the clearest growth engine, adding 406,000 lines in the quarter to reach 12.5 million total, with mobile service revenue climbing 18.9% to $1.09 billion. Charter reaffirmed full-year 2026 capital expenditure guidance of approximately $11.40 billion, excluding the pending Cox Communications acquisition, which management expects will provide additional scale for product development and customer growth.
- Spectrum Mobile line growth of 406,000 in Q2, reaching 12.5 million total lines
- Mobile service revenue growth of 18.9% year-over-year
- Advertising sales revenue increased 12.3% driven by higher political revenue
- Improved video customer retention with only 21,000 losses vs. 80,000 in prior year quarter
- Lower programming costs down 9.7% year-over-year
- 13.1% decrease in weighted average shares outstanding boosted EPS
- Lower cash taxes contributed to higher operating cash flow
“We operate in a competitive environment across all of our products, and our strategy for growing connectivity services is simple -- deliver the best products, at the best overall value, with the best service. We look forward to delivering the benefits of that strategy to Cox's customers and communities after the transaction closes. As the nation's leading provider of converged connectivity services, Spectrum will have additional scale to develop new products with industry and technology partners. And by saving customers money with Spectrum products, serviced by 100% US-based employees -- we will drive customer and shareholder value for years to come.”
Charter Communications CEO, on the earnings call
Forward Guidance & Outlook
Charter expects full year 2026 capital expenditures, excluding impacts from the Cox transaction, to total approximately $11.4 billion. The actual amount will depend on factors including the pace of network evolution and expansion initiatives, supply chain timing, and growth rates in residential and commercial businesses. Charter expects to complete its network evolution initiative in 2027, which will deliver symmetrical and multi-gigabit Internet speeds across its entire footprint. The company anticipates completing the Cox Communications acquisition, which will provide additional scale for product development and partnerships.
CHTR YoY Financials
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Figures from SEC filings and company reports. Not investment advice.