Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) saw its stock tumble 6.8% on Friday after reporting second-quarter earnings that fell short of Wall Street expectations, despite revenue coming in on target. The results highlighted ongoing difficulties in retaining broadband subscribers.
The cable and broadband giant reported adjusted earnings per share of $9.18, missing the consensus forecast of $9.58. Revenue rose slightly to $13.77 billion, up 0.6% year-over-year and in line with analyst projections. The company pointed to strong momentum in its mobile and residential Internet services, which grew 24.9% and 2.8% respectively.
Still, subscriber churn remained a headwind. Charter lost 117,000 Internet customers in the quarter, though that was an improvement over the 149,000 net loss in the same period a year ago. Total customer relationships declined by 162,000, bringing the company’s base down to 31.2 million.
“Our converged connectivity revenue grew by over 5% in the second quarter, with a long runway for growth,” said Chris Winfrey, Charter’s President and CEO. “Our seamless connectivity products offer the fastest speeds at the best price.”
Mobile services continued to be a bright spot, with the company adding 500,000 mobile lines in the quarter. That brought its total to 10.9 million lines, a 23.7% increase from the year-ago period. Video losses also eased, with a net decline of 80,000 compared to a drop of 408,000 a year earlier.
Adjusted EBITDA rose slightly to $5.7 billion, a 0.5% increase year-over-year. However, free cash flow dropped 19.3% to $1.0 billion, weighed down by unfavorable changes in working capital tied to mobile devices, along with timing of cash tax and interest payments.
Charter also trimmed its 2025 capital expenditure guidance, now expecting to spend around $11.5 billion—down from its prior forecast of $12 billion. The company cited slower-than-anticipated spending on network upgrades and lower investments in commercial and rural expansion projects.
Charter Communications stock price
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