Charter Communications, Inc.
Orin's own judgment of how firmly the evidence points one way — not the chance the price goes up.
Latest available quarterly data is Q2 2026 (ended 30 Jun); Q3 2026 results have not yet been reported.
Charter trades at 2.82x earnings and 0.27x sales—roughly 71% and 79% below peer medians—but the discount reflects persistent revenue decline (Q2 2026 revenue down 1.7% YoY) and $97.1B in total debt as of FY2025. The Liberty Broadband merger closed August 20, 2026, yet law firm investigation notices and a stock at $110.03—well below both the 50-day MA of $131.24 and 200-day MA of $168.86 as of 20 Oct—signal unresolved uncertainty. A cluster buy by 4 insiders (~$3.8M in April-May 2026) and a Q2 2026 EPS beat ($10.66 vs $9.98 estimate) are modest positives, but a hold is warranted until revenue trends stabilize and merger synergies demonstrate tangible realization.
What could go wrong
- Revenue erosion accelerates. Revenue has declined YoY for four consecutive quarters through Q2 2026, with Q4 2025 down 2.3% YoY; a further deterioration would undermine the valuation case.
- Merger-related litigation. Multiple law firm investigation notices followed the August 20, 2026 Liberty Broadband merger close; escalation into material securities class actions could create overhang and settlement costs.
- Debt burden constrains flexibility. Total debt of $97.1B as of FY2025 against stockholders' equity of $16.1B limits financial optionality, particularly in a higher-rate environment.
- Competitive pressure intensifies. Fixed wireless access and satellite broadband competition continues to pressure subscriber economics and pricing power in the core cable business.
What would change my mind
Where this comes from: peer comparison · quarterly results · FY25 fundamentals · news, 20 Oct. Orin's read on CHTR; not advice.
How has the share price moved?
Down 57.2% over twelve months, from $245.44 on 27 Oct 2025 to $104.93 at the Tue 27 Oct 2026 close. Its highest close in that time was $248.88 on 28 Oct 2025; the last close is 57.8% below it.
- Green line: the closing price each trading day.
- Grey line: the average closing price over the last 50 trading days.
- Dashed amber line: the same over the last 200 trading days — a slower, smoother line.
- Bars along the bottom: shares traded each day — green when it closed higher than the day before, rose when lower (the most, 17.9M, on 18 Jun 2026).
- Flags: the company's filings, on the day they were made (an 8-K reports a major event).
On file
All CHTR filingsLargest holders · 13F Q2 2026
Money flow| Filer | Position | Of fund |
|---|---|---|
| BlackRock | $1.0B | 0.0% |
| State Street | $991.4M | 0.0% |
| Vanguard Capital Management | $759.7M | 0.0% |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | $501.3M | 0.0% |
| Goldman Sachs Group | $396.4M | 0.0% |
| Invesco | $394.9M | 0.0% |
| Norges Bank | $348.8M | 0.0% |
| Geode Capital Management | $340.1M | 0.0% |
| AQR Capital Management | $279.5M | 0.1% |
| Morgan Stanley | $259.7M | 0.0% |
99 of the 815 filers we track · quarter ended Q2 2026 · positions, not flows
Insiders, last 24 months: 151 Form 4 filings; open-market trades net $3.9M. Of the 50 on hand, 5 were open-market purchases and 0 sales — the rest are grants, option exercises and tax withholding.
Ask Orin about CHTR
Orin answers questions about CHTR from its filings, transcripts and numbers — with the source behind every claim. Your own desk starts with 3 free days, card required.
Start 3 free days →How is it priced, against its own past and its sector?
Priced at 2.7× its last 12 months of profit (Tue 27 Oct close) — lower than in all 5 of its last 5 fiscal years (middle 10.8×); the typical Communication Services company on the NASDAQ is at 18.9×.
| Measure | Now | Its usual | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| P/E | 2.7×below usual | 10.8× | 18.9× |
| P/S | 0.26×below usual | 1.01× | — |
| EV/EBITDA | 5.2×below usual | 7.3× | — |
| P/B | 0.7×below usual | 5.2× | — |
- "Its usual" is the middle of its own last 5 fiscal years.
P/E: the share price divided by one year of profit per share — roughly how many years of today's profit the price pays for. A company that loses money has no P/E.
P/S: the company's total market value divided by one year of revenue. Used when there is no profit to measure.
EV/EBITDA: the price of the whole company (its shares plus its debt, minus its cash) divided by one year of operating profit before interest, tax and write-downs.
P/B: the share price divided by the book value per share — what the company owns minus what it owes, as its accounts record it. When book value is tiny, P/B swings wildly and says little.
What do the analysts who cover it publish?
The analysts' average 12-month price target is $157 (from $101 to $380) — 49% above the Tue 27 Oct close price. That is their published opinion, not Orin's.
$157
$101 – $380 · +49% against the last close
- 5 buy or overweight
- 8 hold
- 5 underweight or sell
Price target: the share price an analyst publishes for about 12 months ahead. It is the opinion of the firm that wrote it; the average is across the firms that cover the company.
Overweight / underweight: analysts' rating words: overweight means the firm expects the stock to do better than the others it covers, underweight worse. Their words, not Orin's.
How is it priced next to the companies it is compared to?
Priced at 2.7× its last 12 months of profit; the middle P/E of the 4 companies it is compared to that made a profit is 11.3×.
| Company | Market value | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross margin | Net margin | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHTRCharter Communications, Inc. | $14B | 2.7× | 5.2× | 46.0% | 9.1% | 30% |
| CMCSAComcast Corporation | $77B | 6.9× | 4.7× | 69.8% | 9.2% | 12% |
| TAT&T Inc. | $141B | 11.3× | 6.7× | 59.7% | 10.1% | 12% |
| TMUST-Mobile US, Inc. | $158B | 15.3× | 8.7× | 54.5% | 11.5% | 18% |
| VZVerizon Communications Inc. | $183B | 11.2× | 7.5× | 59.1% | 11.8% | 16% |
- The list of companies is the data vendor's choice, so it can include a company a person would not have picked.
Market value: the share price times the number of shares — what the whole company is priced at.
P/E: the share price divided by one year of profit per share — roughly how many years of today's profit the price pays for. A company that loses money has no P/E.
EV/EBITDA: the price of the whole company (its shares plus its debt, minus its cash) divided by one year of operating profit before interest, tax and write-downs.
Gross margin: the share of each $1 of sales left after the direct cost of making what was sold.
Net margin: the share of each $1 of sales kept as profit after every cost. Below zero, the company lost money.
ROE: return on equity: one year of profit as a share of the shareholders' money in the business (its book value).
Is it priced high or low compared with its own past?
Priced at 2.7× its last 12 months of profit (Tue 27 Oct close). It has no full fiscal year on file since its history starts, so there is nothing of its own to compare with.
- Now2.7×
P/E: the share price divided by one year of profit per share — roughly how many years of today's profit the price pays for. A company that loses money has no P/E.
Fiscal year (FY): the company's own 12-month accounting year, which need not match the calendar year.
How has its sector been priced?
Communication Services companies on the NASDAQ were priced at a typical 18.9× their yearly profit (Tue 27 Oct close).
- Now18.9×
- Each year is the middle of that calendar year's daily sector P/E; "Now" is the Tue 27 Oct close figure, the same one in the table above.
Sector P/E: the middle P/E of the companies in the same sector on the same stock exchange, as the data vendor works it out each day.
What does a cash-flow model say a share is worth?
A standard cash-flow model puts it at $1,133 a share — 979% above the $105.02 price it was computed against (27 Oct).
| Model | Value a share | Against the price then |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | $1,133 | 979% above $105.02 |
| Levered | $471 | 348% above $105.02 |
Discounted cash flow: a model's estimate of what the company is worth today, from the cash it is forecast to make in future years. Small changes in the forecast move it a lot, and it says little about a company that loses money.
Standard / levered: two versions of the cash-flow model: the standard one counts the cash before the company pays its lenders, the levered one after.