Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) stock plunged to a new 52-week low in Friday premarket trading after investors focused on continued broadband subscriber losses, weaker revenue and lower profitability, despite the company reporting second-quarter 2026 earnings that topped Wall Street estimates.

Despite the sharp initial selloff, Charter shares recovered after the market opened, trimming most of their losses. The stock was down 1.11% at last check.

Earnings Beat Expectations

The cable and broadband provider reported revenue of $13.53 billion, down 1.7% from a year earlier but slightly above the analyst consensus estimate of $13.51 billion. Adjusted earnings came in at $10.66 per share, beating expectations of $10.14.

Broadband Business Remains Under Pressure

Charter continued to lose broadband and video customers during the quarter as competition from fixed wireless and fiber providers intensified.

The company lost 172,000 internet customers, compared with a loss of 116,000 a year earlier. Video customer losses narrowed to 21,000, compared with a loss of 80,000 a year earlier, helped by simplified pricing, revised packaging and the addition of streaming services to Spectrum’s expanded basic packages.

During the earnings call, CEO Chris Winfrey said competitive intensity for new customers remains high, although he expects broadband growth to eventually stabilize as Charter expands bundled offerings, improves customer service and rolls out faster network capabilities. “A competition for new customers from expanded competitive footprint remains high,” he said.

Adjusted EBITDA margin narrowed 110 basis points to 40.3%.

Mobile Growth And Cox Deal Support Outlook

Wireless remained a bright spot. Charter added 406,000 mobile lines during the quarter, bringing its total to 12.5 million as of June 30, 2026.

The company also said bundling programmers’ streaming apps into Spectrum packages helped reduce churn and attracted some customers during Disney’s carriage dispute with YouTube TV.

Winfrey said Charter expects its broadband business to stabilize and eventually return to growth through improved converged connectivity product and pricing, The Hollywood Reporter reported Friday.

Winfrey also addressed reports of discussions with Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) regarding Starlink-powered mobile services, saying Charter regularly speaks with industry participants but declined to comment on specific conversations.

Winfrey said Charter expects its pending $34.5 billion acquisition of Cox Communications to close in mid- to late August. He said the company has a detailed integration plan and expects about $800 million in transaction-related expense synergies, with the potential to reach $1 billion over time.

Cash Flow, Capital Spending And Debt Plan

Free cash flow declined to $969 million from $1.05 billion a year earlier as capital expenditures increased. Net cash provided by operating activities totaled $3.93 billion.

Charter ended the quarter with $509 million in cash and cash equivalents and served 29.4 million internet customers.

The company also announced a debt exchange plan that would allow it to repurchase certain existing bonds using cash and newly issued debt.

Charter said it may repurchase about $10 billion of existing bonds issued by Charter-affiliated subsidiaries and Time Warner Cable, while separately offering to purchase another $9.7 billion of subsidiary-issued bonds, subject to a cap.

The company also plans to issue up to $3.5 billion of new bonds maturing in 2038 and 2041, depending on the outcome of the exchange offer, Bloomberg reported Friday.

Outlook

Charter reiterated its 2026 capital expenditure forecast of about $11.4 billion, down from $11.7 billion in 2025.

Charter Communications Stock Tanks

CHTR Price Action: Charter Communications shares were down 10.67% at $113.00 during premarket trading on Friday. The stock is trading at a new 52-week low, according to Benzinga Pro data.

However, the stock recovered much of its early losses after the market opened and was down just 1.11% at $125.09 at last check.

Photo via Shutterstock

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