Charter Communications delivered a resilient QQ4 2025 performance characterized by a modest revenue contraction against a backdrop of robust profitability and cash flow generation. Revenue for Q4 2025 was $13.601 billion, down 2.3% year-over-year and down 0.5% quarter-over-quarter, reflecting a mature US broadband and video market with competitive pricing dynamics. Despite the revenue headwinds, EBITDA remained solid at $5.425 billion, yielding an EBITDA margin of ~39.9%, underscoring effective cost control and scale advantages in a high-capital, low-to-mid single-digit growth environment. Net income of $1.332 billion supported an EPS of $10.47 (diluted $10.34), with a free cash flow of $426 million and operating cash flow of $3.761 billion, highlighting Charter’s continued ability to convert operating performance into cash, even as capital expenditure remains elevated.
Capital allocation signals a balanced approach: substantial capex of $3.335 billion in the quarter to sustain network quality and product cadence, combined with $766 million spent on share repurchases, and debt management actions including a $3.29 billion debt repayment. The company ended the period with $598 million in cash, reflecting ongoing liquidity adequacy to fund ongoing investments and opportunistic buybacks. Management commentary is not included in the provided dataset, so the analysis focuses on disclosed financials and structural drivers. In the near term, investors should monitor ARPU evolution, subscriber mix and churn, continued capex intensity, advertising revenue trajectory, Spectrum Mobile progress, and debt maturity risk given the scale of leverage typical to a large MSO.
Overall, Charter remains a cash-generative, asset-light operator with meaningful scale in US broadband and video, positioned to fund ongoing capital programs while returning capital to shareholders. The key question for investors is whether continued capital intensity can translate into stronger long-term ARPU and free cash flow growth in a competitive, technology-enabled ecosystem.