Charter Communications reports strong post-ACP customer retention

Winfrey reported that Charter’s multiyear investment initiatives, which include network improvements and expansion efforts, have positioned it well for the future. Spectrum now has over 900,000 miles of network infrastructure and more than 57 million residential and small and medium business (SMB) passings.

In addition to increasing its footprint, Charter sees opportunities to market broadband and mobile packages to customers.

“We are very underpenetrated relative to our converged connectivity capabilities,” said Winfrey. “Having the best network and product capabilities by itself isn’t enough, and that’s why we’ve always focused on the ability to have the most value in our packages, combining the best products with ways for customers to save hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year, whether through promotion or retail prices.”

Enhancing the broadband footprint

Charter had revenues of $13.9 billion in the fourth quarter, a 1.6% increase year over year. CFO Jessica Fischer explained that fourth-quarter results included over 20,000 disconnects related to Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, which impacted the Southeast United States in September and October 2024.

“Fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA was reduced by approximately $35 million,” said Fischer, “primarily driven by hurricane-related customer credits and revenue, and the storms drove approximately $125 million in total incremental capital expenditures in the fourth quarter.”

Residential revenue for the quarter was $10.7 billion, a 0.4% decrease year over year, and commercial revenue was $1.8 billion, up 1.9% year over year. SMB revenue grew 0.3%, while enterprise revenue grew 4.4%.

“Including residential and SMB, we lost 177,000 Internet customers in the fourth quarter,” said Fischer.

Fischer reported an estimated fourth-quarter ACP impact of approximately 140,000 internet losses. She also reported that customers are using more data, with data usage among residential customers averaging over 100 gigabytes monthly.

Charter increased its subsidized rural passings by 117,000 in the quarter, ending the year with 813,000 subsidized rural passings. The provider also generated 41,000 net customer additions in the subsidized rural footprint in the quarter.

Total expenses in the quarter were $8.2 billion, a 0.3% year-over-year increase. Adjusted EBITDA was $5.8 million, a 3.4% increase. Capital expenditures in the quarter were $3.1 billion, of which $1.1 billion was allocated to line extensions.

Tackling headwinds

For the full year, Charter had revenues of $55.1 billion, a 0.9% year-over-year increase, and adjusted EBITDA of $22.6 billion, a 3.1% increase, which Charter attributed largely to mobile line growth, cost efficiency initiatives, and political advertising.

“As we look ahead to the full year 2025, we faced headwinds that we didn’t last year,” said Fischer, “including the lack of political advertisement and the full year impact from the prior year internet customer losses, primarily due to the end of ACP, but our plan is to grow adjusted EBITDA in this year.”

Charter expects total capital expenditures to reach approximately $12 billion in 2025, which will include $4.2 billion allocated toward line extension. After 2025, the company expects total line extension capital expenditures to decline.

“We’ve invested in a strong platform for growth, which we expect to see materialize across the business over the next several years,” said Fischer. “As our capital spending peaks this year, we are poised for strong free cash flow growth and shareholder returns.”