We last bought cable service provider Charter Communications, Inc. (CHTR) a year ago and sold it at the end of September this year. It has risen to the top of our filter again, recalls David Fried, editor of The Buyback Letter.
Charter is a broadband communications company and the second largest cable operator in the U.S. Charter provides a full range of advanced residential services including TV programming, Internet, voice and mobile. The company also provides Internet, business telephone and TV services to small and medium-sized business organizations.
The company's Spectrum brand provides cable TV, internet, and home phone services to more than 31 million customers in 41 states. Spectrum Networks and Spectrum Originals distribute news coverage, sports, and original programming.
It was founded in 1999, based in Connecticut and has 98,000 employees. Charter is near the top of the list of 10 biggest entertainment companies, with a market cap of about $123 billion.
Charter has benefited from a spike in Internet usage due to pandemic work-from-home and online schooling, but is fighting off weakened residential subscriber trends due to cord-cutting and competition.
When Internet, wireless and video customers are lumped together, though, Charter continued to gain ground in Q3. For Q3 2021, Charter reported income of $6.50 a share (above estimates and improved from $3.90 a year ago). Revenue was up 9% to $13.15 billion.
In the last 12 months, management at Charter Communications has reduced shares outstanding by 10.287%.
