Charter Communications is back on our radars again for all the wrong reasons. The stock tumbled double-digits after the company reported a surprise loss in internet subscribers. đĢ¨
During the fourth quarter, the company saw total residential and small and medium-business internet customers decline by 61,000. Analysts were anticipating an increase of 6,000! Additionally, residential video customers fell more than expected, at 248,000 vs. 200,000. đ
CEO Christopher Winfrey said, “Internet growth in our existing footprint has been challenging, driven by admittedly more persistent competition from fixed wireless.”
While the market wasn’t expecting significant growth from the broadband market, the company must show it can stop losing customers. A stable, boring business can be very profitable. But nothing annoys analysts and investors more than unpredictability.
Until the Spectrum Networks’ parent company can stabilize its customer base, the stock will likely remain under pressure. Or at least that’s the current view from the Stocktwits community, which is registering an “extremely bearish” reading in the stock following its 17% decline. đ
