Charter's stock just got hammered. Here's what fueled its worst day on record.

By Lukas I. Alpert

Charter lost more internet subscribers than expected in the latest quarter, signaling that the company isn't out of the woods when it comes to broadband woes

Charter Communications, which operates its cable and broadband services under the name Spectrum, said it expects its deal to acquire Cox Communications to close by the summer.

It's a tough time to be a cable and broadband operator.

Charter Communications (CHTR) reported steep declines in both its broadband and cable customer bases in the first quarter, sending its stock into a tailspin as it moves to close a $34.5 billion acquisition of Cox Communications.

Shares fell 25.5% on Friday following the earnings report, in which the company reported a greater-than-expected drop in broadband subscribers as well as lower-than-expected earnings per share. The stock drop made for Charter's worst daily performance on record.

Shares of cable peer Comcast (CMCSA) lost more than 13% on Friday, even though that company's own earnings report was well-received a day earlier.

Charter said it ended the quarter with a net 120,000 fewer broadband customers compared with the prior quarter. That was steeper than the 59,000 customers it lost in the same quarter a year earlier and also worse than the estimated decline of 100,000 predicted by analysts.

That decline suggested that Charter still has work to do when it comes to stabilizing its business in the face of changing customer habits.

"Charter may be some ways away from adding subscribers, but a reasonable objective should be fewer year-on-year net losses," analyst Craig Moffett of MoffettNathanson Research wrote in a note to clients. "They're not there yet."

Traditional cable companies have struggled as AT&T (T), Verizon Communications (VZ) and T-Mobile US (TMUS) encroach on their territory with internet offerings at both the high and low ends. While Charter is pushing to bundle wireless service with its more established offerings, that part of the business is "growing rapidly, but a little slower than expected," Moffett wrote.

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Charter also reported a loss of 60,000 cable subscribers for its Spectrum service in the quarter, which marked an improvement from the 180,000 it lost in the same quarter in 2025. The company attributed that to "simplified pricing and packaging and benefits from the inclusion of programmers' streaming applications in Spectrum's expanded basic video packages."

The company said that it expected its average revenue per user - a key industry metric - to be flat for the year.

Charter remains the largest cable provider in the country, with 12.5 million subscribers as of the end of the first quarter, but industry watchers expect it to soon be surpassed by YouTube TV, which had an estimated 10 million subscribers late last year.

The company reported revenue of $13.6 billion in the quarter, down 1% compared with the same period of the previous year but in line with expectations. The company posted net income of $1.16 billion in the quarter, down from $1.22 billion the year earlier. That translated to earnings per share of $9.17, below the $9.96 predicted by analysts.

The disappointing earnings report comes as Charter moves toward closing the $34.5 billion deal it reached last year to acquire Cox Communications.

"We've now received all the necessary federal and state approvals that we need to close, except from California, and we're working with the California Public Utilities Commission towards the summer close," Charter CEO Christopher Winfrey said on a call with analysts.

The deal comes at a time of deep unsteadiness for the cable industry, as customers are increasingly cutting the cord and moving to streaming video services. There are now about 60 million cable subscribers in the U.S., down from around 100 million a decade ago.

-Lukas I. Alpert

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04-24-26 1626ET