Core Insights - Charter Communications (CHTR) reported fourth-quarter 2025 earnings of $10.34 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.6%, but showing a year-over-year increase of 2.4% [1] - Revenues for the quarter were $13.6 billion, a decline of 2.3% year over year, primarily due to lower residential video and political advertising revenues, partially offset by growth in residential mobile service and Internet revenues [2] - The company has experienced a mixed earnings surprise, missing estimates in three of the last four quarters, with an average negative surprise of 3.65% [2] Revenue Breakdown - Residential revenues totaled $10.43 billion, down 2.4% year over year, attributed to a 1.2% decline in residential customers and a decrease in monthly revenue per residential customer [3] - Internet revenues increased by 0.7% year over year to $5.9 billion [3] - Video revenues decreased by 10.3% year over year to $3.2 billion, while voice revenues also fell by 10.3% to $316 million [4] - Advertising revenues dropped 25.8% year over year to $401 million, mainly due to lower political revenues, although excluding political revenues, advertising sales increased by 0.6% [5] Subscriber Statistics - Total customer relationships decreased by 1.1% year over year to 31.8 million [6] - Total Internet customers decreased by 119,000 in Q4 2025, compared to a decline of 177,000 in the same period last year, totaling 29.7 million Internet customers [6] - Total video customers increased by 44,000 in Q4 2025, totaling 12.6 million, attributed to new pricing and packaging strategies [7] Operating Costs - Total operating costs and expenses decreased by 3.1% year over year to $7.9 billion [10] - Programming costs fell by $192 million, or 8.4%, due to a higher mix of lower-cost packages and fewer video customers [10] - Other costs of revenues increased by $41 million, or 2.4%, driven by higher mobile service direct costs [11] Financial Position - As of December 31, 2025, total principal debt was $94.6 billion, with credit facilities providing approximately $4.4 billion in additional liquidity [13] - Free cash flow for Q4 2025 was $773 million, a decrease of $827 million from $1.6 billion in Q3 2025, primarily due to higher capital expenditures [14] - The company repurchased 2.9 million shares for $760 million during the fourth quarter [15]