Charter Communications Inc (CHTR) stock analysis
Charter Communications Inc (CHTR) clears 5 of this site's 8 mechanical value filters, 5 of 8 Buffett-style checks and 3 of 5 Lynch-style checks. At $111.77 it trades 73.8% below this site's neutral DCF value (a margin of safety of +73.8%). Its earnings quality rates Strong and it returns +22.9% to shareholders net of dilution. Figures are as of October 23, 2026, from SEC filings and market data refreshed weekly; this is educational analysis, not investment advice.
Data as of October 23, 2026. Refreshed weekly from SEC filings and market data.
What does Charter do?
Charter sells cable TV, high-speed internet and mobile phone service to homes and businesses across much of the US under the Spectrum brand. It is one of the largest US cable operators.
Brands and businesses it owns
- Spectrum
- Spectrum Mobile
- Spectrum Business
- Spectrum Reach
What stands out about Charter?
- The share price implies falling cash flow. At $111.77, even free cash flow per share shrinking 15% a year would still be worth more than the price in this site's DCF. Change the assumptions.
- Misses 1 of the 8 value filters. It fails Market Cap > $25B ($19.5B); the other 5 pass and 2 were not evaluated. See every filter.
- Close to its 52-week low. At $111.77, CHTR is 9.1% above its low of $102.48 and 58.0% below its high of $266.25. See the range.
- Strongest against peers: free-cash-flow yield. At 22.4% (peer median 4.8%) it ranks 1st of 13 among media stocks this site tracks. See the ranking.
- Balance sheet in the distress zone. Its Altman Z″-Score is 0.22; below 1.1 is the distress zone, 1.1 to 2.6 the grey zone. See the Altman Z″-Score list.
How has Charter's share price moved?
The interactive price chart needs JavaScript.
Is Charter undervalued? The value diligence check
Every value-investing signal this site computes for this stock, gathered in one place: the same real numbers from the tools below, not a new score.
- Margin of safety (DCF) +73.8%
- P/E vs. its own history 4.0x · at/below its cheapest point Real range: 5.8x–26.6x over 5 years (net income per diluted share from each fiscal year's 10-K, paired with the real closing price at that fiscal year-end).
- Wall St. analyst rating Hold · 2.79/5 29 analysts this month: 2 strong buy, 3 buy, 15 hold, 5 sell, 4 strong sell (Finnhub). Down from 2.87 last month.
- Altman Z″-Score (bankruptcy risk) 0.22 · Distress zone
- Earnings quality (is the profit real?) Strong · all 5 checks clean Beneish M-score −2.65 · accruals −7.3% of assets · 307% of profit arrived as cash · stock comp 1.2% of revenue · share count −4.8% a year. From the latest 10-K (year to Dec 2025) - see the Earnings Quality Screener for how each check is scored.
- Shareholder yield (cash back to owners) +22.9% net Latest fiscal year (2025): dividends 0.0% + buybacks 26.3% − stock comp 3.5%, as a share of today's market cap. Over 9 years its split-adjusted share count fell 38%. See Shareholder Yield Leaders.
- Capital needed to grow (See's test) None needed · capital fell while profit grew · but only 19% return on capital Operating profit $3.9B → $13B, capital needed $70B → $66B, 2016–2025 (3-year averages); return on capital now 19% before tax. Buffett's See's Candies needed $0.42 per $1 of new profit, FlightSafety $3.20, a typical grower about $5. See Capital-Light Compounders.
- PEG (growth at a reasonable price) 0.17 · Well under fair P/E 4.0× ÷ 22.7% a year of growth behind it. 14th lowest of 447 stocks with a usable PEG. Lynch's fair value is a PEG of 1; a very high PEG usually means almost no growth, a very low one a profit spike. See PEG Ratio Ranking.
- Compounder lenses (4) 3 of 4 · misses capital-light Capital-light growth: not cleared (only 19% return on capital); Profit is real: cleared; Cash to owners: cleared; Fair price (PEG): cleared. See Compounders at a Fair Price, which also lets you move the PEG bar.
- Value trap check Clear
- Munger's Inversion Check 2 flags
- Standing vs. sector peers 4 of 6 measures above the median Compared with the 12 other media stocks this site tracks: 3 in the top third, 2 in the bottom third.
How does Charter compare with its peers?
4 of 6 measures sit above the median of the 12 other media stocks tracked here, 3 in the top third and 2 in the bottom third.
- P/E ratiolower is cheaper · peer median 26.1× 4.0× ✓1st of 11
- Free-cash-flow yieldhigher is cheaper · peer median 4.8% 22.4% ✓1st of 13
- Return on equityhigher is better · peer median 15% 30% ✓4th of 13
- Net marginhigher is better · peer median 8.7% 9.1% –6th of 13
- Revenue growthhigher is better, year on year · peer median 10.8% −1.5% ✕12th of 13
- Debt / equitylower is safer · peer median 0.57 5.70 ✕12th of 13
Peers are the stocks this site tracks in the same sector group, not every listed competitor. The bar runs from the weakest peer (left) to the strongest (right); the tick is the middle. Measures that don't apply to a sector (cash-flow yield for banks, debt for financials) are left out.
What would Buffett & Lynch say?
Buffett's checklist is built around durable, profitable businesses bought at sensible prices, and CHTR doesn't clear enough of it yet. In its favor: CHTR is currently earning a strong return on shareholders' equity, and has kept that profitability up over five years, not just this year, has grown earnings per share at a solid clip over five years, is trading below what a conservative discounted-cash-flow estimate says it's worth - his own "price is what you pay, value is what you get" test, not a fixed multiple ceiling, and trades at a reasonable multiple of owner earnings, his own term for the real cash a business could pay out. Where it comes up short: CHTR carries more debt relative to equity than he typically tolerates, runs thinner pretax margins than he'd like to see, and doesn't cover its interest expense as comfortably as he'd want.
- ROE (TTM) > 11% ✓
- ROE (5yr avg) > 11% ✓
- Debt/Equity < 0.5 ✕
- Pretax margin > 15% ✕
- EPS growth (5yr) > 7% ✓
- Interest coverage > 5x ✕
- Trading below intrinsic value (DCF) ✓
- Price vs. owner earnings < 25x ✓
- Bonus: returning capital via buybacks FY2025
Lynch looked for growth stories that weren't overpriced for that growth, and CHTR falls short of his bar. In its favor: CHTR is growing at the modest, GDP-ish pace typical of a slow grower, is cheap enough for a business with limited growth ahead of it, and converts earnings into real cash at a reasonable price. Where it comes up short: CHTR doesn't pay much of a dividend, which is the main reason to own a slow grower in the first place, and carries more debt than he liked to see, even allowing for the extra room a large, stable business gets.
- Dividend yield > 2.5% ✕
- EPS growth 0%-10% ✓
- Debt/Equity < 0.6 ✕
- P/E < 20 ✓
- Price/FCF < 25 ✓
Quantitative approximations of each investor's documented approach, not endorsed by either investor or their estates - commentary, not this site's actual ranking criteria. Buffett never published a numeric checklist: only 2 of his 8 checks here trace to his own documented concepts ("owner earnings," from his 1986 shareholder letter, and "price is what you pay, value is what you get," his case against fixed P/E/P/B ceilings) - the other 6 (ROE, debt, margins, growth, interest coverage) use commonly-cited thresholds that are not numbers he himself published. The 8 hard filters below (plus the Munger check and Graham margin of safety) are this site's real, mechanical screen and are computed completely independently of the checklists above.
Berkshire Hathaway's own filing
Which of the 8 value filters does Charter pass?
- Market Cap > $25B $19.5B
- Trailing P/E < 25 3.96
- PEG Ratio < 1.5 0.17
- Price/Book < 8 1.15
- Price/Sales < 7 0.36
- EPS Growth YoY > -5% +16.0%
- vs 50-day MA (±12%) Not evaluated †
- vs 200-day MA (±12%) Not evaluated †
What is Charter's margin of safety?
+74% on 2026-10-07 → +74% on 2026-10-23 (5 weekly readings).
Where is Charter in its 52-week range?
What is the short interest in Charter?
16,505,538 shares short as of 2026-09-30 (FINRA settlement date). Reported twice a month, so this only changes roughly every two weeks, not daily.
What could go wrong with Charter? Munger's inversion check
"Invert, always invert." Instead of reasons to buy, these are reasons to hesitate, not a verdict, and not everything worth knowing about a business.
- Margin of safety, even in the bull case +85%
- Short interest under 5% of float 14.9%
- Passes most of the 6 fundamental filters 5/6 passed
- Price run-up backed by value, not just momentum +8% off 52wk low
- Debt/equity stable since 2016 1.54 → 5.90
Doesn't cover circle of competence, management quality, or accounting concerns: those need judgment, not data.
How much have Charter shareholders gained per year?
Earnings growth per share plus dividend.
An earnings-based proxy, not a stock-price total return - it doesn't capture multiple expansion/contraction or reinvested dividends. EPS from CHTR's own 10-K filings; dividend yield is the current trailing yield on today's price, from the same weekly fetch as the rest of this site.
What do Charter's 10-year financials show?
From CHTR's own 10-K filings (SEC EDGAR): up to the last 10 fiscal years. Press any year's bars for the exact figures.
Frequently asked questions about Charter
What kind of company is Charter?
Charter sells cable TV, high-speed internet and mobile phone service to homes and businesses across much of the US under the Spectrum brand. It is one of the largest US cable operators. Brands and businesses it owns include Spectrum, Spectrum Mobile, Spectrum Business and Spectrum Reach. This site groups it with Media stocks.
Is Charter trading above or below its DCF value?
At $111.77, CHTR trades 73.8% below this site's neutral DCF value of $426.89 per share, a margin of safety of +73.8%. That DCF projects free cash flow for 10 years, with growth starting at 8% and fading to 2.5%, discounted at 10%; it is one set of assumptions, not a forecast. Test your own in the Intrinsic Value Calculator.
How many of this site's 8 value filters does Charter pass?
CHTR passes 5 of 8. It passes Trailing P/E < 25 (3.96), PEG Ratio < 1.5 (0.17), Price/Book < 8 (1.15), Price/Sales < 7 (0.36) and EPS Growth YoY > -5% (+16.0%). It misses Market Cap > $25B ($19.5B). vs 50-day MA (±12%) and vs 200-day MA (±12%) were not evaluated, because the moving-average checks only run on stocks that clear the fundamentals first. The 8-filter list shows every stock that passes all of them.
Where is Charter trading compared with its 52-week range?
At $111.77, CHTR trades 7.8% above its 52-week low of $102.48 and 58.0% below its 52-week high of $266.25. The Near 52-Week Low list tracks stocks in that position.
How risky is Charter's balance sheet?
CHTR's Altman Z″-Score is 0.22, which falls in the distress zone. Altman's own thresholds are above 2.6 for the safe zone, 1.1 to 2.6 for the grey zone and below 1.1 for the distress zone; the score blends working capital, retained earnings, operating profit and equity against liabilities. Its debt-to-equity ratio is 5.70. See the Altman Z″-Score list.
When does Charter report earnings next?
Charter's next earnings report is expected on November 6, 2026, with analysts expecting earnings of $9.95 per share. Dates come from the Finnhub earnings calendar and can move. In its last 4 quarters it beat the estimate 2 times, by an average of −4.4%.
Where do these numbers come from?
- Financial statements: Charter's 10-K annual report for the year ended Dec 31, 2025, filed Jan 30, 2026 (filing index). Every earlier year in the 10-year financials comes from the company's older 10-K filings, all listed on SEC EDGAR.
- Prices and market data: quotes, P/E and analyst ratings from Finnhub; daily price history and the 52-week range from Twelve Data, both refreshed weekly. Short interest comes from FINRA, reported twice a month.
- How to check a figure: click any number in the card above to see its exact source, and read the Editorial Standards for every rule behind the checks.
About this Charter Communications Inc analysis
This page shows every value-investing check the site runs on Charter Communications Inc (CHTR) in one place: the 8 mechanical filters, the Buffett and Lynch checklists, a margin of safety from a disclosed DCF, earnings quality, shareholder yield and how it ranks against its sector peers. The numbers come from SEC filings and public market data, refreshed weekly, and the same rules apply to every stock on the stock list. See Editorial Standards for the sources and the rules, or run your own filters in the stock screener.