Why Charter (CHTR) Stock Is Falling Today

What Happened?

Shares of cable, internet, and telephone services provider Charter (NASDAQ:CHTR) fell 3.8% in the afternoon session after Wells Fargo downgraded the stock, citing increasing competition and forecasting significant broadband subscriber losses. 

The bank lowered its rating on Charter to Underweight, projecting the company could lose 1 million broadband subscribers by 2026. This outlook was based on growing pressure from fixed wireless access and fiber internet providers. Adding to the negative sentiment, a major insider, Liberty Broadband Corp, sold a large block of shares. An SEC filing showed the director sold more than 484,000 shares of Charter stock for a total value of about $100 million.

The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy Charter? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.

What Is The Market Telling Us

Charter’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 6 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 6 months ago when the stock dropped 17.2% on the news that the company reported second-quarter earnings that missed analyst expectations and a larger-than-anticipated loss of internet subscribers. 

The telecommunications company reported earnings of $9.18 per share, falling short of analyst expectations that were closer to $9.80. A major point of concern for investors was the company's loss of 111,000 residential internet customers, a steeper decline than the 73,250 losses analysts had anticipated. The weak results were compounded by a 19.3% year-over-year decrease in free cash flow, which landed at $1.0 billion for the quarter. While the company did manage to add 500,000 mobile lines, this positive development was not enough to offset the broader weakness in its core internet and video businesses, the latter of which also saw customer losses.

Charter is down 7.1% since the beginning of the year, and at $194.33 per share, it is trading 54.5% below its 52-week high of $427.25 from May 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Charter’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $309.00.

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