Charter Swings to a $2.4 Billion Loss as a $6.3 Billion Write-Down Hits Q3
Direct answer
Charter Communications, the company behind Spectrum internet and TV, swung to a loss of $2.4 billion in the third quarter of 2026. A year earlier it made a profit of $1.1 billion. The swing came from a $6.3 billion noncash write-down, not from a collapse in day to day sales. Revenue actually rose 9.1% to $14.9 billion, mostly because Charter bought Cox Communications in August.
What happened
Charter reported its third quarter results on Friday, November 6, 2026. Charter announced the results in its third quarter release, which also launched a new operating model aimed at returning the company to growth after the Cox deal.
Revenue was $14.92 billion, up 9.1% from $13.67 billion a year earlier. Almost all of that increase came from Cox, whose operations were included from August 20, after the deal closed on August 19. On a pro forma basis, which treats Cox as if Charter had owned it in both periods, revenue was $16.5 billion, down 1.5% from a year earlier.
The loss was driven by a $6.33 billion franchise impairment charge, a noncash accounting item triggered by a sustained fall in Charter’s share price. It was partly offset by a $1.4 billion gain on debt extinguishment. The net loss attributable to Charter shareholders was $2.4 billion, against income of $1.14 billion a year earlier, and diluted earnings per share swung to a loss of $20.50 from earnings of $8.34.
On an adjusted basis that strips out one-off items, earnings were $21.70 per share, above the $9.08 analysts had expected, according to Zacks, helped by the debt gain. Pro forma adjusted EBITDA, a measure of operating profit, was $6.6 billion, down 4.0% from a year earlier. Free cash flow fell 58.4% to $674 million, from $1.62 billion a year earlier, on lower operating cash flow and higher tax and interest payments.
Customers kept leaving the internet service while the mobile service kept growing. Spectrum lost 233,000 internet customers in the quarter and added 508,000 mobile lines, taking mobile lines to 13.5 million. Internet revenue fell 3.7% to $7.1 billion and video revenue fell 9.8% to $3.61 billion as subscribers kept cutting the cord.
Why it matters for beginners
A write-down, also called an impairment, is an accounting charge a company takes when it says an asset on its books is worth less than it recorded. Here the asset is Charter’s cable franchise rights, the right to operate its cable network in an area. The charge is noncash, which means no money left the bank because of it, but it is a signal that the business is worth less than the books said, and the trigger was the fall in Charter’s own share price.
The underlying business tells a mixed story. The Cox deal made Charter bigger, so reported revenue rose, but on a like for like basis revenue and operating profit both fell. Internet customers are still leaving, while mobile is the growth engine. That is the same cord-cutting shift households see at home: fewer people pay for traditional cable TV, and more of the value sits in internet and mobile.
For a household budget, internet and TV bills sit in the utilities and bills group. budget categories for beginners The linked guide puts internet and your phone bill in that group, alongside electricity, gas and water, because they are regular bills that are easy to plan for and worth reviewing when prices change.
What to watch next
Watch whether Charter’s new operating model slows the internet customer losses, since that is the core of the business. Watch mobile growth, which added more than half a million lines in one quarter. Watch free cash flow, which fell sharply, and how much debt Charter carries after the Cox deal. The next quarterly results will show whether the new model is starting to work.
FAQ
What is a franchise impairment?
It is a noncash charge a company records when the value of a franchise asset on its books is higher than what it is now worth. Charter recorded $6.33 billion of it in the third quarter of 2026, which turned a profit into a loss on paper.
Why did Charter lose money if revenue rose?
Revenue rose because Charter bought Cox Communications, so the combined company is bigger. The loss came from the $6.33 billion impairment charge, which is an accounting item, not a cash cost. On a pro forma basis that includes Cox in both years, revenue actually fell 1.5%.
Does the loss mean Charter is in trouble?
Not on its own. The loss is mostly a paper charge, and the company still generated $674 million of free cash flow in the quarter. The real concern for investors is the steady loss of internet customers and falling free cash flow, which Charter says its new operating model is meant to fix.
What is pro forma?
Pro forma means the numbers are shown as if a deal had already happened in the comparison period. Charter’s pro forma figures treat Cox as if it had been part of the company a year ago too, so the comparison shows how the combined business is really doing, rather than just looking bigger because of the purchase.
