Charter Communication (CHTR – Free Report) shares have lost 48.8% in the year-to-date period compared to a 37.8% decline in the Zacks Cable Television industry.
CHTR saw slow top-line growth in the third quarter of 2022. It reported revenue of $13.55 billion, which was up 3.1% year over year.
Growth slowed due to lower new Internet user activation. CHTR had 30.33 million Internet customers in the third quarter of 2022, an increase of 1.4% year on year.
Also, CHTR video customers were down 3.8% from the year-ago period in the third quarter, with the market largely saturated. The space is dominated by major streaming service providers like Netflix (NFLX – Free Report) and Amazon Prime Video, which are increasing the competition for Charter Communications to get a decent share of the market.
Netflix has been aggressively building its original content portfolio, and the company continues to enjoy its leading position in the streaming industry. It is CHTR’s most significant competitor in the video streaming space.
However, to further its customer growth, Charter Communications, which currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), is strategically investing $5 billion to build a fiber optic network. This will help provide broadband access to approximately 1 million customer premises across 24 states in the coming years. You can see the full list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Expanding Operations Charter Communications in Rural Areas to Increase Prospects
Charter Communications recently launched Spectrum Internet, Mobile, TV and Voice services to more than 1,300 homes and small businesses in parts of Columbia and Sauk Counties.
This new build is part of Spectrum’s strategy to boost user growth of Spectrum’s range of services in rural areas. The company is investing nearly $5 billion, including more than $1 billion raised in the Federal Communications Commission’s RDOF auction.
The company’s recent expansion of its broadband, Internet and mobile services follows the company’s expansion of its broadband and Internet services in Loudon County, TN, Wexford County, MI and the Northwoods regions of Arbor Vitae, Woodruff, Three Lakes and the Town of Piehl , WI.
In addition, Spectrum is delivering its television services throughout Wisconsin with more than 200 HD channels and access to 85,000 movies and shows on demand. Viewers can stream content across other platforms such as Kindle Fire, Samsung Smart TVs and Appleand (AAPL – Free Report) Apple TV+ and Spectrum Originals using the Spectrum TV app.
Apple TV+ recently broke records with 52 Emmy Award nominations across 13 titles and increased its total number of Emmy Award nominations by more than 40% year-over-year within three years of its global launch.
CHTR collaborated with Comcast (CMCSA – Free Report) to develop and offer a new streaming platform on various branded 4K streaming devices and smart TVs.
The joint venture will provide CHTR with Flex and Comcast hardware, helping it attract new customers to beat the competition.
