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Charter Communications (CHTR) Beats on Earnings in Q3

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Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR - Free Report) reported strong financial results in the third quarter of 2016, wherein both the top and the bottom line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

GAAP net income in the reported quarter was $189 million or 69 cents per share compared with net income of $2 million or 1 cent per share in the year-ago quarter. Quarterly earnings per share of 69 cents were well above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 62 cents per share.

Third-quarter 2016 total revenue of $10,037 million increased 7.4% year over year, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $10,020 million.

Residential segment revenues came in at $8,028 million, up 6.7% from the prior-year quarter. Within the Residential segment, Video revenues totaled $4,094 million, up 3% year over year. Internet revenues came in at $3,206 million, up 12.7% from the prior-year quarter while Voice revenues were $728 million, down 3% year over year.

Commercial revenues totaled $1,376 million, up 12.1% year over year. Within the Commercial segment, Small and medium business revenues were $868 million, up 13.2% year over year while Enterprise revenues came in at $508 million, up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Advertising revenues were $419 million, up 12.1% year over year. Other revenues came in at $214 million, down 0.9%.

Quarterly operating costs were $6,401 million compared with $6,167 million in the year-ago quarter. Third-quarter adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) was $3,636 million compared with a mere $850 million in the year-earlier quarter. EBITDA margin came in at 36.2% compared with 9.1% in the third quarter of 2015.

In the reported quarter, Charter Communications generated $2,801 million of cash from operations compared with $689 million a year ago. Free cash flow in the reported quarter was $1,001 million versus $208 million a year ago.

At the end of third-quarter 2016, Charter Communications had $1,165 million of cash and cash equivalents and $61,996 million in outstanding debt compared with $5 million and $35,723 million, respectively, at the end of 2015.

Charter Communications competes intensely with AT&T Inc. (T - Free Report) , Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ - Free Report) and Comcast Corp. (CMCSA - Free Report) in the triple-play cable MSO (multi service operator) industry. Charter Communications currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Subscriber Statistics

Residential Segment: As of Sep 30, 2016, Charter Communications had 16.887 million video, 21.017 million high-speed Internet and 10.288 million voice customers. During the reported quarter, the company gained 350,000 high-speed Internet and 33,000 voice customers but lost 47,000 video customers.

Average revenue per customer relationship was $109.69 compared with $109.73 in the prior-year quarter. Single Play penetration was 38.5%, Double Play penetration was 26.8% and Triple Play penetration was 34.8%.

Commercial Segment: As of Sep 30, 2016, Charter Communications had 388,000 video, 1,185,000 high-speed Internet and 751,000 voice subscribers. During the reported quarter, the company added 10,000 video customers, 37,000 high-speed Internet and 26,000 voice customers.

CHARTER COMM-A Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

CHARTER COMM-A Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | CHARTER COMM-A Quote

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