Bernstein upgrades Charter to outperform on recovering financials, predicts more than 20% upside ahead
Bernstein believes that shares of Charter Communications could rise, boosted by a recovering financial backdrop. The investment firm upgraded the telecommunications giant to an outperform rating from market perform. However, analyst Laurent Yoon accompanied the move by lowering his price target to $380 from $410. This new forecast still corresponds to an upside ahead of 23%. Shares of Charter are down 10% this year. CHTR YTD mountain CHTR YTD chart While Yoon noted that Charter’s underlying fundamentals “remain challenged,” he also pointed out that the company’s financials should only get better from this point forward. “Charter’s financial narrative is expected to improve in ’26 and more substantially in ’27 as Capex declines,” he wrote. “Even with sustained competition, FCF yield is expected to be > 10% in ’26 and mid-to-high-teens in ’27, funding their buybacks.” The analyst added that many investors might be too eager to walk away when it comes to the cable industry as a whole. While these cable giants will certainly cede their dominance in the future, Yoon wrote that they “are not standing still.” “While we don’t believe CableCos are positioned to regain dominance — that ship has sailed — we do believe they are far from structurally broken. In CHTR’s case, growing FCF and continuing cost discipline provide an upside as the industry settles into a more stable competitive equilibrium,” he wrote. Specifically, Yoon is optimistic over Charter’s recent developments in its mobile business. The company’s mobile net adds remain at “healthy levels,” the analyst said.
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