Charter Communications vs Liberty Global
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The short version
- Charter Communications is the larger business, with $54.8B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $4.9B for Liberty Global, about 11 times as much.
- Liberty Global grew revenue faster (12.4%, against −0.6%).
- Charter Communications kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (23.6% operating margin, against −0.5%).
- Charter Communications turned more of its sales into free cash flow (8.1% FCF margin, against −2.7%).
- Charter Communications earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (8.7%, against −0.1%).
| Latest fiscal year | CHTR · FY25 | LBTYA · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $13.2B | $2.7B |
| Revenue | $54.8B | $4.9B |
| Free cash flow | $4.4B | −$132M |
| Net income | $5.0B | −$7.1B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −0.6% | 12.4% |
| 5-year growth | 2.6% | −15.8% |
| Share count change | −5.2% | −8.8% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | 65.8% |
| Operating margin | 23.6% | −0.5% |
| Net margin | 9.1% | −146.3% |
| FCF margin | 8.1% | −2.7% |
| Return on capital | 8.7% | −0.1% |
| Return on equity | 31.5% | −64.6% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $95.2B | $6.4B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 4.4x | 6.3x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $5.1B | $192M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 2.8x | — |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 5 |
Revenue
FY16
CHTR $29.0B
LBTYA $13.7B
FY17
CHTR $41.6B
LBTYA $11.3B
FY18
CHTR $43.6B
LBTYA $12.0B
FY19
CHTR $45.8B
LBTYA $11.5B
FY20
CHTR $48.1B
LBTYA $11.5B
FY21
CHTR $51.7B
LBTYA $10.3B
FY22
CHTR $54.0B
LBTYA $4.0B
FY23
CHTR $54.6B
LBTYA $4.1B
FY24
CHTR $55.1B
LBTYA $4.3B
FY25
CHTR $54.8B
LBTYA $4.9B
CHTR
LBTYA
Operating margin
FY16
CHTR 8.5%
LBTYA 11.4%
FY17
CHTR 9.9%
LBTYA 7.0%
FY18
CHTR 12.0%
LBTYA 7.0%
FY19
CHTR 14.2%
LBTYA 5.7%
FY20
CHTR 17.5%
LBTYA 17.6%
FY21
CHTR 20.4%
LBTYA 12.8%
FY22
CHTR 22.1%
LBTYA 2.7%
FY23
CHTR 23.0%
LBTYA −7.6%
FY24
CHTR 23.8%
LBTYA −1.4%
FY25
CHTR 23.6%
LBTYA −0.5%
CHTR
LBTYA
Free cash flow
FY16
CHTR $2.7B
LBTYA $4.4B
FY17
CHTR $3.3B
LBTYA $4.5B
FY18
CHTR $2.6B
LBTYA $4.5B
FY19
CHTR $4.6B
LBTYA $3.4B
FY20
CHTR $7.1B
LBTYA $2.9B
FY21
CHTR $8.6B
LBTYA $2.1B
FY22
CHTR $5.5B
LBTYA $1.9B
FY23
CHTR $3.3B
LBTYA $1.2B
FY24
CHTR $3.2B
LBTYA $1.1B
FY25
CHTR $4.4B
LBTYA −$132M
CHTR
LBTYA
Return on capital
FY16
CHTR 3.4%
LBTYA 3.0%
FY17
CHTR 3.6%
LBTYA 1.4%
FY18
CHTR 4.0%
LBTYA 1.2%
FY19
CHTR 4.6%
LBTYA 1.6%
FY20
CHTR 6.3%
LBTYA 5.5%
FY21
CHTR 7.9%
LBTYA 4.1%
FY22
CHTR 8.6%
LBTYA 0.2%
FY23
CHTR 8.7%
LBTYA −0.9%
FY24
CHTR 9.1%
LBTYA −0.3%
FY25
CHTR 8.7%
LBTYA −0.1%
CHTR
LBTYA
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.