Charter Communications vs Comcast
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The short version
- Comcast is the larger business, with $123.7B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $54.8B for Charter Communications, about 2.3 times as much.
- Comcast grew revenue faster (−0.0%, against −0.6%).
- Charter Communications kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (23.6% operating margin, against 16.7%).
- Comcast turned more of its sales into free cash flow (17.7% FCF margin, against 8.1%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Comcast’s earnings: a P/E of 7.2x against 2.8x for Charter Communications.
| Latest fiscal year | CHTR · FY25 | CMCSA · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $13.2B | $80.8B |
| Revenue | $54.8B | $123.7B |
| Free cash flow | $4.4B | $21.9B |
| Net income | $5.0B | $20.0B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −0.6% | −0.0% |
| 5-year growth | 2.6% | 3.6% |
| Share count change | −5.2% | −5.1% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 23.6% | 16.7% |
| Net margin | 9.1% | 16.2% |
| FCF margin | 8.1% | 17.7% |
| Return on capital | 8.7% | 8.9% |
| Return on equity | 31.5% | 21.9% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $95.2B | $83.5B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 4.4x | 2.3x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $5.1B | $12.0B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 2.8x | 7.2x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 7 |
Revenue
FY16
CHTR $29.0B
CMCSA $80.7B
FY17
CHTR $41.6B
CMCSA $85.0B
FY18
CHTR $43.6B
CMCSA $94.5B
FY19
CHTR $45.8B
CMCSA $108.9B
FY20
CHTR $48.1B
CMCSA $103.6B
FY21
CHTR $51.7B
CMCSA $116.4B
FY22
CHTR $54.0B
CMCSA $121.4B
FY23
CHTR $54.6B
CMCSA $121.6B
FY24
CHTR $55.1B
CMCSA $123.7B
FY25
CHTR $54.8B
CMCSA $123.7B
CHTR
CMCSA
Operating margin
FY16
CHTR 8.5%
CMCSA 20.9%
FY17
CHTR 9.9%
CMCSA 21.2%
FY18
CHTR 12.0%
CMCSA 20.1%
FY19
CHTR 14.2%
CMCSA 19.4%
FY20
CHTR 17.5%
CMCSA 16.9%
FY21
CHTR 20.4%
CMCSA 17.9%
FY22
CHTR 22.1%
CMCSA 11.6%
FY23
CHTR 23.0%
CMCSA 19.2%
FY24
CHTR 23.8%
CMCSA 18.8%
FY25
CHTR 23.6%
CMCSA 16.7%
CHTR
CMCSA
Free cash flow
FY16
CHTR $2.7B
CMCSA $10.6B
FY17
CHTR $3.3B
CMCSA $11.7B
FY18
CHTR $2.6B
CMCSA $14.5B
FY19
CHTR $4.6B
CMCSA $15.7B
FY20
CHTR $7.1B
CMCSA $15.6B
FY21
CHTR $8.6B
CMCSA $20.0B
FY22
CHTR $5.5B
CMCSA $15.8B
FY23
CHTR $3.3B
CMCSA $16.3B
FY24
CHTR $3.2B
CMCSA $15.5B
FY25
CHTR $4.4B
CMCSA $21.9B
CHTR
CMCSA
Return on capital
FY16
CHTR 3.4%
CMCSA 10.0%
FY17
CHTR 3.6%
CMCSA —
FY18
CHTR 4.0%
CMCSA —
FY19
CHTR 4.6%
CMCSA 9.5%
FY20
CHTR 6.3%
CMCSA 7.4%
FY21
CHTR 7.9%
CMCSA 8.2%
FY22
CHTR 8.6%
CMCSA 4.2%
FY23
CHTR 8.7%
CMCSA 10.0%
FY24
CHTR 9.1%
CMCSA 11.4%
FY25
CHTR 8.7%
CMCSA 8.9%
CHTR
CMCSA
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.