CHTR vs GTN vs LUMN Stock Comparison

Charter Communications, Gray Media and Lumen Technologies Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group
GTN Gray Media, Inc
$4.88 +4.7% 1M +8.0% 1Y
Market cap
$562.61M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$3.15B
Div. yield
6.56%
Television Broadcasting Communication Services
2 wins
LUMN Lumen Technologies, Inc.
$3.98 -32.7% 1M -63.4% 1Y
Market cap
$4.10B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$11.46B
Div. yield
–
Broadband and Cable Communication Services
2 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Charter Communications leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Charter Communications 6, Gray Media 2, Lumen Technologies 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCHTRGTNLUMNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $15.01B $562.61M $4.10B CHTR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 3.1x -8.2x -6.0x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 3.1x 2.0x — GTN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -1.5% -11.3% -9.7% CHTR
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 9.1% -1.8% -5.8% CHTR
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 8.4% 2.3% 0.9% CHTR
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 4.4x 7.2x 4.3x LUMN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 6.56% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -44.1% +8.0% -63.4% GTN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -28.8%/yr -26.9%/yr -22.4%/yr LUMN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 56.1% 62.5% 72.6% CHTR
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 62/100 48/100 35/100 CHTR

Percentile Scorecard

CHTRGTNLUMN

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisCHTRGTNLUMN
Valuation 88 #7 of 49 87 #8 of 53 63 #19 of 49
Growth 33 #32 of 47 5 #42 of 44 30 #33 of 47
Profitability 80 #10 of 46 48 #23 of 43 31 #32 of 46
Financial Health 10 #44 of 49 30 #43 of 61 15 #42 of 49
Shareholder Returns 100 #1 of 36 71 #9 of 29 –
Overall 62 48 35
  • CHTR ranked among 51 companies in Telecommunications
  • GTN ranked among 62 companies in Advertising and Media
  • LUMN ranked among 51 companies in Telecommunications

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodCHTRGTNLUMNSPY
1 month +15.9%+4.7%-32.7% -5.9%
3 months -20.1%+13.8%-32.4% -4.6%
6 months -21.5%+10.4%-53.0% +0.2%
Year to date -39.7%+0.8%-48.8% +7.5%
1 year -44.1%+8.0%-63.4% +8.2%
3 years -69.7%-35.4%+201.5% +68.3%
3 years, per year -32.9%-13.5%+44.5% +19.0%
5 years -81.7%-79.1%-71.8% +56.5%
5 years, per year -28.8%-26.9%-22.4% +9.4%
10 years -49.7%-39.8%-82.7% +251.5%
10 years, per year -6.6%-4.9%-16.1% +13.4%

Risk

MeasureCHTRGTNLUMNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 56.1%62.5%72.6% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 65.1%62.4%76.3% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.020.922.32 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.790.13-0.87 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -85.4%-87.9%-93.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -49.3%-21.3%-63.8% -5.9%
52-week high $248.19$6.20$10.99 $779.14
52-week low $102.18$3.58$3.98 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleCHTRGTNLUMN
P/E now vs peer median 3.1xmedian 11.9x -8.2xmedian 14.0x -6.0xmedian 11.9x
P/S now vs peer median 0.3xmedian 1.1x 0.2xmedian 0.5x 0.4xmedian 1.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 5.1xmedian 6.6x 7.9xmedian 9.6x 5.8xmedian 6.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 3.4xmedian 4.7x 3.9xmedian 8.0x -4.2xmedian 4.7x
P/B now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 1.5x 0.3xmedian 1.6x -2.4xmedian 1.5x
PEG now vs peer median 0.30median 0.27 0.27median 0.40 -0.10median 0.27

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsCHTRGTNLUMN
Revenue $54.40B $3.15B $11.46B
Gross profit – $820.00M $5.55B
Operating income $12.66B $435.00M $147.00M
Net income $5.75B -$26.00M -$668.00M
Free cash flow $4.36B $146.00M -$987.00M
EPS (diluted) $40.61 $-0.58 $-0.66
Cash & equivalents $509.00M $176.00M $978.00M
Total debt $93.96B $5.81B $13.19B
Shares (diluted) 121.26M 100.00M 1.00B
Enterprise value $17.99B -$422.39M -$1.38B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricCHTRGTNLUMN
P/E 3.1x -8.2x -6.0x
P/FCF 3.4x 3.9x -4.2x
P/Operating cash flow 0.9x 2.3x 1.2x
P/S 0.3x 0.2x 0.4x
P/B 0.7x 0.3x -2.4x
P/Tangible book -0.3x -0.2x -0.7x
EV/EBITDA 5.1x 7.9x 5.8x
EV/EBIT 8.6x 14.2x 111.0x
EV/Revenue 2.0x 2.0x 1.4x
EV/FCF 24.9x 42.4x -16.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 6.6x 24.8x 4.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.30 0.27 -0.10

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCHTRGTNLUMN
Revenue growth (1Y) -1.5% -11.3% -9.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -0.1% -4.3% -8.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – -28.8% -7.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – -13.5% -10.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) -4.4% -41.9% 132.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 1.4% -18.2% 26.3%
Net income growth (1Y) -5.0% -113.0% 59.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 2.4% -28.0% 61.1%
EPS growth (1Y) 9.3% -138.0% 59.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 10.1% -31.1% 61.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 8.3% -69.8% -30.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 5.1% -36.1% 15.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 1.3% -79.4% -180.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.0% -32.2% -3.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCHTRGTNLUMN
Gross margin – 26.0% 48.4%
EBITDA margin 39.4% 24.9% 24.6%
Operating margin 23.3% 13.8% 1.3%
Pretax margin 13.8% -2.0% -8.0%
Net margin 9.1% -1.8% -5.8%
FCF margin 8.0% 4.6% -8.6%
Operating cash flow margin 30.3% 7.9% 29.4%
Return on equity 26.8% -1.2% –
Return on assets 3.7% -0.3% -2.2%
Return on invested capital 8.4% 2.3% 0.9%
Return on capital employed 9.0% 4.4% 0.6%
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.3x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.9x -9.6x -5.1x
Stock comp / revenue 1.2% 0.7% 0.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCHTRGTNLUMN
Debt / assets 60.4% 55.6% 42.9%
Debt / equity 4.3x 2.7x -7.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 4.4x 7.2x 4.3x
Debt / FCF 21.6x 39.8x -13.4x
Liabilities / assets 85.9% 79.6% 105.6%
Equity / assets 14.1% 20.4% -5.6%
Interest coverage – 0.9x 0.2x
Current ratio 0.4x 1.0x 0.7x
Quick ratio 0.3x 0.7x 0.5x
Cash ratio 0.0x 0.3x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 0.59 0.63 -0.52

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCHTRGTNLUMN
Dividend yield – 6.6% –
Net buyback yield 31.6% – –
Shareholder yield 31.6% 6.6% 0.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) – -130.8% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 23.3% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 6.3% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 6.7% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusCHTRGTNLUMN
Forward P/E 3.1xFY2026 2.0xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $41.25FY2026 $2.43FY2026 $-0.87FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +13.9%FY2026 – –
EPS growth, the year after -8.8% -130.0% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $58.41BFY2026 $3.39BFY2026 $10.70BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +6.6%FY2026 +9.5%FY2026 -13.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -12.4% +0.3% -5.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCHTRGTNLUMN
Held by institutions 83.3% 80.6% 70.7%
Institutions holding 786 177 624
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.3% -2.7% +2.6%
Institutions buying 424 72 290
Institutions selling 242 70 180
Buyers to sellers 1.75 1.03 1.61

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

CHTRGTNLUMN
CHTR 1.00 0.22 0.05
GTN 0.22 1.00 0.20
LUMN 0.05 0.20 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CHTR, GTN and LUMN?

Charter Communications (CHTR) is the largest by market capitalisation: Charter Communications (CHTR) $15.01B, Gray Media (GTN) $562.61M, Lumen Technologies (LUMN) $4.10B.

Which company is growing faster?

Charter Communications (CHTR) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Charter Communications (CHTR) -1.5%, Gray Media (GTN) -11.3%, Lumen Technologies (LUMN) -9.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Charter Communications (CHTR) has the highest net margin (Charter Communications (CHTR) 9.1%, Gray Media (GTN) -1.8%, Lumen Technologies (LUMN) -5.8%). On return on invested capital, Charter Communications (CHTR) leads (Charter Communications (CHTR) 8.4%, Gray Media (GTN) 2.3%, Lumen Technologies (LUMN) 0.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Gray Media (GTN) returned the most: Charter Communications (CHTR) -44.1%, Gray Media (GTN) +8.0%, Lumen Technologies (LUMN) -63.4%. Over five years, Lumen Technologies (LUMN) compounded fastest (Charter Communications (CHTR) -28.8%/yr, Gray Media (GTN) -26.9%/yr, Lumen Technologies (LUMN) -22.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Gray Media (GTN) 6.56%, Lumen Technologies (LUMN) 0.00%. Charter Communications (CHTR) and Lumen Technologies (LUMN) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Charter Communications (CHTR) has been the steadiest (Charter Communications (CHTR) 56.1%, Gray Media (GTN) 62.5%, Lumen Technologies (LUMN) 72.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CHTR, GTN and LUMN?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Charter Communications (CHTR) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.