CHTR vs LBTYA vs LUMN Stock Comparison

Charter Communications, Liberty Global and Lumen Technologies Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
LBTYA Liberty Global Ltd.
$7.86 -17.1% 1M -28.4% 1Y
Market cap
$2.56B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$4.88B
Div. yield
–
Broadband and Cable Communication Services
4 wins
LUMN Lumen Technologies, Inc.
$4.57 -25.6% 1M -41.3% 1Y
Market cap
$4.45B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$11.83B
Div. yield
–
Broadband and Cable Communication Services
1 win

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Charter Communications leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Charter Communications 4, Liberty Global 4, Lumen Technologies 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCHTRLBTYALUMNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $12.29B $2.56B $4.45B CHTR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 2.5x -0.8x -4.3x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 2.5x — — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -1.5% +5.4% -7.7% LBTYA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 9.1% -62.1% -8.7% CHTR
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 8.4% -0.5% 1.2% CHTR
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 4.4x 5.8x 3.9x LUMN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -55.5% -28.4% -41.3% LBTYA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -31.7%/yr -12.5%/yr -18.2%/yr LBTYA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 55.4% 34.6% 76.3% LBTYA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 65/100 45/100 53/100 CHTR

Percentile Scorecard

CHTRLBTYALUMN

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

AxisCHTRLBTYALUMN
Valuation 90 #6 of 49 63 #19 of 49 79 #11 of 49
Growth 42 #27 of 46 18 #38 of 46 67 #16 of 46
Profitability 82 #9 of 46 18 #38 of 46 44 #26 of 46
Financial Health 10 #45 of 50 59 #21 of 50 22 #39 of 50
Shareholder Returns 100 #1 of 36 69 #12 of 36 –
Overall 65 45 53
  • CHTR ranked among 51 companies in Telecommunications
  • LBTYA ranked among 51 companies in Telecommunications
  • LUMN ranked among 51 companies in Telecommunications

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCHTRLBTYALUMNSPY
1 month -6.9%-17.1%-25.6% -1.0%
3 months -11.9%-18.9%-27.9% +2.9%
6 months -39.7%-33.9%-48.3% +6.4%
Year to date -48.0%-29.4%-41.2% +11.4%
1 year -55.5%-28.4%-41.3% +13.1%
3 years -74.8%-3.6%+233.6% +79.4%
3 years, per year -36.9%-1.2%+49.5% +21.5%
5 years -85.1%-48.6%-63.4% +67.7%
5 years, per year -31.7%-12.5%-18.2% +10.9%
10 years -57.4%-52.1%-83.8% +255.2%
10 years, per year -8.2%-7.1%-16.6% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureCHTRLBTYALUMNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 55.4%34.6%76.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 64.9%31.7%77.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.170.462.68 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -1.00-0.82-0.54 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -86.0%-50.9%-93.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -56.4%-39.7%-61.4% -2.5%
52-week high $248.88$13.03$11.83 $779.14
52-week low $102.48$7.50$4.46 $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.

MultipleCHTRLBTYALUMN
P/E now vs peer median 2.6xmedian 11.6x -0.9xmedian 11.6x -4.5xmedian 11.6x
P/S now vs peer median 0.2xmedian 1.1x 0.5xmedian 1.1x 0.4xmedian 1.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 5.0xmedian 6.9x 8.4xmedian 6.9x 5.6xmedian 6.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 3.0xmedian 5.6x -10.5xmedian 5.6x 5.6xmedian 5.6x
P/B now vs peer median 0.6xmedian 1.3x 0.3xmedian 1.3x -3.2xmedian 1.3x
PEG now vs peer median 0.26median 0.24 0.39median 0.24 -0.08median 0.24

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 monthsCHTRLBTYALUMN
Revenue $54.40B $4.88B $11.83B
Gross profit – $3.28B $5.66B
Operating income $12.66B -$86.80M $198.00M
Net income $5.75B -$3.01B -$1.02B
Free cash flow $4.36B -$254.80M $837.00M
EPS (diluted) $40.61 $-8.64 $-1.02
Cash & equivalents $509.00M $2.42B $1.88B
Total debt $93.96B $8.35B $13.21B
Shares (diluted) 121.26M 351.13M 1.00B
Enterprise value $10.32B -$5.52B -$2.45B

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
MetricCHTRLBTYALUMN
P/E 2.6x -0.9x -4.5x
P/FCF 3.0x -10.5x 5.6x
P/Operating cash flow 0.8x 2.1x 0.9x
P/S 0.2x 0.5x 0.4x
P/B 0.6x 0.3x -3.2x
P/Tangible book -0.3x 0.3x -0.9x
EV/EBITDA 5.0x 8.4x 5.6x
EV/EBIT 8.4x -99.1x 81.0x
EV/Revenue 2.0x 1.8x 1.4x
EV/FCF 24.4x -33.8x 19.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 6.5x 6.8x 3.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.26 0.39 -0.08

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCHTRLBTYALUMN
Revenue growth (1Y) -1.5% 5.4% -7.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -0.1% 5.8% -8.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 7.8% -7.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 3.9% -11.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) -4.4% -215.0% 191.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 1.4% -58.3% 26.4%
Net income growth (1Y) -5.0% 8.5% 13.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 2.4% 4.7% 54.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 9.3% 10.2% 14.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 10.1% -2.2% 54.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 8.3% -16.3% 22.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 5.1% -19.4% 29.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 1.3% -158.0% -10.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.0% -29.5% 48.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCHTRLBTYALUMN
Gross margin – 67.2% 47.8%
EBITDA margin 39.4% 21.0% 24.3%
Operating margin 23.3% -1.8% 1.7%
Pretax margin 13.8% -57.5% -11.8%
Net margin 9.1% -62.1% -8.7%
FCF margin 8.0% -5.2% 7.1%
Operating cash flow margin 30.3% 26.0% 45.4%
Return on equity 26.8% -31.2% –
Return on assets 3.7% -13.8% -3.3%
Return on invested capital 8.4% -0.5% 1.2%
Return on capital employed 9.0% -0.5% 0.7%
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.2x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.9x -0.4x -5.2x
Stock comp / revenue 1.2% 3.4% 0.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCHTRLBTYALUMN
Debt / assets 60.4% 38.8% 42.9%
Debt / equity 4.3x 0.9x -8.9x
Net debt / EBITDA 4.4x 5.8x 3.9x
Debt / FCF 21.6x -32.8x 15.8x
Liabilities / assets 85.9% 56.1% 104.8%
Equity / assets 14.1% 43.9% -4.8%
Interest coverage – -0.2x 0.2x
Current ratio 0.4x 1.3x 1.0x
Quick ratio 0.3x 1.1x 0.8x
Cash ratio 0.0x 0.9x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 0.58 0.72 -0.43

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCHTRLBTYALUMN
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield 36.6% 3.4% –
Shareholder yield 36.6% 3.4% 0.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusCHTRLBTYALUMN
Forward P/E 2.5xFY2026 – –
EPS, next fiscal year $42.98FY2026 $-1.58FY2026 $-0.87FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +18.7%FY2026 – –
EPS growth, the year after -5.0% – –
Revenue, next fiscal year $57.98BFY2026 $5.05BFY2026 $10.69BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +5.9%FY2026 +3.6%FY2026 -13.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -13.6% -7.2% -5.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCHTRLBTYALUMN
Held by institutions 83.8% 97.0% 70.7%
Institutions holding 783 293 622
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.3% +0.6% +2.6%
Institutions buying 423 145 289
Institutions selling 241 95 180
Buyers to sellers 1.76 1.53 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.

CHTRLBTYALUMN
CHTR 1.00 0.33 0.05
LBTYA 0.33 1.00 0.05
LUMN 0.05 0.05 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CHTR, LBTYA and LUMN?

Charter Communications (CHTR) is the largest by market capitalisation: Charter Communications (CHTR) $12.29B, Liberty Global (LBTYA) $2.56B, Lumen Technologies (LUMN) $4.45B.

Which company is growing faster?

Liberty Global (LBTYA) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Charter Communications (CHTR) -1.5%, Liberty Global (LBTYA) +5.4%, Lumen Technologies (LUMN) -7.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Charter Communications (CHTR) has the highest net margin (Charter Communications (CHTR) 9.1%, Liberty Global (LBTYA) -62.1%, Lumen Technologies (LUMN) -8.7%). On return on invested capital, Charter Communications (CHTR) leads (Charter Communications (CHTR) 8.4%, Liberty Global (LBTYA) -0.5%, Lumen Technologies (LUMN) 1.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Liberty Global (LBTYA) returned the most: Charter Communications (CHTR) -55.5%, Liberty Global (LBTYA) -28.4%, Lumen Technologies (LUMN) -41.3%. Over five years, Liberty Global (LBTYA) compounded fastest (Charter Communications (CHTR) -31.7%/yr, Liberty Global (LBTYA) -12.5%/yr, Lumen Technologies (LUMN) -18.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Liberty Global (LBTYA) has been the steadiest (Charter Communications (CHTR) 55.4%, Liberty Global (LBTYA) 34.6%, Lumen Technologies (LUMN) 76.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CHTR, LBTYA 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 4. 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.