LUMN vs CHTR vs UNIT Stock Comparison

Lumen Technologies, Charter Communications and Uniti Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
LUMN Lumen Technologies, Inc.
$4.43 -22.4% 1M -45.2% 1Y
Market cap
$4.65B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$11.83B
Div. yield
–
Broadband and Cable Communication Services
2 wins
UNIT Uniti Group Inc.
$4.85 -45.6% 1M -19.2% 1Y
Market cap
$1.28B
P/E
1.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.54B
Div. yield
–
Broadband and Cable Communication Services
5 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Uniti leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Uniti 5, Charter Communications 3, Lumen Technologies 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionLUMNCHTRUNITLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.65B $12.68B $1.28B CHTR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -4.5x 2.6x 1.3x UNIT
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 2.4x — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -7.7% -1.5% +199.7% UNIT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -8.7% 9.1% 28.2% UNIT
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 1.2% 8.4% 1.1% CHTR
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.9x 4.4x 8.1x LUMN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -45.2% -58.2% -19.2% UNIT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -17.9%/yr -32.2%/yr -27.1%/yr LUMN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 74.9% 55.8% 51.4% UNIT
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 53/100 65/100 52/100 CHTR

Percentile Scorecard

LUMNCHTRUNIT

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

AxisLUMNCHTRUNIT
Valuation 77 #12 of 49 92 #5 of 49 40 #30 of 49
Growth 68 #15 of 45 41 #27 of 45 98 #2 of 45
Profitability 46 #25 of 45 82 #9 of 45 50 #23 of 45
Financial Health 23 #38 of 49 10 #44 of 49 19 #40 of 49
Shareholder Returns – 100 #1 of 37 –
Overall 53 65 52
  • LUMN ranked among 51 companies in Telecommunications
  • CHTR ranked among 51 companies in Telecommunications
  • UNIT ranked among 51 companies in Telecommunications

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodLUMNCHTRUNITSPY
1 month -22.4%-9.5%-45.6% -0.8%
3 months -29.2%-22.4%-55.0% +3.5%
6 months -50.4%-41.5%-58.9% +7.0%
Year to date -43.0%-51.1%-30.8% +12.2%
1 year -45.2%-58.2%-19.2% +13.0%
3 years +233.1%-72.5%-29.6% +86.3%
3 years, per year +49.4%-35.0%-11.1% +23.1%
5 years -62.6%-85.7%-79.3% +68.6%
5 years, per year -17.9%-32.2%-27.1% +11.0%
10 years -84.3%-58.9%-89.9% +258.0%
10 years, per year -16.9%-8.5%-20.5% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureLUMNCHTRUNITSPY
Volatility, 1Y 74.9%55.8%51.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 76.9%65.2%50.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.570.141.54 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.60-1.04-0.37 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -93.1%-85.7%-81.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -62.6%-58.9%-62.0% -1.8%
52-week high $11.83$248.88$12.75 $779.14
52-week low $4.43$102.18$4.85 $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.

MultipleLUMNCHTRUNIT
P/E now vs peer median -4.3xmedian 11.8x 2.5xmedian 11.8x 1.2xmedian 11.8x
P/S now vs peer median 0.4xmedian 1.1x 0.2xmedian 1.1x 0.3xmedian 1.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 5.5xmedian 6.8x 4.9xmedian 6.8x 9.0xmedian 6.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 5.5xmedian 5.7x 2.8xmedian 5.7x -1.4xmedian 5.7x
P/B now vs peer median -3.1xmedian 1.3x 0.6xmedian 1.3x 7.1xmedian 1.3x
PEG now vs peer median -0.08median 0.24 0.25median 0.24 —median 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 monthsLUMNCHTRUNIT
Revenue $11.83B $54.40B $3.54B
Gross profit $5.66B – $1.83B
Operating income $198.00M $12.66B $114.40M
Net income -$1.02B $5.75B $1.08B
Free cash flow $837.00M $4.36B -$834.80M
EPS (diluted) $-1.02 $40.61 $3.94
Cash & equivalents $1.88B $509.00M $608.90M
Total debt $13.21B $93.96B $10.65B
Shares (diluted) 1.00B 121.26M 252.90M
Enterprise value -$2.25B $10.72B -$519.53M

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
MetricLUMNCHTRUNIT
P/E -4.3x 2.5x 1.2x
P/FCF 5.5x 2.8x -1.4x
P/Operating cash flow 0.9x 0.7x 2.3x
P/S 0.4x 0.2x 0.3x
P/B -3.1x 0.6x 7.1x
P/Tangible book -0.8x -0.3x -1.2x
EV/EBITDA 5.5x 4.9x 9.0x
EV/EBIT 80.3x 8.3x 97.7x
EV/Revenue 1.3x 1.9x 3.2x
EV/FCF 19.0x 24.2x -13.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 3.0x 6.4x 22.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -0.08 0.25 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricLUMNCHTRUNIT
Revenue growth (1Y) -7.7% -1.5% 199.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -8.8% -0.1% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) -7.5% – 79.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -11.7% – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 191.7% -4.4% -80.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 26.4% 1.4% –
Net income growth (1Y) 13.1% -5.0% 2,951%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 54.3% 2.4% –
EPS growth (1Y) 14.0% 9.3% 1,560%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 54.6% 10.1% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 22.4% 8.3% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 29.7% 5.1% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -10.8% 1.3% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 48.5% 7.0% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricLUMNCHTRUNIT
Gross margin 47.8% – 51.7%
EBITDA margin 24.3% 39.4% 35.0%
Operating margin 1.7% 23.3% 3.2%
Pretax margin -11.8% 13.8% 26.9%
Net margin -8.7% 9.1% 28.2%
FCF margin 7.1% 8.0% -23.6%
Operating cash flow margin 45.4% 30.3% 14.3%
Return on equity – 26.8% 447.6%
Return on assets -3.3% 3.7% 8.3%
Return on invested capital 1.2% 8.4% 1.1%
Return on capital employed 0.7% 9.0% 1.0%
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.4x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -5.2x 2.9x 0.5x
Stock comp / revenue 0.5% 1.2% 0.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricLUMNCHTRUNIT
Debt / assets 42.9% 60.4% 82.0%
Debt / equity -8.9x 4.3x 65.9x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.9x 4.4x 8.1x
Debt / FCF 15.8x 21.6x -12.8x
Liabilities / assets 104.8% 85.9% 98.8%
Equity / assets -4.8% 14.1% 1.2%
Interest coverage 0.2x – –
Current ratio 1.0x 0.4x 1.2x
Quick ratio 0.8x 0.3x 0.8x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.0x 0.5x
Altman Z-score -0.43 0.58 0.67

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricLUMNCHTRUNIT
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield – 38.9% –
Shareholder yield 0.0% 38.9% 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.

ConsensusLUMNCHTRUNIT
Forward P/E – 2.4xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $-0.87FY2026 $42.97FY2026 $-1.94FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +18.7%FY2026 -139.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – -4.9% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $10.70BFY2026 $57.99BFY2026 $3.44BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -13.7%FY2026 +5.9%FY2026 +54.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -5.8% -13.7% +12.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersLUMNCHTRUNIT
Held by institutions 70.7% 83.8% 89.3%
Institutions holding 622 783 279
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.6% +4.3% -1.4%
Institutions buying 289 423 155
Institutions selling 180 241 78
Buyers to sellers 1.61 1.76 1.99

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.

LUMNCHTRUNIT
LUMN 1.00 0.05 0.30
CHTR 0.05 1.00 0.17
UNIT 0.30 0.17 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, LUMN, CHTR and UNIT?

Charter Communications (CHTR) is the largest by market capitalisation: Lumen Technologies (LUMN) $4.65B, Charter Communications (CHTR) $12.68B, Uniti (UNIT) $1.28B.

Which stock is cheaper, LUMN, CHTR and UNIT?

Uniti (UNIT) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Lumen Technologies (LUMN) -4.5x, Charter Communications (CHTR) 2.6x, Uniti (UNIT) 1.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Uniti (UNIT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Lumen Technologies (LUMN) -7.7%, Charter Communications (CHTR) -1.5%, Uniti (UNIT) +199.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Uniti (UNIT) has the highest net margin (Lumen Technologies (LUMN) -8.7%, Charter Communications (CHTR) 9.1%, Uniti (UNIT) 28.2%). On return on invested capital, Charter Communications (CHTR) leads (Lumen Technologies (LUMN) 1.2%, Charter Communications (CHTR) 8.4%, Uniti (UNIT) 1.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Uniti (UNIT) returned the most: Lumen Technologies (LUMN) -45.2%, Charter Communications (CHTR) -58.2%, Uniti (UNIT) -19.2%. Over five years, Lumen Technologies (LUMN) compounded fastest (Lumen Technologies (LUMN) -17.9%/yr, Charter Communications (CHTR) -32.2%/yr, Uniti (UNIT) -27.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Uniti (UNIT) has been the steadiest (Lumen Technologies (LUMN) 74.9%, Charter Communications (CHTR) 55.8%, Uniti (UNIT) 51.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Uniti (UNIT) leads on 5. 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.