- Charter lost 233,000 broadband subs in the third quarter
- It’s embarking on an operational transition, starting with a $2 billion cost-cutting plan
- The company seems to hope that its new Chief Operating Officer Nick Jeffery will save the day
Charter may have foreshadowed layoffs on its Q3 2026 earnings call today.
The company reported a pro forma loss of 233,000 Spectrum Internet customers during the quarter, including 156,000 customers at legacy Charter and 77,000 at legacy Cox Communications, which Charter acquired on August 19.
To try and staunch all the bleeding, the company announced a $2 billion cost reduction program over the next 18 months, along with a transformation program to improve customer retention. The company also continues to expect about $1 billion in cost synergies due to its purchase of Cox.
Charter CEO Chris Winfrey didn’t specifically mention layoffs in today’s call, saying some of the cost-cutting will come from eliminating projects that don't contribute to internet growth. He said, “We'll be also organizing our leadership and teams for maximum effectiveness, increasing spans of control and reducing layers. I want to be very clear: these savings are not targeted at frontline service and sales employees.”
He said much of the $2 billion in savings would come from “a bottoms-up plan.”
When Charter first closed on the acquisition of Cox, Winfrey was asked about potential layoffs, and he said there would be some layoffs for "same-type of titles," but it would be "de minimis" to the overall company.
Aside from potential much-larger layoffs, Winfrey today announced a new operating model for Charter, saying “We're fundamentally rethinking how we compete, how we allocate resources, and how we run our business. Our top priority is to return to growth in our core business by winning more internet customers.”
But he was shy on details about how Charter would do this, using vague verbiage such as “transforming the go-to-market” and “reducing complexity.”
These operational changes will be led by Nick Jeffery, the former CEO of Frontier and Vodafone UK, who joined Charter on September 1. Apparently, Jeffery has already introduced the new operating model to Charter’s more than 100,000 employees nationwide. However, Jeffery was unable to attend today’s earnings call to give more details.
“We'll find an appropriate venue, whether at a conference call or an earnings call, for you to hear from Nick and me directly on the operating strategy and transformation,” said Winfrey.
An analyst asked if Charter could provide a timeline for when it will return to growth. Winfrey said, “We’re not providing any guidance or outlook for exactly when we return to growth, but I want to be very clear that's the objective. Right now, the focus is day by day.”
Today’s call also featured Charter’s new interim CFO, Kevin Howard, who’s filling in until the company finds a replacement for Jessica Fischer, who departed as Charter’s CFO on October, 15 to take a position as CFO at Crux AI.
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