10 Worst Performing Blue Chip Stocks in 2024

4. Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR)

Year to Date Return: -14.91%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 48

Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) is a broadband connectivity and cable operator company that serves residential and commercial customers. It is one of the companies that has felt the full force of people cutting the cord in favour of streaming networks.

With people steadily canceling their cable service, Charter Communications has seen its core business come under immense pressure. In Q2, Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR)’s Spectrum lost 154,000 residential broadband users; 5,000 new business accounts were added to compensate for this decline. These subscriber declines in both situations build upon and quicken patterns that began to emerge in the middle of last year.

In the second quarter, Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR)’s residential and business internet users dropped from 149,000 to 30.4 million. Consequently, revenue only increased by 0.2% to $13.7 billion, which was more than the $13.6 billion forecast.

Profits per share improved from $8.05 to $8.49, helped by share buybacks, and adjusted earnings climbed 2.6% to $5.7 billion, exceeding estimates of $7.98. The company reduced the number of shares outstanding by about 1% during the quarter by repurchasing 1.5 million shares for $404 million.

Although a competitive broadband market is hindering growth in core subscribers, Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) is experiencing some success in rural markets thanks to a government initiative to increase broadband access in these areas and its push into mobile. With a price-to-earnings ratio of 12, the stock is inexpensive enough to move higher with only slight profit gains, especially as the company continues its share buybacks.

Parnassus Value Equity Fund stated the following regarding Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:

“During the quarter, we added new positions in Pfizer, NICE and Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR). NICE is a leading cloud contact center software company. Charter’s stock had fallen due to near-term concerns, which we believe will not have a major impact on the long-term value of the business. Charter Communications has had several issues that created short-term uncertainty. We assessed that these issues have limited impacts on the long-term value of the business and initiated a position to take advantage of the stock’s historically low valuation.”