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Charter Communications (Charter Communications) Free Cash Flow

: $3,490 Mil (TTM As of Dec. 2023)
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Charter Communications's total free cash flow for the months ended in Dec. 2023 was $1,061 Mil. Its total free cash flow for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2023 was $3,490 Mil.

Charter Communications's Free Cash Flow per Share for the months ended in Dec. 2023 was $7.06. Its free cash flow per share for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2023 was $22.99.

During the past 12 months, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate of Charter Communications was -38.10% per year. During the past 3 years, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was -10.10% per year. During the past 5 years, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was 21.00% per year. Please click Growth Rate Calculation Example (GuruFocus) to see how GuruFocus calculates Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT)'s revenue growth rate. You can apply the same method to get the Free Cash Flow Growth Rate using Free Cash Flow per Share data.

During the past 13 years, Charter Communications's highest 3-Year average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was 95.10% per year. The lowest was -600.30% per year. And the median was 19.50% per year.


Charter Communications Free Cash Flow Historical Data

The historical data trend for Charter Communications's Free Cash Flow can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

* Premium members only.

Charter Communications Annual Data
Trend Dec14 Dec15 Dec16 Dec17 Dec18 Dec19 Dec20 Dec21 Dec22 Dec23
Free Cash Flow
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 4,608.00 6,606.00 8,684.00 6,102.00 3,490.00

Charter Communications Quarterly Data
Mar19 Jun19 Sep19 Dec19 Mar20 Jun20 Sep20 Dec20 Mar21 Jun21 Sep21 Dec21 Mar22 Jun22 Sep22 Dec22 Mar23 Jun23 Sep23 Dec23
Free Cash Flow Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 1,136.00 664.00 668.00 1,097.00 1,061.00

Charter Communications Free Cash Flow Calculation

Free Cash Flow is considered one of the most important parameters to measure a company's earnings power by value investors because it is not subject to estimates of Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization (DDA). However, when we look at the Free Cash Flow, we should look from a long term perspective, because any year's Free Cash Flow can be drastically affected by the spending on Property, Plant, & Equipment (PPE) of the business in that year. Over the long term, Free Cash Flow should give pretty good picture on the real earnings power of the company.

Charter Communications's Free Cash Flow for the fiscal year that ended in Dec. 2023 is calculated as

Free Cash Flow (A: Dec. 2023 )=Cash Flow from Operations+Capital Expenditure
=14433+-10943
=3,490

Charter Communications's Free Cash Flow for the quarter that ended in Dec. 2023 is calculated as

Free Cash Flow (Q: Dec. 2023 )=Cash Flow from Operations+Capital Expenditure
=3855+-2794
=1,061

Free Cash Flow for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2023 adds up the quarterly data reported by the company within the most recent 12 months, which was $3,490 Mil.

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.


Charter Communications  (NAS:CHTR) Free Cash Flow Explanation

Free Cash Flow is very close to Warren Buffett's definition of Owner's Earnings, except that in Warren Buffett's Owner's Earnings, the spending for Property, Plant, and Equipment is only for maintenance (replacement), while in the Free Cash Flow calculation, the cost of new Property, Plant, and Equipment due to business expansion is also deducted. There, Free Cash Flow is more conservative than Owner's Earnings.

In Don Yacktman's calculation of forward rate of return, he uses Free Cash Flow for the calculation. Yacktman explained the forward rate of return concept in detail in his interview with GuruFocus. Yacktman defines forward rate of return as the normalized free cash flow yield plus real growth plus inflation.

This is what Yacktman said in his March 2012 interview - when the S&P 500 was at 1400:

If the business is stable, this calculation is fairly straightforward. For instance, on the S&P 500 we would normalize earnings. We would then calculate what percentage of those earnings are not reinvested in the underlying businesses and are therefore free. Historically, for the S&P 500, this has been just under 50% of earnings. Currently, we expect the S&P to earn about 70 on a normalized basis, a number which is far below reported earnings due to our adjusting for record high profit margins. $70 X ½ / 1400 gives you a normalized free cash flow yield of approximately 2.5%.

The historical real growth rate of the S&P 500 (companies) is about 1.5%. Assuming an inflation rate of 2.5%, the forward rate of return on an investment in the S&P 500 is about 6.5% today (2.5% free cash flow yield plus 1.5% real growth plus 2.5% inflation).

For the growth part of the Forward Rate of Return calculation, GuruFocus uses the 5-year average growth rate of EBITDA per share as the growth rate, and the growth rate is always capped at 20%. For the Free Cash Flow we use per share data averaged over seven years. The reason we use seven years is because research shows that seven years is the length of the typical business cycle.

Therefore, as of Dec23, Charter Communications's Forward Rate of Return (Yacktman) % is

Forward Rate of Return (Yacktman) % (Dec23)=Normalized Free Cash Flow/Price+5-Year EBITDA Growth Rate
=30.74933333/388.68+0.1837
=26.28 %

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.


Be Aware

Free Cash Flow within a report period can be affected by management's decisions of capital spending. Therefore, it is important to look at long term when it comes to Free Cash Flow.


Charter Communications Free Cash Flow Related Terms

Thank you for viewing the detailed overview of Charter Communications's Free Cash Flow provided by GuruFocus.com. Please click on the following links to see related term pages.


Charter Communications (Charter Communications) Business Description

Address
400 Washington Boulevard, Stamford, CT, USA, 06902
Charter is the product of the 2016 merger of three cable companies, each with a decades-long history in the business: Legacy Charter, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks. The firm now holds networks capable of providing television, internet access, and phone services to roughly 56 million U.S. homes and businesses, around 40% of the country. Across this footprint, Charter serves 30 million residential and 2 million commercial customer accounts under the Spectrum brand, making it the second-largest U.S. cable company behind Comcast. The firm also owns, in whole or in part, sports and news networks, including Spectrum SportsNet (long-term local rights to Los Angeles Lakers games), SportsNet LA (Los Angeles Dodgers), SportsNet New York (New York Mets), and Spectrum News NY1.
Executives
Thomas Rutledge director, officer: President and CEO 400 WASHINGTON BLVD., STAMFORD CT 06902
Jamal H Haughton officer: EVP/Gen Counsel/Corp Secretary TWO PENNSYLVANIA PLAZA, NEW YORK NY 10121
Gregory B Maffei director 12300 LIBERTY BLVD, ENGLEWOOD CO 80112
Craig A Jacobson director C/O EXPEDIA, INC., 333 108TH AVENUE NE, BELLEVUE WA 98004
Richard Adam Ray officer: EVP, Chief Commercial Officer 400 WASHINGTON BLVD, STAMFORD CT 06902
Steven A Miron director DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS, INC., 1 DISCOVERY PLACE, SILVER SPRING MD 20910
Eric Louis Zinterhofer director C/O SEARCHLIGHT CAPITAL PARTNERS GP, LP, 745 FIFTH AVENUE, 27TH FLOOR, NEW YORK NY 10151
Jonathan Hargis officer: EVP/Chief Marketing Officer 400 WASHINGTON BLVD., STAMFORD CT 06902
Jessica M Fischer officer: Chief Financial Officer 400 WASHINGTON BLVD., STAMFORD CT 06902
John Bickham officer: EVP/Chief Operating Officer 12405 POWERSCOURT DRIVE, ST. LOUIS MO 63131
Richard R Dykhouse officer: SVP/Gen Counsel/Corp Secretary 12405 POWERSCOURT DRIVE, ST. LOUIS MO 63131
David C Merritt director CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS INC, 12405 POWERSCOURT DRIVE, ST LOUIS MO 63131
David Ellen officer: Senior Executive VicePresident 1111 STEWART AVENUE, BETHPAGE NY 11714
Balan Nair director 901 EXPLORER BOULEVARD, HUNTSVILLE AL 35806
Christopher L Winfrey officer: EVP/Chief Financial Officer CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS, INC., 12405 POWERSCOURT DRIVE, ST. LOUIS MO 63131