LBRDA vs CHTR Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
LBRDA and CHTR are essentially the same underlying investment — Charter Communications cable broadband — with LBRDA providing access at a structural discount through the Liberty holding company structure. For investors who want Charter exposure, LBRDA may offer better value when the discount is wide. The pending Liberty-Charter merger would convert LBRDA shares to CHTR, eliminating the discount. The investment thesis for both is the Charter broadband monopoly business navigating fiber competition.
LBRDA vs CHTR — Liberty Broadband (the John Malone holding company with a 26% Charter stake trading at a structural discount to Charter's market value — potentially cheaper Charter exposure pending the planned merger) versus Charter Communications (the direct Spectrum cable broadband operator serving 32M+ subscribers facing fiber competition while investing in DOCSIS 4.0 network upgrades).
LBRDA and CHTR are closely matched — they split the tracked metrics evenly. LBRDA has delivered stronger 1-year price return (-41.32% vs -48.92% for CHTR).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- want Charter Communications exposure at a structural discount to directly owning CHTR shares — the holding company discount provides cheaper effective Charter NAV access
- believe the Liberty-Charter merger will close, converting LBRDA to CHTR shares and realizing the structural discount as a one-time gain vs holding CHTR directly
- trust John Malone's capital allocation track record and want exposure to his vision for Charter's strategic evolution through the holding company structure
- are comfortable with merger timeline uncertainty, the possibility the discount widens before the merger closes, and all underlying Charter broadband competitive risks
- want direct Charter Communications exposure without the holding company layer — CHTR shareholders have straightforward participation in Charter's broadband economics
- prefer the simplicity of owning the operating company directly rather than a holding company whose value depends on discount/premium dynamics and merger timing
- are confident in Charter's DOCSIS 4.0 network evolution as a cost-effective competitive response to fiber overbuilders — upgrading existing cable to match fiber speeds without full overbuilding costs
- are comfortable with fiber competition intensification in Charter's markets, video subscriber decline, high leverage, and the long-term uncertainty of cable vs fiber competitive outcomes
| Metric | LBRDA | CHTR |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 22.4 | 27.3 |
| AI ranki | #4152 | #2456 |
| Latest closei | $35.99 | $133.37 |
| 1M returni | +16.62% | -10.10% |
| 6M returni | -33.17% | -36.98% |
| 1Y returni | -41.32% | -48.92% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | LBRDA | CHTR |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $5.87K (-41.3%) started 2025-08-21 | $4.98K (-50.2%) started 2025-09-17 |
| 5Y ago | $1.97K (-80.3%) started 2021-08-23 | $1.76K (-82.4%) started 2021-09-20 |
| 10Y ago | $5.35K (-46.5%) started 2016-08-22 | $5.07K (-49.3%) started 2016-09-19 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | LBRDA | CHTR |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $5.18B | $20.7B |
| Trailing P/Ei | N/A | 4.00 |
| Forward P/Ei | N/A | 3.48 |
| Price/Salesi | 5.07 | 0.99 |
| EV/Revenuei | N/A | 2.20 |
| Analyst targeti | N/A | $184.41 |
| Target upsidei | N/A | +20.04% |
| Metric | LBRDA | CHTR |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | N/A | -1.70% |
| Earnings growthi | N/A | 16.10% |
| EPS growthi | N/A | +16.10% |
| FCF margini | N/A | +4.04% |
| Operating margini | N/A | 23.50% |
| Profit margini | N/A | 9.05% |
| ROIC proxyi | N/A | 27.20% |
| Return on equityi | N/A | 27.20% |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | N/A |
| Payout ratioi | N/A | 0.00% |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | N/A |
| Betai | -0.74 | 0.68 |
| Debt/equityi | N/A | 441.58 |
| Current ratioi | N/A | 0.36 |
| Quick ratioi | N/A | 0.30 |
Over the past year, LBRDA and CHTR have moved strongly in the same direction (correlation of 1.00), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | LBRDA | CHTR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -41.32% | -50.24% |
| CAGRi | -41.34% | -50.29% | |
| Volatilityi | 51.57% | 51.76% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.96 | -1.17 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -1.23 | -1.45 | |
| Max drawdowni | 54.83% | 56.39% | |
| Current drawdowni | 44.63% | 52.83% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 26.01% | 31.73% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 30.41% | 35.53% | |
| Max daily dropi | 25.74% | 25.50% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 34.47% | 34.57% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | -80.25% | -82.36% |
| CAGRi | -27.74% | -29.35% | |
| Volatilityi | 42.61% | 41.04% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.67 | -0.75 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.91 | -0.97 | |
| Max drawdowni | 84.31% | 83.69% | |
| Current drawdowni | 80.76% | 82.36% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 54.50% | 52.06% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 57.51% | 54.95% | |
| Max daily dropi | 25.74% | 25.50% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 34.47% | 34.57% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | -46.52% | -49.28% |
| CAGRi | -6.07% | -6.57% | |
| Volatilityi | 35.78% | 35.14% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.12 | -0.14 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.17 | -0.19 | |
| Max drawdowni | 84.31% | 84.98% | |
| Current drawdowni | 80.76% | 83.76% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 31.48% | 32.33% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 41.42% | 42.06% | |
| Max daily dropi | 25.74% | 25.50% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 34.47% | 34.57% |
| Category | LBRDA | CHTR |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Liberty Broadband Corporation | Charter Communications, Inc. |
| Sector | Cable & Telecom | Communication Services |
| Industry | Telecom Services | Telecom Services |
| Core business | Liberty Broadband is a tracking/holding company that primarily owns a significant equity stake in Charter Communications (approximately 26% economic interest). Owning LBRDA is essentially owning Charter indirectly through Liberty's holding company structure. Liberty Broadband has historically traded at a discount to the sum-of-parts value of its Charter stake — meaning LBRDA can be an arbitrage way to access Charter exposure at a discount to owning CHTR directly. Liberty Broadband has announced plans to merge with Charter, which would eliminate the discount if completed. | Charter Communications (Spectrum) is the second-largest US cable operator providing broadband, video, and phone services to 32M+ customers under the Spectrum brand. Charter's broadband business (32M+ subscribers) is its primary value driver as video subscribers decline toward cord-cutting and phone remains stable. Charter is facing increasing competition from AT&T Fiber, T-Mobile Fixed Wireless, and Google Fiber in various markets. Charter is deploying network evolution (DOCSIS 3.1/4.0) and considering rural fiber builds under government subsidies. |
| Investor focus | Investors use LBRDA as a way to access Charter Communications exposure at a potential structural discount — the holding company discount creates an arbitrage opportunity vs directly owning CHTR. | Investors focus on Charter's broadband subscriber net adds (vs fiber competition), ARPU growth, capital expenditures for network upgrades, and free cash flow generation as video subscribers continue declining. |
- Structural discount to Charter NAV: LBRDA has historically traded at 10-20% discount to the value of its Charter stake — providing cheaper effective Charter exposure than owning CHTR directly
- Pending merger with Charter eliminates discount: if the Liberty-Charter merger completes, LBRDA holders convert to CHTR shares at NAV — realizing the holding company discount as a gain
- John Malone's capital allocation expertise: Liberty is controlled by John Malone, one of the most respected capital allocators in cable television history — LBRDA benefits from Malone's strategic vision
- 32M+ broadband subscriber base is the primary value: Charter's broadband monopoly or duopoly in its serving areas provides pricing power and customer density making cable broadband the majority of US household connectivity
- DOCSIS 4.0 upgrade path to 10Gbps: Charter's network evolution to DOCSIS 4.0 provides multi-gigabit speeds over existing coaxial cable — avoiding the massive capital cost of fiber overbuilds while matching fiber performance
- Rural fiber subsidies expanding market: government BEAD program subsidies for rural broadband enable Charter to expand into rural markets economically — growing addressable subscribers
- Discount can widen before merger: LBRDA's discount to Charter NAV has fluctuated — in adverse market conditions the discount may widen further rather than narrow
- Merger timeline uncertainty: Liberty-Charter merger negotiation and regulatory approval takes time — LBRDA holders must wait for the discount to close, accepting interim uncertainty
- Underlying Charter risks apply: LBRDA is Charter — all of Charter's fiber competition, broadband subscriber churn, and leverage risks directly apply to LBRDA holders
- Fiber competition is intensifying: AT&T Fiber, T-Mobile Fixed Wireless, and new fiber overbuilders are entering Charter's markets — broadband subscriber growth has slowed significantly
- Video subscriber decline accelerating: Charter's video business is in terminal decline as cord-cutting continues — revenue lost from video must be offset by broadband ARPU increases and new customer additions
- Leverage is high: Charter has taken on significant debt for network investment and share buybacks — high leverage limits financial flexibility in a competitive environment
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