Wolfe takes sell sign off Charter, following 52% drop this year
Michael Vi

Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) is down 2.8% along with declines in the broader market Thursday, bringing its year-to-date drop to -52% - a tumble that has led Wolfe Research to upgrade it to Peer Perform, from Underperform.
That means a worst-case scenario is already discounted, analyst Peter Supino said: âWe expect valuation support based on premium broadbandâs quasi-duopoly long-term industry structure and the pricing power this continues to support."
Once past a "disequilibrium phase" that should last to 2024, broadband industry structure should support modest pricing growth in the low single digits, he said.
As for Charter, the firm had previously seen fair value at $434 per share and now expects it is somewhere between $300 and $400 per share. On Thursday, Charter stock (CHTR) was running at $312.15 per share.
Meanwhile, now that Wolfe has Peer Perform ratings on two of three cable stocks - it still has Comcast (CMCSA) at Underperform, but also has a Peer Perform rating on Altice USA (ATUS) - it's upgrading the cable sector to Market Weight.
Last week, Charter announced that its CEO Tom Rutledge would transition to executive chairman, with Christopher Winfrey taking over as CEO Dec. 1.