Charter stock gains after earnings beat

Charter Communications Inc. shares were up 2.2% in premarket trading Friday after the company posted a sizable fourth-quarter earnings beat. The company reported net income of $714 million, or $3.28 a share, up from $296 million, or $1.29 a share, in the year-prior quarter. Earnings per share came in significantly above the FactSet consensus, which called for $2.52. Charter said that the increase in net income was mainly driven by a rise in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization and a non-cash loss in the year-earlier period compared with a gain in the most recent quarter. Quarterly revenue rose to $11.76 billion from $11.23 billion and came in a bit above the consensus forecast, which was for $11.73 billion. Charter shares have added 5.4% over a three-month span as the S&P 500 has increased 8.1%.

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