12:16 PM EDT, 07/26/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Charter Communications ( CHTR ) on Friday posted better-than-expected results for the second quarter, buoyed by a jump in residential mobile service revenue, sending the company's shares soaring.

Earnings rose to $8.49 a share for the quarter through June 30 from $8.05 a year earlier, while revenue edged 0.2% higher to $13.69 billion, topping Wall Street's views for $7.90 and $13.6 billion, respectively.

Residential mobile service revenue surged nearly 37% amid mobile line growth and higher bundled revenue allocation, while residential internet revenue grew 1.3% led by promotional rate step-ups and rate adjustments. Residential and small- and medium-business mobile lines increased by 557,000 in the quarter. Internet customers decreased by 149,000, led by the residential component, according to the broadband connectivity company and cable operator, which owns the Spectrum brand.

"This quarter, for the first time, our standalone mobile adjusted (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) was positive even when including the headwind of subscriber acquisition costs and without the benefit of GAAP revenue allocation to mobile revenue," Chief Financial Officer Jessica Fischer said on an earnings conference call, according to a Capital IQ transcript. "Our mobile profitability this quarter marks a significant milestone. It shows that we're on the path to establishing a mobile business that is very profitable."

Charter's shares were soaring nearly 17% in Friday trade.

Second-quarter video revenue fell 7.7% year over year, while voice decreased by 4.2%. The company's internet revenue saw a roughly $30 million headwind from one-time nonrecurring items tied to the government's Affordable Connectivity Program, or ACP, that subsidized broadband affordability for internet and mobile customers, Fischer told analysts. ACP program connects ended in early February.

"So far, we are performing well with ACP retention, but the largest driver of internet customer losses associated with the end of the ACP program will be in non-pay disconnects," Fischer said. "And they will occur in the third and fourth quarters, slightly weighted to the third."

Second-quarter consolidated adjusted EBITDA increased 2.6% year over year to $5.67 billion. "We're growing EBITDA despite the loss of ACP and a competitive cycle by driving efficiency without impacting our service and sales capabilities," Chief Executive Chris Winfrey said on the call.

Second-quarter residential video customers decreased by 393,000 versus a 189,000 drop a year ago. Residential wireline voice customers fell by 268,000, compared with a 225,000 decline a year earlier.

Charter now projects full-year capital expenditures at nearly $12 billion, down from its previously expected range of $12.2 billion to $12.4 billion. The company attributed the drop to lower internet and video customer net additions, including the impact of the end of the ACP.

Charter's internet product is "faster and more reliable" and its pricing is lower when similarly bundled with mobile, Winfrey told analysts. "We expect market activity and selling opportunities to pick up over time, and the cell phone companies will face challenges as the customer bandwidth demands continue to grow."

Price: 369.22, Change: +53.99, Percent Change: +17.13