By Will Feuer
Shares of cable companies took a hit Friday after Charter Communications reported soft fourth-quarter earnings and said it lost tens of thousands of internet subscribers.
Comcast shares traded 3% lower at $45.22. That stock is up 10% from 12 months ago.
Altice USA shares slipped more than 8% to $2.27. Altice stock is down nearly 58% over the past 12 months.
Shares of Charter dropped more than 11%, leading the sector lower.
Charter said it lost 61,000 internet customers in the fourth quarter, with nearly all of the decline from residential customers. Analysts had expected the company to add 6,000 internet customers.
Chief Financial Officer Jessica Fischer had warned in December that the company could lose internet customers in the quarter. At the time, speaking at an analyst conference, she said the company was facing short-term challenges and that results would be in line with the rest of the industry.
Last week, Charter rival Comcast reported a loss of 34,000 U.S. broadband customers in the fourth quarter.
Charter on Friday also reported fourth-quarter earnings of $7.69 a share, below the $8.76 a share expected by analysts surveyed by FactSet.
Write to Will Feuer at Will.Feuer@wsj.com