Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR)

Current Ratio

The current ratio demonstrates a declining trend over the period from 2019 to 2023. Starting at 0.52 in 2019, it decreases to 0.4 in 2020, further dropping to 0.29 in 2021. A minor recovery is observed in 2022 with a rise to 0.33, followed by a slight decline to 0.31 in 2023. This indicates a persistent reduction in the company's ability to cover short-term liabilities with its short-term assets, suggesting increasing liquidity pressure.

Quick Ratio

The quick ratio follows a similar downward trend as the current ratio. Beginning at 0.46 in 2019, it decreases steadily to 0.32 in 2020 and 0.26 in 2021. A slight improvement occurs in 2022, reaching 0.3, but declines again to 0.28 in 2023. This trend reinforces the observation of increasingly constrained liquidity, specifically when excluding inventory from current assets.

Cash Ratio

The cash ratio exhibits a pronounced decline from 0.28 in 2019 to 0.1 in 2020, with a steeper drop to 0.05 in 2021. It then remains stagnant at 0.05 through 2022 and 2023. This notable decrease and subsequent stagnation highlight a significant reduction in the company's most liquid assets (cash and cash equivalents) relative to its current liabilities, indicating very limited immediate liquidity.

The analysis of the selected financial data reveals notable trends in the liquidity position over the five-year period from the end of 2019 through 2023.

Current Assets

The value of current assets exhibits a declining trend from 2019 to 2021, decreasing from $6,471 million to $3,566 million. However, this decline appears to stabilize with a moderate increase in 2022 and 2023, reaching $4,132 million by the end of the period.

Current Liabilities

Current liabilities demonstrate fluctuations within the period. Starting from $12,385 million in 2019, there is a significant decrease to $9,875 million in 2020, followed by an increase to $12,458 million in 2021. Subsequently, liabilities slightly decrease to $12,065 million in 2022 but again rise to $13,214 million in 2023.

Current Ratio

The current ratio consistently remains below 1.0 throughout the period, reflecting a liquidity position where current liabilities exceed current assets. It decreased from 0.52 in 2019 to a low of 0.29 in 2021, indicating deteriorating short-term solvency. Although there is a slight improvement in 2022 to 0.33, the ratio declines again to 0.31 in 2023, suggesting that the overall liquidity situation did not improve materially.

In summary, the data indicate a general weakening in liquidity metrics, driven primarily by declining current assets relative to current liabilities. The current ratio consistently below 0.5 suggests potential challenges in meeting short-term obligations, despite some fluctuations in asset and liability levels over the years.

Total quick assets

The total quick assets exhibited a notable decline from 2019 to 2021, dropping from 5,710 million US dollars to 3,180 million US dollars. Following this trough, a moderate recovery was observed through 2022 and 2023, reaching 3,674 million US dollars. This pattern indicates an initial contraction in highly liquid assets, followed by slight replenishment towards the end of the period.

Current liabilities

Current liabilities decreased from 12,385 million US dollars in 2019 to 9,875 million in 2020, suggesting an improvement in short-term obligations. However, from 2020 onward, current liabilities steadily increased, rising to 13,214 million US dollars by 2023. This upward trend highlights a growing burden of short-term liabilities over the recent years.

Quick ratio

The quick ratio declined consistently from 0.46 in 2019 to a low of 0.26 in 2021, reflecting a weakening liquidity position relative to current liabilities. Subsequent years showed a slight improvement to 0.30 in 2022, followed by a marginal decrease to 0.28 in 2023. Despite some recovery attempts, the quick ratio remains below the initial level, indicating ongoing constraints in the company's ability to cover immediate liabilities with its most liquid assets.

Total Cash Assets

The total cash assets exhibited a marked decline from 3,483 million USD in 2019 to 998 million USD in 2020. This downward trend continued though at a slower pace, reaching 601 million USD in 2021. From 2021 onwards, a slight improvement is observed with cash assets increasing to 645 million USD in 2022 and then to 709 million USD in 2023. Despite this recent recovery, cash assets in 2023 are considerably lower than the 2019 peak.

Current Liabilities

Current liabilities decreased notably from 12,385 million USD in 2019 to 9,875 million USD in 2020. Following this decline, there was an upward rebound in liabilities with an increase to 12,458 million USD in 2021, a slight decrease to 12,065 million USD in 2022, and then another rise to 13,214 million USD in 2023. The liabilities in 2023 surpass the 2019 level, indicating increased short-term obligations.

Cash Ratio

The cash ratio declined significantly from 0.28 in 2019 to 0.10 in 2020, and further dropped sharply to 0.05 by 2021. This low level remained steady through 2022 and 2023. The persistent low cash ratio suggests a decreasing capacity to cover current liabilities with readily available cash during this period, implying potential liquidity concerns.