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Optimum Communications
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Latest analysis
Updated Aug 6, 2026
Optimum Q2 2026: Margin expansion and record mobile growth mask accelerating broadband subscriber erosion and a leverage ratio of 8.0x that defines the strategic constraint.
Optimum Communications delivered Adjusted EBITDA margin expansion of 140 basis points year over year to 38.8% in Q2 2026, driven by a 5% reduction in year-to-date operating expenses and disciplined cost management — the one unambiguous positive in the quarter. Broadband net losses of -40k (versus -35k in Q2 2025) continued to worsen on an underlying basis, with the headline figure flattered by a bulk agreement; total broadband subscribers stand at 4.0 million and have declined every quarter since at least Q1 2025. The defining structural risk is the balance sheet: consolidated net debt of $25.3 billion at 8.0x L2QA leverage, with the CSC Holdings Restricted Group at 22.8x, a weighted average debt life of only 2.8 years, and free cash flow deeply negative at -$91.9 million in the quarter.
Tone: defensiveRevenue
$8.6B
OPTU 10-K · FY 2025
Revenue FY2024
$9B
EBITDA margin
38.5%
Founded
2015
Profile
OPTU 10-K Item 1 · Feb 13, 2026Optimum Communications (formerly Altice USA) is a U.S. cable and broadband operator serving approximately 4.3 million residential and business customers across 21 states, primarily in the New York metropolitan area and south-central United States. The company delivers broadband, video, telephony, and mobile services under the Optimum brand, enterprise connectivity under the Lightpath and Optimum Business brands, and operates news and advertising businesses. It classifies all operations as a single segment.
Read filing description ↓ Collapse description ↑
Optimum Communications, Inc., formerly known as Altice USA, Inc., was incorporated in Delaware on September 14, 2015, and changed its corporate name on November 7, 2025. The company is majority-owned by Patrick Drahi through Next Alt S.a.r.l. Optimum Communications is a holding company that operates through CSC Holdings, LLC and its consolidated subsidiaries. The company principally delivers broadband, video, and telephony services to residential and business customers, as well as proprietary content and advertising services in the United States. Residential services are marketed under the Optimum brand, and enterprise services are provided under the Lightpath and Optimum Business brands. The company also offers a full-service mobile offering to consumers across its footprint. Its network includes a fiber-rich HFC broadband network and a fiber-to-the-home network with approximately 10.0 million total passings as of December 31, 2025, extending across 21 states. The company derives revenue principally through monthly charges to residential customers for broadband, video, telephony, and mobile services, as well as from sales to large enterprise and SMB customers, and from advertising inventory, digital advertising, data analytics, and news affiliation fees. As these businesses are managed on a consolidated basis, the company classifies its operations in one segment.
Primary products
- Broadband
- Video
- Telephony
- Mobile
- Business services and wholesale
- News and advertising
Business segments
End markets
Geographies
Named competitors
“We estimate that Verizon, together with other fiber-based service providers, is able to sell fiber-based services to over two-thirds of the households in our footprint in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut combined and may expand these and other service offerings to more customers in the future.” Competitive position, as stated in the filing
Revenue commentary · FY 2025
Total revenue declined from approximately $8.95 billion in 2024 to approximately $8.59 billion in 2025, driven primarily by continued declines in residential broadband, video, and telephony revenue that more than offset growth in mobile and business services.
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Analysis, signals, diligence answers, M&A activity and every quote, each citing the filing it came from.