Altice USA (soon to be renamed Optimum Communications) reported mixed results for the third quarter of 2025, reflecting record gross margins and operational efficiencies amid a challenging competitive landscape.
Subscribers and Service Growth:
The company ended the quarter with 4.2 million broadband subscribers, after losses of 58,000, compared with 50,000 losses a year earlier.
Fiber subscribers rose sharply to 703,000, up 46 percent year over year, with fiber network penetration reaching 23 percent, compared to 16.6 percent in Q3 2024.
Mobile lines grew by 38,000 to 584,000, representing a 39 percent annual increase and 7.3 percent penetration of the broadband customer base.
Video customer additions improved, with 58,000 customers added to new video tiers, compared to 5,000 in the prior year period.
Dennis Mathew, Altice USA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said: “We reaffirmed our full-year Adjusted EBITDA outlook, continued to elevate our customer and network experience, and achieved a milestone of over 700 thousand fiber customers.”
Financial Performance:
Total revenue stood at $2.11 billion, down 5.4 percent year over year, reflecting continued subscriber losses in a low-growth environment.
Altice generated revenue of $873.449 million from broadband, $645.207 million from video, $61.791 million from telephony and $42.277 million from mobile services during Q3-2025. Altice’s revenue from Business Services and Wholesale reached $361.886 million.
Adjusted EBITDA was $830.7 million, down 3.6 percent, with a 39.4 percent margin.
Net loss widened to $1.63 billion, primarily due to a non-cash impairment charge of $1.6 billion related to cable franchise rights.
Capital Expenditure (Capex):
Cash CapEx totaled $325.5 million, down 9.4 percent, representing 15.4 percent capital intensity.
Altice expects full-year Capex of about $1.3 billion, mainly due to higher Lightpath investment in hyperscaler builds and fiber expansion.
The company added 51,000 new passings (including 30,000 fiber) in the quarter and targets 175,000 new passings for 2025.
Strategy and Outlook:
Altice continues to focus on profitability and efficiency rather than volume, emphasizing margin expansion, automation, and AI integration across customer service and network operations. The company reported an all-time-high gross margin of 69.7 percent and ongoing improvements in service quality and customer satisfaction (rNPS up six points year over year).
For FY 2025, Altice reaffirmed its Adjusted EBITDA guidance of about $3.4 billion, underpinned by cost control, network modernization, and growth in fiber and mobile segments. The upcoming rebranding to Optimum Communications underscores its transformation toward a more resilient, customer-focused business aimed at sustainable, long-term growth.
Shafana Fazal