Liberty Broadband Corp (LBRDK) 2022 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to Liberty Broadband Corporation 2022 Third Quarter Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference will be recorded November 4. I would now like to turn the call over to Courtnee Chun, Chief sorry, Portfolio Officer. Please go ahead.

歡迎來到 Liberty Broadband Corporation 2022 年第三季度財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）提醒一下，這次會議將於 11 月 4 日錄製。我現在想把電話轉給 Courtnee Chun，對不起，投資組合官。請繼續。

Thank you. Before we begin, we'd like to remind everyone that this call includes certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual events or results could differ materially due to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those mentioned in the most recent forms 10-K and 10-Q filed by Liberty Broadband and Liberty TripAdvisor with the SEC.

謝謝你。在我們開始之前，我們想提醒大家，本次電話會議包含 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的某些前瞻性陳述。實際事件或結果可能因許多風險和不確定性而存在重大差異，包括Liberty Broadband 和 Liberty TripAdvisor 向美國證券交易委員會提交的最新 10-K 和 10-Q 表格中提到的那些。

These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this call, and Liberty Broadband and Liberty TripAdvisor expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in Liberty Broadband's or Liberty TripAdvisor's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

這些前瞻性陳述僅在本次電話會議之日有效，Liberty Broadband 和 Liberty TripAdvisor 明確否認有任何義務或承諾傳播對此處包含的任何前瞻性陳述的任何更新或修訂以反映 Liberty Broadband 或 Liberty 的任何變化TripAdvisor 對此的期望或任何此類聲明所依據的事件、條件或情況的任何變化。

On today's call, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures for Liberty Broadband, including adjusted OIBDA. Information regarding the comparable GAAP metrics, along with required definitions and reconciliations, including preliminary notes and Schedules 1 and 2, can be found in the earnings press release issued today as well as earnings release for prior periods, which are available on Liberty Broadband's website.

在今天的電話會議上，我們將討論 Liberty Broadband 的某些非 GAAP 財務措施，包括調整後的 OIBDA。有關可比較的 GAAP 指標的信息，以及所需的定義和調節，包括初步說明和附表 1 和 2，可以在今天發布的收益新聞稿以及前期的收益報告中找到，這些信息可在 Liberty Broadband 的網站上找到。

Now I'd like to turn the call over to Liberty President and CEO, Greg Maffei.

現在我想把電話轉給 Liberty 總裁兼首席執行官 Greg Maffei。

Thank you, Courtnee, and good morning to all on the call. Today, speaking on the call besides myself, we will also have Liberty Broadband's Chief Accounting and Principal Financial Officer, Brian Wendling; Ron Duncan, CEO; and Pete Pounds, CFO of GCI, respectively, will also be available to answer questions. Also during the Q&A, we will be available to answer questions related to Liberty TripAdvisor, but please do note that TripAdvisor has not yet reported on its third quarter results. So some of our answers may be limited.

謝謝你，Courtnee，早上好。今天，除了我本人之外，Liberty Broadband 的首席會計兼首席財務官 Brian Wendling 也在電話會議上發言；羅恩·鄧肯，首席執行官； GCI 的 CFO 和 Pete Pounds 也將分別回答問題。同樣在問答環節，我們將回答與 Liberty TripAdvisor 相關的問題，但請注意，TripAdvisor 尚未公佈其第三季度業績。所以我們的一些答案可能是有限的。

Turning to Liberty Broadband. In the period of August 1 through the end of October, Liberty Broadband repurchased 5.5 million shares for $550 million, a look-through price to Charter of about $319.76 per share. Over the same period, we received $616 million of proceeds from Charter share sales. I'd note, we also increased our repurchase authorization in August, which now has $2.15 billion remaining on it as of the 1st of November. Towards the end of the quarter, we did pull back on some of our LBRD buyback. We did this with an intent to retain some portion of the cash flow from our Charter sales to address some of our near-term liabilities. Looking at Charter and its operating results for the third quarter, which was strong, revenue was up 3%. And we added 61,000 residential broadband net adds. That's a large sequential improvement and a meaningful beat against consensus. Importantly, we also added nearly 400,000 mobile lines even in a low move and low incremental broadband environment.

轉向自由寬帶。在 8 月 1 日至 10 月底期間，Liberty Broadband 以 5.5 億美元的價格回購了 550 萬股股票，對 Charter 的回購價格約為每股 319.76 美元。同期，我們從 Charter 股票銷售中獲得了 6.16 億美元的收益。我要指出，我們還在 8 月份增加了回購授權，截至 11 月 1 日，回購授權還剩 21.5 億美元。在本季度末，我們確實撤回了一些 LBRD 回購。我們這樣做的目的是保留包機銷售產生的部分現金流，以解決我們的一些近期負債。看看 Charter 及其強勁的第三季度經營業績，收入增長了 3%。我們增加了 61,000 個住宅寬帶網絡。這是一個巨大的連續改進，也是對共識的有意義的打擊。重要的是，即使在低移動和低增量寬帶環境中，我們也增加了近 400,000 條移動線路。

Mobile revenue was up 40%. At the end of the third quarter, Charter had 4.7 million total mobile lines. We at Liberty and those at Charter remain very excited about the value of bundling mobile and the mobile opportunity overall with meaningful gains in share of mobile net adds. In October, Charter launched Spectrum One. We think this is a differentiated converged offer to take to market with compelling broadband Wi-Fi and mobile priced at $4.99 -- $49.99 per month. You get 300 megabits of broadband speeds in mobile lines, and we do expect this will continue to accelerate mobile growth and drive broadband pull-through.

移動收入增長了 40%。截至第三季度末，Charter 的移動線路總數為 470 萬條。我們 Liberty 和 Charter 的員工仍然對將移動和移動機會與移動淨增加份額的有意義收益捆綁在一起的價值感到非常興奮。 10 月，Charter 推出了 Spectrum One。我們認為這是一種差異化的融合產品，以極具吸引力的寬帶 Wi-Fi 和移動設備推向市場，價格為每月 4.99 美元——49.99 美元。您可以在移動線路中獲得 300 兆比特的寬帶速度，我們確實希望這將繼續加速移動增長並推動寬帶拉通。

Charter continues to also expand its footprint through new builds. This remains a priority, and we believe it's a very attractive economic opportunity. We are pleased with the early progress on RDOF and the additional subsidy opportunities in the pipeline. I do want to thank Tom for his leadership over the past 10 years, and we very much also look forward to having to continue on our partnership with Chris Winfrey, which will start when he accelerate rather when he becomes CEO on December 1.

Charter 還通過新建築繼續擴大其足跡。這仍然是一個優先事項，我們相信這是一個非常有吸引力的經濟機會。我們對 RDOF 的早期進展以及正在籌備中的額外補貼機會感到高興。我確實要感謝湯姆在過去 10 年的領導，我們也非常期待與克里斯溫弗瑞繼續我們的合作夥伴關係，這將在他加速而不是在 12 月 1 日成為首席執行官時開始。

And with that, let me turn it over to Brian to discuss the financials in some more detail.

有了這個，讓我把它交給布賴恩來更詳細地討論財務問題。

Thank you, Greg. At quarter end, Liberty Broadband had consolidated cash and cash equivalents of $203 million, which includes $37 million of cash at GCI. The value of our Charter investment based on our shares held as of November 1 in Charter share price from yesterday's close was $16.5 million. At quarter end, Liberty Broadband had a total principal amount of debt of $3.9 billion. We opportunistically amended the terms of our Charter margin loans subsequent to quarter end, pledging an additional 6 million Charter shares, and importantly, providing increased flexibility and improving our loan-to-value ratio there. Available capacity under the Charter margin alone is $900 million. Note the above amounts exclude the indemnification obligation and preferred stock.

謝謝你，格雷格。截至季度末，Liberty Broadband 的合併現金和現金等價物為 2.03 億美元，其中包括 GCI 的 3700 萬美元現金。根據截至 11 月 1 日我們持有的 Charter 股價，我們的 Charter 投資價值為 1650 萬美元。截至季度末，Liberty Broadband 的債務本金總額為 39 億美元。我們在季度末之後機會主義地修改了 Charter 保證金貸款的條款，質押了額外的 600 萬股 Charter 股票，重要的是，提供了更大的靈活性並提高了我們的貸款價值比。僅包機保證金下的可用運力就達 9 億美元。請注意，上述金額不包括賠償義務和優先股。

Looking at GCI, we had a solid third quarter. Revenue was up $2 million and adjusted OIBDA was up $1 million. As we noted at year-end, revenue and adjusted OIBDA are seeing the effects of a roaming agreement that was effective in the fourth quarter of 2021, which is positive long term for the company, but does create some negative comparisons in 2022 to prior periods. Additionally, our video business continues to shrink, which significantly impacts revenue, but does not meaningfully impact free cash flow. This decline in our video business and the impact of the roaming agreement were offset by growth in our consumer broadband and wireless offerings as well as our business data revenue.

看看 GCI，我們有一個穩定的第三季度。收入增加了 200 萬美元，調整後的 OIBDA 增加了 100 萬美元。正如我們在年底指出的那樣，收入和調整後的 OIBDA 正在看到 2021 年第四季度生效的漫遊協議的影響，這對公司來說是長期的積極因素，但確實在 2022 年與前期進行了一些負面比較.此外，我們的視頻業務繼續萎縮，這對收入產生了重大影響，但對自由現金流沒有顯著影響。我們視頻業務的下降和漫遊協議的影響被我們的消費者寬帶和無線產品以及我們的業務數據收入的增長所抵消。

Over the last year, GCI has added 6,300 revenue-generating wireless subscribers and over 8,000 revenue-generating cable modem customers, many of which are attributable to our deployment of 2 gig speed and communities across Alaska. GCI is continuing to expand its 2 gig offering, expecting to launch in Unalaska by the end of the year. For GCI and Alaska and certain members of our Investor Relations team, this final slice of the fiber connecting to Dutch Harbor is as monumental as the Golden Spike that completed the U.S. transcontinental railroad in the late 1800s.

在過去的一年裡，GCI 增加了 6,300 個創收無線用戶和超過 8,000 個創收電纜調製解調器客戶，其中許多歸功於我們在阿拉斯加部署 2 gig 速度和社區。 GCI 正在繼續擴大其 2 gig 產品，預計將於今年年底在 Unalaska 推出。對於 GCI 和阿拉斯加以及我們投資者關係團隊的某些成員而言，連接荷蘭港的最後一段光纖與 1800 年代後期建成的美國橫貫大陸鐵路的金釘一樣具有里程碑意義。

Cash for the quarter at GCI was down $43 million with strong adjusted OIBDA offset by a $40 million dividend to Liberty Broadband. CapEx during the quarter and the normal seasonal increase in accounts receivable from the RHC program during the first quarter of RHC's fiscal year also were impacted. Leverage as defined in its credit agreement was 3.1x at quarter end, and GCI has $397 million of undrawn capacity under its revolver.

GCI 本季度的現金減少了 4300 萬美元，調整後的 OIBDA 被 Liberty Broadband 的 4000 萬美元股息所抵消。本季度的資本支出和 RHC 財政年度第一季度 RHC 計劃應收賬款的正常季節性增長也受到影響。其信貸協議中定義的槓桿率在季度末為 3.1 倍，GCI 在其循環貸款下擁有 3.97 億美元的未動用能力。

With that, I'll turn it back over to Greg for closing comments.

有了這個，我會把它轉回給 Greg 以徵求結束意見。

Thank you, Brian. We do look forward to seeing many of you at our Annual Investor Day on Thursday, November 17 in New York. Additional information is available on our website. John Malone and I will be hosting our annual Q&A session. If you'd like to submit questions in advance, you can e-mail investor@libertymedia.com. We appreciate your continued interest in Liberty Broadband and Liberty TripAdvisor.

謝謝你，布萊恩。我們期待在 11 月 17 日星期四在紐約舉行的年度投資者日見到你們中的許多人。我們的網站上提供了更多信息。 John Malone 和我將主持我們的年度問答環節。如果您想提前提交問題，可以發送電子郵件至 investor@libertymedia.com。感謝您對 Liberty Broadband 和 Liberty TripAdvisor 的持續關注。

And with that, operator, let's open the line for questions.

有了這個，接線員，讓我們打開問題熱線。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our first question is from Ben Swinburne with Morgan Stanley.

我們的第一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Ben Swinburne。

Greg, I wanted to ask about convergence at a little bit of a higher level, but also relevant to your Charter and GCI investments. In Europe, they've had converged fixed and wireless for a long time. And despite lots of, I think, enthusiasm, that's been a tough place for cable. You'd rather own U.S. cable than European cable. Maybe it's not because of the convergence element, but certainly conversion hasn't led to great results, and you've seen pricing pressure when convergence turns into discounting.

格雷格，我想問一下更高層次的融合，但也與您的憲章和 GCI 投資有關。在歐洲，固定和無線融合已經有很長一段時間了。儘管有很多，我認為，熱情，這對有線電視來說是一個艱難的地方。您寧願擁有美國有線電視也不願擁有歐洲有線電視。也許這不是因為融合因素，但肯定的是，轉換並沒有帶來很好的結果，而且當融合變成折扣時，你已經看到了定價壓力。

So with Charter, in particular, they're clearly leaning in here. There's a big debate in the market whether that's going to be good or bad. So I'm wondering if you could just talk about your outlook for the impact of convergence on the U.S. cable business, Charter, in particular, and whether you think the MVNO model can be a better model in the States than it's been in other countries where it's been obviously a low-margin business.

因此，特別是對於 Charter，他們顯然傾向於這裡。這是好事還是壞事，市場上爭論不休。所以我想知道你是否可以談談你對融合對美國有線電視業務的影響的展望，尤其是 Charter，以及你是否認為 MVNO 模式在美國可以成為比其他國家更好的模式這顯然是一項低利潤業務。

Yes. I think great question, Ben. Look, in Europe, I think the U.S. market -- stock markets watch that closely and taken some lessons, which may not be complete. In Europe, you've obviously seen that convergence where you see much more fiber over building as a percent. You've seen the PTT pay a bigger percentage of the fiber building and you've seen definitely a race to the bottom, starting with lower rates to begin with, less attractive pricing to begin with and then declining rates as the 2 converge. I think the U.S. model is a little different. We have already basically achieved the same multiples as the mobile competitors, which I think is a mistake.

是的。我認為很好的問題，本。看，在歐洲，我認為美國市場 - 股市密切關注並吸取了一些教訓，這可能並不完整。在歐洲，您顯然已經看到了這種融合，在這種融合中，您可以看到光纖比建築物多得多的百分比。您已經看到 PTT 支付了更大比例的光纖建設費用，而且您肯定看到了一場逐底競爭，從一開始的較低費率開始，一開始的定價不太有吸引力，然後隨著兩者的融合而降低費率。我認為美國模式有點不同。我們已經基本達到了與移動競爭對手相同的倍數，我認為這是一個錯誤。

But the cable companies, I believe, are better positioned here than they are relatively in Europe. First, the broadband market is more distributed. You've got, I think, positions where we're more secure in many cases with lower grades of competition or competition that we're more able to handle, still many opportunities to gain share from DSL players and the like. I also think that clearly, in many cases, the mobile operators are trying to get into broadband and that is a longer, harder road for them than it is for us, who now have a complete MVNO everywhere in the nation and have the opportunity to pursue owner economics in markets that are attractive where there is sufficient volume. So we don't need to -- do not need to build out in markets where there is insufficient volume. We can leverage our MVNO relationship, but we can build out where we can get owner economics that are more attractive than that MVNO relationship.

但我相信，相對於在歐洲，有線電視公司在這裡的定位更好。首先，寬帶市場更加分散。我認為，在許多情況下，我們在競爭等級較低或我們更能處理的競爭中更安全，還有很多機會從 DSL 玩家等那裡獲得份額。我還認為，很明顯，在許多情況下，移動運營商正試圖進入寬帶領域，這對他們來說是一條比我們更長、更艱難的道路，我們現在在全國各地都有完整的 MVNO，並且有機會在有足夠數量的有吸引力的市場中追求所有者經濟。因此，我們不需要 - 不需要在交易量不足的市場中擴建。我們可以利用我們的 MVNO 關係，但我們可以建立比 MVNO 關係更有吸引力的所有者經濟。

I'll remind you that's a perpetual relationship, one we've already rebid once to a better rate, and I think there'll be future opportunities to continue to make that a better margin opportunity for us. But most importantly, I think we have a very secure broadband position and the opportunity to add those mobile far more easily than the mobile operators have to come into our business. And I do remind you what you surely know, Ben, that the mobile business is more than twice as big as the broadband business here in the United States. So I think the analogies are interesting, but there are some key differences, too.

我會提醒你這是一種永久的關係，我們已經重新出價一次以獲得更好的利率，我認為未來會有機會繼續為我們創造更好的利潤率機會。但最重要的是，我認為我們擁有非常安全的寬帶地位，並且有機會比移動運營商進入我們的業務更容易地添加這些移動設備。我提醒你，本，你肯定知道，在美國，移動業務是寬帶業務的兩倍多。所以我認為類比很有趣，但也存在一些關鍵差異。

Yes. No, that all makes sense. And just as a follow-up, strategically, do you think we'll see kind of convergence-driven consolidation in the U.S.? You've got a lot of big companies out there. So the regulatory question is obviously a major one. But at the same time, for those wireless-only players, they may need more fiber or want more fiber and maybe vice versa. I don't know if you have thoughts on that, and then I'll shut up.

是的。不，這一切都是有道理的。作為後續行動，從戰略上講，您認為我們會在美國看到某種融合驅動的整合嗎？你那裡有很多大公司。因此，監管問題顯然是一個主要問題。但與此同時，對於那些只使用無線網絡的玩家來說，他們可能需要更多的光纖，或者想要更多的光纖，反之亦然。不知道大家有沒有想過，那我閉嘴。

Well, one of the challenges is that mobile operators generally operate nationally and cable operators, fiber operators generally operate regionally or locally, depending on your perspective. So there's sometimes a mismatch, and there's probably more appeal for the mobile operator to get the fiber, the broadband operator where he or she can rather than the case where they -- broadband operator sees the appeal of having a national mobile footprint compared to the regional footprint that they have. So there's a little bit of a mismatch there.

好吧，挑戰之一是移動運營商通常在全國運營，而有線運營商、光纖運營商通常在區域或本地運營，具體取決於您的觀點。所以有時會出現不匹配，移動運營商可能更有吸引力獲得光纖，寬帶運營商在他或她可以的地方而不是他們 - 寬帶運營商看到擁有全國移動足蹟的吸引力與他們擁有的區域足跡。所以那裡有點不匹配。

Our next question is from Michael Rollins with Citi.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗的邁克爾羅林斯。

Just curious for an update. If you look at where the Charter share price is, your thoughts on continuing to participate in selling into the Charter repurchase program given the ownership limits that are currently set under the agreement. And if you think it's -- the time is right to revisit that relationship?

只是好奇更新。如果你看一下 Charter 的股價，你會考慮繼續參與 Charter 回購計劃的銷售，因為目前協議規定了所有權限制。如果您認為現在是時候重新審視這種關係了？

I'll first start with -- we have a pretty good position today where our -- the proceeds we're getting and the drag on tax that we have is less than the discounted NAV. So it's actually been the case that we are ahead of the game by repurchasing our stock with the proceeds we got from Charter. Might least want to revisit or think about how that relationship changes. We've had different caps at various times. I think that's something to be considered in the future, but at the moment, we're pretty happy with our hand.

我首先要開始 - 我們今天的位置非常好 - 我們獲得的收益和我們所擁有的稅收拖累低於貼現後的資產淨值。因此，實際上我們通過用從 Charter 獲得的收益回購我們的股票而領先於遊戲。可能最不想重新審視或思考這種關係如何變化。我們在不同時期有不同的上限。我認為這是未來需要考慮的事情，但目前，我們對自己的手牌非常滿意。

And are there any new thoughts on how to close that NAV discount that currently exists beyond the current course and speed that you're on?

關於如何關閉當前存在的超出當前課程和速度的 NAV 折扣，是否有任何新想法？

Yes, I think there are options out there to do that. We like the hand that we've got right now. This is our third earnings call today. I've had several variations on this. Our history is that we have generally gone out and created asset backs or created opportunities for mergers of entities like this. Over time when we thought that time was right and that potential surely exists somewhere down the road that we'll do that between Charter and Liberty Broadband. But we feel no rush. We feel we're continuing to benefit from our participation in Charter, and we're feeling to benefit from the continued relationship and the continued opportunity even as they repurchase shares to repurchase our own stock at a discount.

是的，我認為有很多選擇可以做到這一點。我們喜歡我們現在擁有的手。這是我們今天的第三次財報電話會議。我對此有幾種變化。我們的歷史是，我們通常走出去，創造資產支持或為這樣的實體合併創造機會。隨著時間的推移，當我們認為時機成熟並且這種潛力肯定存在於未來某個地方時，我們將在 Charter 和 Liberty Broadband 之間這樣做。但我們並不著急。我們覺得我們繼續受益於我們參與 Charter，我們覺得從持續的關係和持續的機會中受益，即使他們回購股票以折扣價回購我們自己的股票。

And just finally to follow up on some earlier comments that you made, given your views of cable and where values have come down to, is there any interest to use Liberty Broadband as a form of capital to invest in additional cable franchises? Or are you content with what you currently own?

最後，根據您對有線電視的看法以及價值下降的情況，跟進您之前發表的一些評論，是否有興趣使用 Liberty Broadband 作為一種資本形式來投資更多的有線電視特許經營權？或者你是否滿足於你目前擁有的東西？

I wouldn't say there's no way we're going to buy another cable franchise. We did that quite attractively at GCI, and you could imagine another -- other benefits to it, but you can imagine other transactions. But the reality is, Charter has enormous synergies, and we would first look to say, hey, does this acquisition fit better with Charter because they're going to bring a lot to the table. There may be some reason it doesn't. Maybe some reason we want to pursue it. But there's a lot of logic to putting any of those consolidation plays into Charter because it's got an enormous potential to bring synergies to the table relative to what we can bring.

我不會說我們不可能再購買有線電視特許經營權。我們在 GCI 上非常有吸引力地做到了這一點，您可以想像另一個 - 它的其他好處，但您可以想像其他交易。但現實是，Charter 具有巨大的協同效應，我們首先會說，嘿，這次收購是否更適合 Charter，因為他們會帶來很多好處。可能有一些原因它沒有。也許出於某種原因我們想要追求它。但是，將這些整合活動中的任何一個納入 Charter 有很多邏輯，因為相對於我們可以帶來的東西，它具有巨大的潛力來帶來協同效應。

Our next question is from Barton Crockett with Rosenblatt Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自 Rosenblatt Securities 的 Barton Crockett。

I was curious about, Greg, your kind of thoughts about the current environment for buying things, making investments because we've got kind of cost credits, right? The stock equity values, probably private market value is on top of that have come way down, which has been set up. Where in the past, you guys have been able to swoop in or do some historic deals. Maybe -- so I'm curious if this seems like it's approaching a situation where you might see some really attractive opportunities? Or conversely, as the cost of capital has gone up so much with the increase in interest rates that things are not particularly attractive right now because of the cost of capital. Just your thought about the landscape there would be interesting.

格雷格，我很好奇你對當前購買東西和投資環境的看法，因為我們有某種成本抵免，對嗎？股票價值，可能是私人市場價值最重要的已經下降，已經建立。在過去，你們能夠突然介入或做一些歷史性的交易。也許 - 所以我很好奇這是否正在接近你可能會看到一些非常有吸引力的機會的情況？或者相反，由於資本成本隨著利率的上升而大幅上升，以至於由於資本成本，現在的事情並不是特別有吸引力。只是你對那裡的風景的想法會很有趣。

Barton, thank you. You're generous to say, we profited from those times in the past, and I -- but I do think that's right. You want to invest where others have fears, I think, the Buffet line, and certainly, some of the opportunities we've seen in because of that. Your point about the rent, the increased cost of finance, the raise cost of finance making some of those hard. Really, in some cases, just the complete availability of financing making that hard to do certain kinds of deals suggest that in some cases, you may want to already bind to existing capital structures and take advantage of discounts that may be in the debt or you may want to do things, which are entirely equity financed. We have capability and capacity to do either or an experience of doing both rather.

巴頓，謝謝你。你很慷慨地說，我們從過去的那些時代中獲利，而我——但我確實認為這是對的。我認為，您想在其他人擔心的地方投資，巴菲特系列，當然還有我們因此而看到的一些機會。你關於租金的觀點，增加的融資成本，增加的融資成本使其中一些變得困難。確實，在某些情況下，只是融資的完全可用性使得某些類型的交易難以進行，這表明在某些情況下，您可能希望已經綁定到現有的資本結構並利用債務中可能存在的折扣或您可能想做的事情，這完全是股權融資。我們有能力做任何一個，或者有做這兩個的經驗。

But I would note one more thing. The seller expectations are much slower to come around than buyers' expectations about how the landscape has changed pricing. And sellers are generally only seeking capital where they have to, where they're forced to, where they have debt obligations that push the issue. People who don't need financing are trying not to seek financing. So we'll see how that -- how long they can hold their breadth and what opportunities arise as sellers face the reality of a change marketplace.

但我還要注意一件事。與買家對環境如何改變定價的期望相比，賣家的期望要慢得多。賣家通常只在他們必須、被迫、有債務義務推動問題的地方尋求資金。不需要融資的人盡量不尋求融資。因此，我們將看到如何——他們能保持自己的廣度多久，以及當賣家面對變化市場的現實時會出現什麼機會。

And just to follow up on that point, if we don't yet see the fear in seller's eyes or blood on the streets, but that might be coming. I mean let's just argue that this is an environment where it makes sense for Liberty across your structures to start marshaling resources to be ready for when opportunities present. Is that something that's entering your mindset at this point?

只是為了跟進這一點，如果我們還沒有看到賣家眼中的恐懼或街頭的鮮血，但那可能即將到來。我的意思是，讓我們只是爭辯說，在這種環境中，Liberty 在您的結構中開始編組資源以便在機會出現時做好準備是有意義的。在這一點上，這是進入你心態的東西嗎？

Yes. I think you look and say, capital is more dear. The risk of not having it is higher and the opportunities that may be created by having it are better. So yes, I would say, that's a fair mindset.

是的。我想你看著說，資本更貴。沒有它的風險更高，而擁有它可能創造的機會更好。所以是的，我會說，這是一種公平的心態。

Our next question is from James Ratcliffe with Evercore ISI.

我們的下一個問題來自 Evercore ISI 的 James Ratcliffe。

One, Liberty Broadband specific and one so more cable in general. On Liberty Broadband, any color on what drives the A versus K buyback mix in a given quarter or period. Also I know you reached a deal with Dr. Malone to keep his ownership state from getting too high, if you buy back the As, but anything else we should be thinking about on that? And relatedly, I think you mentioned near-term obligations more color on that with the margin loan or something else? And secondly, just on cable and competition, thoughts on the how aggressively cable operators should respond to over builders, whether sort of do more to protect ARPU or kind of go scorched earth and say, we're not going to lose customers. And if there's going to be a transfer of value from us, it's going to go to the consumer rather than to a competitor.

一是特定於 Liberty Broadband 的電纜，另外還有一根電纜。在 Liberty Broadband 上，在給定季度或時期內驅動 A 與 K 回購組合的任何顏色。我還知道你與馬龍博士達成協議，如果你回購 As，他的所有權狀態不會變得太高，但我們還應該考慮其他什麼嗎？與此相關的是，我認為你提到了保證金貸款或其他方面的近期義務？其次，就有線電視和競爭而言，考慮有線電視運營商應該如何積極應對過度建設者，無論是採取更多措施來保護 ARPU 還是採取焦土政策，並說我們不會失去客戶。如果要從我們那裡轉移價值，它將流向消費者而不是競爭對手。

So on the -- like 3 questions. The first one on A versus Ks, we buy the low-cost security, which has tended to be the As. And now that we readily have the relationship you pointed out with Dr. Malone, where the vote is less of an issue. That's our focus. I'll let Ben Oren comment on the maturities.

所以關於 - 比如 3 個問題。關於 A 與 Ks 的第一個，我們購買低成本的證券，它往往是 As。現在我們很容易與你指出的與 Malone 博士的關係建立起來，在那裡投票不再是問題。這是我們的重點。我會讓 Ben Oren 對到期日發表評論。

Yes. And so again -- and also with respect to the As and Ks, the scale of our quarterly buyback is quite large. So we do have to cater somewhat to where there is liquidity. And we are sensitive to the fact that the more As we buy, despite the benefit from a dollar price perspective, we do risk storing liquidity there. So we want to be sensitive to that. And that's why you did see in the last quarter an emphasis on Ks. With respect to maturities, really, our only debt there is the exchangeables, which we feel very, very comfortable in our ability to refinance and the margin loan, which has tremendous support from a significant group of lenders. And so our ability to extend that is also pretty great. Margin loan and the convertible market in general is a, call it, 3- to 5-year type of maturity. And so you look for us to extend each of those obligations as we get closer to maturities.

是的。同樣，對於 As 和 Ks，我們的季度回購規模相當大。因此，我們確實必須在一定程度上迎合有流動性的地方。我們對這樣一個事實很敏感，即儘管從美元價格的角度來看有好處，但我們購買的越多，我們確實存在在那裡儲存流動性的風險。所以我們要對此保持敏感。這就是為什麼你在上個季度確實看到了對 Ks 的強調。關於到期日，實際上，我們唯一的債務是可交換債券，我們對我們的再融資能力和保證金貸款感到非常、非常滿意，這得到了大量貸方的大力支持。因此，我們擴展它的能力也非常強大。保證金貸款和可轉換市場一般來說是 3 到 5 年的期限。因此，您希望我們在接近到期日時延長每一項義務。

And addressing how cable competes, I'd say, the environment is actually likely to get better. You've seen fixed wireless gain quite a lot of share where they have capacity. I don't think that's an infinite amount of capacity. And you've seen a market where fiber overbuilders have been consistent grown a little bit over the last several quarters, but I actually think the environment for them because many of them are either still seeking equity capital or using debt capital will get more difficult. And also the competition and things that Charter is doing like its own overbuilds, we're competing for both labor and components that are being supplied.

關於有線電視的競爭方式，我想說，環境實際上可能會變得更好。您已經看到固定無線網絡在其有容量的地方獲得了相當多的份額。我不認為這是無限的容量。你已經看到一個市場，在過去的幾個季度裡，光纖過度建設者一直在持續增長，但我實際上認為他們的環境因為他們中的許多人仍在尋求股權資本或使用債務資本將變得更加困難。還有 Charter 正在做的競爭和事情，比如它自己的過度建設，我們正在爭奪正在提供的勞動力和組件。

So that market is likely to get tighter, not looser. So all of those, I think, actually make a better market condition on both sides, both the low end and the theoretical high-end fiber. The history of fiber overbuilders is not good. John Malone has talked to me about history that probably predates all of us about how many successful overbuilders there have been, and you'd have to look far and wide to find any. That doesn't mean they can't (expletive) up your market. And so I think being aggressive in offering value to consumers is probably the better strategy. And I think Charter is well aware of how to compete effectively in those markets.

因此，市場可能會變得更緊，而不是更松。所以我認為，所有這些實際上都為雙方創造了更好的市場條件，無論是低端光纖還是理論上的高端光纖。纖維過度建造者的歷史並不好。約翰·馬龍 (John Malone) 曾與我談論過關於有多少成功的過度建造者的歷史，這可能比我們所有人都早，而且您必須四處尋找才能找到任何一個。這並不意味著他們不能（咒罵）提升你的市場。因此，我認為積極為消費者提供價值可能是更好的策略。而且我認為查特很清楚如何在這些市場上有效競爭。

I'd also say one more thing, which is fiber overbuilders probably go after the low-hanging fruit, and that low-hanging fruit is several things. It's aerial versus -- the aerial fiber versus buried cables. It's higher density markets, both of which they probably attack for a while. And it also goes with places where there is far more DSL and low-hanging fruit in terms of the competition. So I think that probably all portends pretty well for Charter as well in terms of what the fiber risk is. It's there, and there will always be some leakage, but I don't think it's a growing risk in the near term.

我還要再說一件事，即纖維過度建造者可能會追求唾手可得的果實，而這種唾手可得的果實是幾件事。這是空中與 - 空中光纖與埋地電纜。這是更高密度的市場，他們可能會攻擊這兩個市場一段時間。就競爭而言，它還適用於有更多 DSL 和唾手可得的成果的地方。所以我認為，就光纖風險而言，這可能對 Charter 來說都是很好的預示。它就在那裡，總會有一些洩漏，但我認為短期內這不會增加風險。

Our final question is from Doug Mitchelson with Crédit Suisse.

我們的最後一個問題來自 Crédit Suisse 的 Doug Mitchelson。

So Liberty is pretty -- typically pretty smart at technology. I'm just curious your level of confidence with DOCSIS 4.0 cable plant can compete with fiber as it's built out further in your footprint. And then does the strategy for Liberty Broadband get impacted at all at Charter decides to go through an investment cycle next year, get more aggressive with rural buildouts, pull forward network upgrades. And I assume that lowers your stock buyback capacity. But as simple as that, that we just think about a flow-through? Or does it actually impact how you think about strategy for Liberty Broadband?

所以 Liberty 很漂亮——通常在技術方面非常聰明。我很好奇您對 DOCSIS 4.0 電纜設備的信心程度是否可以與光纖競爭，因為它在您的足跡中進一步擴大。然後，在 Charter 決定明年進行投資週期、更加積極地進行農村建設、推進網絡升級時，Liberty Broadband 的戰略是否會受到影響。我認為這會降低你的股票回購能力。但就這麼簡單，我們只考慮流程？或者它是否真的影響了您對 Liberty Broadband 戰略的看法？

So I'll take the second first. I think your analysis that it just means we have less and we buy back at a lower rate, it's probably the right analysis. We're fully involved. I'm on the finance committee, which looks at all of how they do their buybacks, what alternatives are out there, have looked at -- full Board has looked at the rates of return on many of these rural builds, and I think they're attractive opportunities. So we're certainly behind that. And as you rightly noted, it actually takes some pressure off our cost cap or our ownership cap rather.

所以我會先拿第二個。我認為你的分析只是意味著我們擁有的更少，我們以更低的價格回購，這可能是正確的分析。我們完全參與了。我是財務委員會的成員，該委員會負責研究他們如何進行回購，那裡有哪些替代方案，已經研究過——全體董事會已經研究了許多這些農村建築的回報率，我認為他們'有吸引力的機會。所以我們肯定是支持的。正如您正確指出的那樣，它實際上減輕了我們的成本上限或我們的所有權上限的壓力。

As far as DOCSIS 4.0, I think it's been a well-tested strategy. I think it will be very effective in fiber. I have to laugh because the bears have us saying that nobody needs capacity. Therefore, FWA is going to eat our lunch or alternatively, everybody needs capacity, therefore, fiber is going to eat our lunch, and there's no room for us. Obviously, I'm overstating to make the bear and bull case look less substantial than I think they are, but I think they're wrong on both of those fronts. Cable is well positioned, both with high split and eventually DOCSIS 4.0 to be very competitive in all sorts of markets. And I think we're confident in where the technological direction Charter is headed.

就 DOCSIS 4.0 而言，我認為這是一個經過充分測試的策略。我認為它對纖維非常有效。我不得不笑，因為熊讓我們說沒有人需要容量。因此，FWA 將吃掉我們的午餐，或者說，每個人都需要容量，因此，光纖將吃掉我們的午餐，而我們沒有空間。顯然，我誇大了熊市和牛市的情況看起來沒有我想像的那麼重要，但我認為他們在這兩個方面都是錯誤的。 Cable 定位良好，既有高分流，也有最終的 DOCSIS 4.0，在各種市場上都非常有競爭力。而且我認為我們對 Charter 的技術方向充滿信心。

So operator, with that, I think we're done. Thank you to our listening audience. As I said, we hope to see many of you in a couple of weeks in New York. And if not, I hope to speak to you on the next call, if not sooner. Thank you very much.

所以運營商，我想我們已經完成了。感謝我們的聽眾。正如我所說，我們希望在幾週後在紐約見到你們中的許多人。如果沒有，我希望在下一次電話中與您交談，如果不是更早的話。非常感謝。

Thank you. This does conclude today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and thank you for your participation.

謝謝你。今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開您的線路，感謝您的參與。