Comcast CEO Shoots Down Merger Rumors

Comcast Corp. CEO Brian Roberts on Thursday beat back rumors of Comcast exploring mergers or acquisitions to bolster NBCUniversal's Peacock streaming platform, reports The Philly Business Journal. 

Speaking during the company’s second-quarter earnings call, Roberts said he’s happy with the company Comcast is now and that the business has much more organic growth ahead. Comcast smashed 2Q earnings expectations behind big growth in broadband, international business with Sky, and theme parks that are profitable for the first time in more than a year.

The Philadelphia-based media giant reported revenue of $28.55 billion in the quarter, an increase of 20% year over year to beat the Zacks consensus estimate of $27.14 billion. Earnings per share were also much higher than analyst estimates — Comcast reported 84 cents per share, well over the Zacks consensus estimate of 67 cents per share. EPS was up 23% year over year, from 65 cents in the second quarter of 2020.

“I think [CFO] Mike Cavanagh has been very blunt that we don't need M&A,” Roberts said. “We have a majority broadband-centric company, and we like the mix.”

Roberts’ comments come after reports that Comcast considered major deals with MGM Studios or WarnerMedia — which have since entered agreements with competitors Amazon and Discovery, respectively. Talks of mergers and acquisitions picked up in recent weeks following media reports that Roberts met with ViacomCBS Chairwoman Shari Redstone and CEO Bob Bakish to discuss collaboration in streaming internationally or possibly spinning off NBCUniversal to merge with ViacomCBS. 

Comcast could consider a partnership to enhance its streaming position internationally, Roberts said, but the company has “all the parts” to scale Peacock.

Peacock added 12 million signups in the second quarter for a total of 54 million signups since its launch in April 2020, and more than 20 million of those are monthly active accounts.

Roberts also confirmed that Peacock will head overseas to Europe later this year. The company will employ a strategy similar to its domestic Peacock launch that integrated the streaming service into Xfinity’s X1 and Flex platforms to drive brand awareness, he said.