Comcast Tops Expectations

 

• Comcast third quarter revenue slipped 1.5% to $29.85 billion, compared with the prior-year quarter that included the Tokyo Olympics, beating analyst expectations.
• The company added 14,000 new broadband customers, a continued demonstration of the slowing broadband business growth among U.S. cable companies.
• Comcast reported that its Xfinity Mobile business now has 5 million customer lines.

Comcast on Thursday reported third-quarter earnings that beat analyst estimates, despite seeing revenue slightly decline and continued softness in broadband customer growth, reports CNBC.

Here’s how Comcast did in the third quarter of 2022 compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:

• Earnings per share: 96 cents, adjusted vs. 90 cents expected
• Revenue: $29.85 billion vs. $29.65 billion expected
• The company said it added 14,000 broadband customers during the third quarter – an improvement from the second quarter, when Comcast didn’t add any new customers for the first time ever. Still, it’s a sign that cable broadband providers are facing increased competition from telecom and wireless internet companies.  

Comcast’s revenue declined 1.5% to $29.85 billion compared with the same quarter last year, when the company’s NBCUniversal unit reaped more advertising dollars from airing the Tokyo Olympics on its TV networks. The company also recorded non-cash impairment charges related to its Sky business in the U.K. 

Its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 5.9% to $9.5 billion compared to the same period last year. 

Meanwhile, Comcast’s cable unit, which includes pay-TV, mobile and traditional phone services in addition to broadband, saw revenue increase 2.6% to $16.5 billion. The company said broadband revenue jumped 5.7% due to an increase in average rates and the number of its residential broadband customers. 

Its Xfinity Mobile business, which was launched five years ago and relies on Verizon’s wireless network, now has 5 million customer lines. 

Comcast lost 561,000 pay-TV customers, a continued quarterly decline that the company and its peers have been experiencing in recent years due to the rise of streaming services. 

Peacock, the company’s fledgling streaming service, surpassed 15 million paying customers, an increase of more than 70% year-to-date, the company Thursday. 

Revenue for the NBCUniversal unit dropped about 4% to $9.6 billion when compared to the same quarter last year, when the Tokyo Olympics took place and added $1.8 billion in revenue to the media segment. NBCUniversal’s media segment is comprised of its broadcast and cable TV networks and streaming. 

The company’s theme park business kept up its strong rebound since the early days of the covid-19 pandemic, when theme parks were shuttered. Revenue rose more than 40% to $2.1 billion as more people swarmed theme parks during the quarter.