Comcast Exceeds Expectations

Shares of Comcast slipped as much as 8% in pre-market trading on Thursday despite beating Wall Street expectations for its third quarter of 2023.

The Wrap reports the media conglomerate reported adjusted net income of $4.48 billion, or earnings of $1.08 per share, up 6.2% and 12.5% year over year, respectively. Total revenue grew 0.9% year over year to $30.1 billion. Analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research were expecting earnings of 94 cents per share on revenue of $29.64 billion.

Peacock, which added 4 million paid subscribers during the quarter, posted revenue of $830 million, up 64% year over year compared to $506 million a year ago. Meanwhile, the streamer’s adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed to $565 million, compared to $614 million a year ago. The company expects Peacock to hit peak losses of $2.8 billion in 2023, down from previous guidance of peak losses of $3 billion, and “meaningful EBITDA improvement” in 2024.

It wasn’t all great news, however, as revenue in the Studios segment dropped 25% year over year thanks to a dismal film output (“Oppenheimer” aside) and the Hollywood strikes. The company also shed 18,000 domestic broadband customers and domestic advertising revenue fell 8% year over year.

In its Content & Experiences segment, which includes media, studios and theme parks, adjusted EBITDA grew 10.2% to $1.97 billion, driven by theme parks and moderating Peacock losses, and revenue grew 0.8% year over year to $10.6 billion. Adjusted EBITDA in the Media division grew 6.5% year over year to $723 million, while revenue grew 0.4% year over year to $6.03 billion. However, domestic advertising revenue fell 8.4% year over year to 1.91 billion, domestic distribution revenue grew 3.8% year over year to $2.59 billion and international networks revenue grew 16.9% to $1.02 billion.

In its Theme Parks segment, a highlight for the company, adjusted EBITDA grew 20% year over year to $983 million, its highest on record, while revenue climbed 17.2% year over year to $2.4 billion. Revenue growth was driven by higher revenue at its international theme parks, which had COVID-19 related restrictions in the prior year period, and higher revenue at its domestic theme parks, including Universal Studios Hollywood due to the continued success of Super Nintendo World, partially offset by lower revenue at its Orlando theme park which continued to be above comparable pre-pandemic 2019 levels.