Comcast Revenue Dragged Down by Parks, Studios

Comcast Corp. reported second-quarter revenue that missed analysts’ estimates, dragged down by a slower season at its movie studios and theme parks.

Revenue fell 2.7% to $29.7 billion, the company said in a statement Monday, missing the $30 billion average of analysts’ projections. 

Revenue for the Universal Pictures studio, in particular, fell 27% to $2.25 billion, facing a tough comparison to last year, when “Super Mario Bros.” and “Fast X” were released, one of Comcast’s best theatrical quarters ever. Comcast is looking ahead to the rest of the year’s film slate, including this summer’s box office success “Despicable Me 4,” and “Twisters,” and the upcoming “Wicked” release in November.

Meanwhile, theme park revenue dropped nearly 11% to $1.98 billion as attendance normalized compared to record-setting 2023.

However, NBCUniversal’s TV business offset the segment, posting $6.32 billion in revenue, up 2% from last year.

NBCUniversal’s answer to streaming, Peacock, remained a bright spot for the company. The streamer posted its best year-over-year improvement, with paid subscribers increasing 38% to 33 million. Revenue for the streamer increased 28% to $1 billion.

Peacock also boosted the media segment’s adjusted EBITDA, which was up 9% to $1.36 billion.

Losses related to Peacock were $348 million, a significant improvement from losses of $651 million in the same period last year.

Comcast, similar to its cable peers, continued to feel pressure in the broadband segment. The company said it lost 110,000 residential broadband customers during the quarter.

Revenue for the segment that includes the Xfinity-branded broadband, cable TV and mobile fell 1.5% to $17.82 billion due to further decreases in the cable TV business. Comcast shed 419,000 cable TV customers during the quarter.

However, revenue for domestic broadband grew 3% to $6.57 billion due to price increases.