Quick Summary
- Comcast delivered adjusted Q1 EPS of $0.79, surpassing the $0.73 analyst consensus
- Total revenue reached $31.46 billion, exceeding the $30.43 billion estimate
- Domestic broadband subscriber losses improved to just 65,000 versus expectations of 173,700
- Wireless service gained 435,000 new customers, pushing total mobile subscribers to 9.7 million
- NBCUniversal saw revenue climb approximately 61% thanks to the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics
Comcast delivered first-quarter financial results on Thursday that exceeded analyst projections across key metrics. Shares rallied as much as 8.2% during premarket hours, touching $31.77.
The cable and media giant posted adjusted earnings of $0.79 per share, comfortably beating the Street’s $0.73 estimate. Total revenue increased 5.3% from the prior year to $31.46 billion, outpacing the $30.43 billion consensus forecast.
Net profit declined nearly 36% to $2.17 billion, translating to $0.60 per share. The decrease stems from elevated expenses related to sports broadcasting rights and Winter Olympics production costs. Adjusted EBITDA decreased roughly 17% to $7.93 billion.
The broadband subscriber metric drew intense scrutiny from market participants. Comcast reported a loss of only 65,000 residential broadband subscribers during the three-month period. This marks a substantial improvement compared to the 183,000 customer defections in the equivalent quarter last year, and significantly outperformed Wall Street’s projection of 173,700 losses.
The connectivity and platforms division — encompassing Xfinity broadband, traditional cable television, and wireless services — continues generating the strongest margins. Segment revenue declined modestly by 2% to $17.32 billion, though the dramatically reduced subscriber attrition rate encouraged investors.
The telecommunications giant has mounted an aggressive response to encroachment from wireless carriers including Verizon and T-Mobile, introducing more attractive pricing structures throughout the previous twelve months.
Cable television subscriber losses also showed improvement. Comcast lost 322,000 video customers during the quarter, down from 427,000 departures in the year-earlier period.
Wireless operations delivered strong performance. The division added 435,000 new mobile connections in the quarter, expanding the total customer base to 9.7 million.
NBCUniversal’s “Legendary February”
NBCUniversal experienced an exceptional quarter. Comcast described the period as “Legendary February,” highlighting that the Super Bowl, Winter Olympics, and NBA All-Star Weekend all occurred within the same timeframe.
The media division registered a 61% revenue increase to $7.28 billion. Even excluding the Olympics and Super Bowl impact, organic growth reached 13%.
Domestic advertising income for the media business skyrocketed 135% to $3.45 billion. NBC commanded an average price of $8 million for each 30-second commercial slot during the Super Bowl broadcast, according to CNBC reporting.
Peacock continued expanding its subscriber footprint. The streaming platform grew 12% year-over-year to 46 million subscribers, with revenue nearly doubling to $2.1 billion. Despite the growth, the streaming service recorded a quarterly loss of $432 million, wider than the $215 million deficit from the previous year, attributed to increased sports programming expenses.
Studios and Theme Parks Show Solid Growth
Beyond broadcasting, Comcast’s entertainment divisions also delivered positive results. Film studio revenue increased 21% to $3.43 billion.
Universal theme park revenue jumped 24% to $2.33 billion. The parks division benefited from Epic Universe, which launched last May.
The company has scheduled its quarterly earnings conference call for 8:30 a.m. ET on Thursday.
