Comcast Earnings Top Analyst Estimates Despite Broadband Customer Losses

KEY POINTS

• Comcast reported second-quarter earnings before the bell on Thursday. 

• The cable giant surpassed Wall Street expectations for its earnings. 

• Still, Comcast reported a loss of 226,000 total domestic broadband customers, following peer Charter Communications’ second-quarter report last week.

Comcast beat Wall Street estimates on Thursday for second-quarter earnings and revenue. Yet the company saw a loss of broadband customers even as it pivoted its market strategy for the segmen.

Comcast and its cable peers have been suffering from a slowdown in broadband growth, which has impacted company stocks. Comcast stock was slightly down in premarket trading. 

Here’s how Comcast did in its second quarter compared with Wall Street estimated, according to LSEG:

• Earnings per share: $1.25 adjusted vs. $1.18 expected

• Revenue: $30.31 billion vs. $29.81 billion expected

Revenue of $30.31 billion was a 2% increase year over year. 

For the second quarter, the company’s net income took a leap due to the sale of its stake in streaming service Hulu to Disney. As a result, net income was $11.12 billion, or $2.98 a share, compared with $3.93 billion, or $1 a share, in the same period last year. Adjusting for one-time items, including that Hulu sale, Comcast reported earnings of $1.25 per share. 

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, were up 1% to $10.28 billion. 

Revenue for Comcast’s connectivity and platforms business, which includes the Xfinity-branded broadband, mobile, pay TV and other services, totaled $20.39 billion, up nearly 1% from the same period last year. 

The company lost 226,000 total broadband customers during the quarter – the majority of which came from its residential customers. Comcast recently pivoted its broadband strategy – including new pricing plans – to address the continued industry woes and heightened competition from alternative providers like 5G, or so-called fixed wireless.

Meanwhile, Comcast added a record 378,000 mobile customers, bringing its total lines to 8.5 million, or 14% penetration of its broadband customers. Comcast and rival Charter have been leaning on their mobile businesses for growth.

The loss of pay TV customers continued for Comcast, with 325,000 dropping the bundle during the quarter.

The company’s content and experiences business – which includes NBCUniversal, its film studios and theme parks – saw revenue rise 5.6% to $10.63 billion.

In particular revenue for the film studios was up 8% to $2.43 billion – lifted by the release of “How to Train Your Dragon,” which debuted in June and has taken in more than $600 million at the global box office so far.