Brian Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Comcast
David A. Grogan | CNBC
Comcast reported third-quarter earnings results before the bell Thursday that beat analyst expectations on the top and bottom line. The company saw slight growth in new broadband internet customers amid warnings from company executives.
Shares are up about more than 2% premarket
Here’s what Comcast reported compared to analyst expectations:
- Earnings: $0.87 per share, adjusted, vs. $0.75 per share as expected by analysts according to Refinitiv
- Revenue: $30.30 billion, vs. $29.87 billion as analysts expected according to Refinitiv
- High-speed internet customers: 300,000 net additions, vs. 296,000 as analysts expected according to StreetAccount
Comcast added 300,000 new high-speed internet subscribers during the third quarter. The company reported 354,000 new high-speed internet customers during the second quarter, a record gain for that period, and 633,000 new customers during the year-ago quarter.
Comcast CFO Michael Cavanagh warned in September that the company expects lower broadband additions, a move that briefly sent the company’s stock down. Analysts have adjusted their forecasts.
Sign-ups for NBCUniversal’s Peacock is another metric analysts are watching. During the year-ago quarter the platform had 22 million sign-ups and 54 million as of July. Comcast did not share updated sign-ups for Peacock. The streaming service offers both paid and free options to customers.
Third-quarter metrics indicated 19% year-over-year growth. Analysts expected 17% year-over-year revenue growth, according to Refinitiv.
NBCUniversal saw roughly 58% revenue growth in the third quarter, which excluded the more than $1.8 billion in revenue from the Tokyo Olympics. Studio revenue increased 27%, which the company attributed to releases like “F9” and “The Boss Baby: Family Business.”
In the year-ago quarter, the company saw revenue for that segment fall by 25% as Covid-19 impacted productions
Theme park revenue reached $1.4 billion in the third quarter as lockdowns eased up nationwide. Those businesses were largely closed or under strict reopening guidelines during the year-ago quarter.
Revenue from the company’s Europe-based Sky division was up 4.1%, but customer relationships dropped by 233,000 to 23 million. The company attributed that decrease to reduced broadcasting rights to Serie A, a league competition for the top football clubs in Italy.
Executives will discuss the results and issue guidance on a conference call starting at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Disclosure: Comcast is the owner of NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.
This story is developing.
