Comcast beats revenue, earnings expectations as broadband losses improve

Comcast topped Wall Street's revenue and earnings estimates for the first quarter on Thursday, lifted by NBC's sports slate in February and improving broadband customer losses. 

The company said it lost 65,000 broadband customers compared with 183,000 losses in the same period last year. Heightened competition from wireless providers like Verizon and T-Mobile has led to quarterly customer losses for Comcast and its cable peers in recent years – which has weighed on these companies' stocks in particular. 

In response, Comcast in the last year has shifted its strategy and introduced more competitive pricing packages in a bid to reduce the broadband losses. The company has also leaned on its mobile business for growth, which added 435,000 new lines during the quarter. In total, Comcast now has 9.7 million mobile customers. 

The company also reported 322,000 cable TV customer losses – fewer than the 427,000 in the same period last year. 

Revenue for Comcast's connectivity and platforms unit, which includes its Xfinity-branded broadband, cable TV, and mobile businesses, decreased 2% to $17.32 billion. 

The company's stock climbed as much as 8% in premarket trading.

Here's how Comcast performed for the period compared with average analyst estimates, according to LSEG:

Comcast's net income fell nearly 36% to $2.17 billion, or 60 cents per share, compared to $3.38 billion, or 89 cents a share, during the same period last year. Adjusting for one-time items including amortization and investments, Comcast reported earnings per share of $0.79. 

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization were down roughly 17% to $7.93 billion. 

Comcast's overall revenue increased roughly 5% to $31.46 billion for the quarter. 

Revenue got a boost from Comcast's NBCUniversal, which aired a slate of sports – including the Super Bowl, Winter Olympics and NBA All-Star Weekend, during the quarter – that the company coined as "Legendary February." 

The media business, which is made up of NBCUniversal, recorded a nearly 61% increase in revenue to $7.28 billion during the quarter. Excluding the Olympics and Super Bowl – which provided significant boosts to advertising sales – revenue for the unit was up about 13%.

Live sports remains the highest rated programming on traditional TV and streaming, and beckon the most advertising dollars. The Super Bowl, in particular, breaks records annually when it comes to its pricey commercial spots. NBC received an average $8 million per 30-second ad, CNBC reported. 

Domestic advertising for the media unit was up 135% to $3.45 billion for the quarter. Excluding the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics, it was up 4.7% to $1.54 billion. 

NBC's sports roster also helped lift streaming service Peacock during the quarter. Peacock subscribers increased 12% year over year to 46 million. Peacock nearly doubled revenue to $2.1 billion compared to the same period last year. The streamer recorded a quarterly loss of $432 million compared to a loss of $215 million in the prior year period. 

Adjusted EBITDA for the media segment decreased to a loss of $426 billion due to higher operating expenses related to the costs associated with the Winter Olympics and Super Bowl, as well as the cost of the NBA rights. 

NBCUniversal is part of the overall content and experiences segment, which also includes the film studio and theme parks – each of which saw sales climb year-over-year. 

Revenue for the film studio was up 21% to $3.43 billion, while Universal theme parks revenue increased 24% to $2.33 billion. The theme parks were boosted by the opening of Epic Universe last May.