Comcast Tops Q4 Estimates Despite Loss of Broadband Subscribers
Comcast reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street’s expectations, despite losing more broadband subscribers than expected and having its paid streaming service, Peacock, grow at a slower rate.
The company lost 139,000 residential broadband customers in the quarter, more than the 100,000 losses forecast by Comcast Cable CEO Dave Watson. Comcast President Mike Cavanagh called the losses “disappointing and worse than what we indicated in early December.”
Peacock had 36 million subscribers at the end of the quarter, up year over year but flat from the prior period. Wall Street had expected total paid subscribers of 37.56 million.
Comcast’s adjusted earnings per share of 96 cents beat analysts’ estimates of 86 cents, while revenue of $31.92 billion was above the expected $31.64 billion. The company’s net income rose 47% to $4.78 billion, or $1.24 per share.
The company’s mobile business, which was launched in 2017, surpassed 7.8 million subscribers, and revenue from the unit helped drive overall residential connectivity revenue.
Comcast’s focus will shift to the mobile business as it tries to add more lines and bundle it with broadband. The company will “put the pedal down” on the mobile effort in the second quarter, Watson said.
The company’s Content and Experiences business, which includes NBCUniversal’s TV networks and streaming, the film studio, and theme parks, saw a 5% increase in revenue to $12.08 billion. The media segment’s revenue was up 3.5% to $7.22 billion, driven by higher revenue for Peacock due to an uptick in paid subscribers.
Peacock reported $1.3 billion in revenue and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $372 million, compared with $1 billion in revenue and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $825 million in the same period last year.