Comcast surpassed first-quarter expectations on Thursday even as the company lost broadband customers amid heightened competition.
While domestic broadband revenue was up 1.7% to $6.56 billion, Comcast lost 199,000 total domestic broadband customers, reflecting the continued pressure on the cable giant’s cornerstone business. Competition has ramped up in recent years due to the rise of alternative home internet options, including 5G, or so-called fixed wireless.
Comcast shares were down about 3% in premarket trading.
Meanwhile Comcast’s less-than-10-years-old mobile business remained a bright spot during the quarter. Revenue for the unit was up roughly 16% to $1.12 billion, and it added 323,000 lines. There are now roughly 8.15 million total Xfinity Mobile lines.
During last quarter’s earnings call, Comcast executives alerted investors they would shift the company’s focus to growing its mobile business following continued losses in broadband. Since then Comcast has introduced changes to its mobile plans and pricing, and made a new hire.
Comcast reported 427,000 cable TV customer losses during the quarter as the traditional bundle continues to bleed customers. Comcast provides its broadband, mobile and pay-TV services under the Xfinity brand.
Here is how Comcast performed for the period ended March 31, compared with estimates from analysts surveyed by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: $1.09 adjusted vs. 98 cents expected
- Revenue: $29.89 billion vs. $29.77 billion expected
For the first quarter, Comcast’s net income was down 12.5% to $3.38 billion, or 89 cents a share, compared with $3.86 billion, or 97 cents per share during the same period a year earlier. Adjusting for one-time items including income tax expenses and costs related to the value of assets, among other items, Comcast reported earnings per share of $1.09.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, was up nearly 2% to $9.53 billion.
The company’s revenue was down slightly to $29.89 billion compared to $30.06 billion in the same period in 2024.
Revenue was helped by what Comcast refers to as its “growth businesses,” including mobile, streaming platform Peacock, the business services unit, residential broadband, studios and theme parks. Comcast is in the process of spinning out its portfolio of cable networks, including CNBC, in a transaction that’s expected to be completed this year.
Revenue for the media segment, which includes NBCUniversal, was up about 1% to $6.44 billion, and revenue in the film studios unit was up 3% to $2.83 billion.
The media unit got a boost from Peacock, with adjusted EBITDA for the segment up 21% to $1 billion driven by the streaming platform. Revenue for Peacock itself was up 16%. The streamer’s quarterly loss narrowed to $215 million, compared with a loss of $639 million in the same quarter a year prior.
Peacock had 41 million paid subscribers, beating analyst estimates of 37.21 million for the quarter, according to StreetAccount. Peacock ended last fiscal year with 36 million paid customers.
Competitors including Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery have each seen their streaming platforms reach profitability in recent quarters. Streamers have shifted gears to focusing on ad-supported business models and cracking down on password sharing in a bid to reach profitability as Wall Street investors shifted focus to the metric rather than subscriber additions.
NBCUniversal’s theme parks revenue was down 5% to roughly $1.88 billion – driven by lower guest attendance during a quarter plagued by the Los Angeles wildfires – weighing down the overall business.
The company is gearing up for the debut of Universal Epic Universe on May 22, which will be the first major theme park development in Florida in 25 years. In Thursday’s release, Comcast called the new theme park its “most ambitious parks experience ever created,” with more than 50 attractions.
In August it will also open Universal Horror Unleashed in Las Vegas. NBCUniversal also recently announced plans to build a Universal Theme Park and Resort in the U.K.
Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.
