During the summer, the company's film and wireless phone sales business also performed well; due to reduced subsidies, the company lost some internet customers.
According to the Futurewealth Finance APP, the leader in the cable television, telecommunications, and entertainment industry in the USA, Comcast (CMCSA.US), released its third-quarter performance report. The company's third-quarter overall revenue and profit data exceeded analysts' general expectations. Previously, the company's NBC media business division received a revenue boost from the summer Olympics, generating up to 1.4 billion USD in advertising revenue. During the summer, the company's film and wireless phone sales business also performed well, but due to reduced subsidies, the company lost some internet customers.
Comcast is a leading internet and cable television service provider in the USA, with the brand Xfinity, offering high-speed internet, wireless phone services, mobile communication, and home security communication solutions. It is one of the largest cable television operators in the USA and one of the major Internet service providers (ISPs).
Comcast also owns NBCUniversal, a globally renowned large media company, covering television network areas (such as NBC, Telemundo), cable television channels (such as USA Network, Syfy), movie studios (such as Universal Pictures), and theme parks (such as Universal Studios). In addition, Comcast has launched the Peacock streaming platform in the streaming field, providing diverse online streaming content to compete with Netflix and Disney.
Comcast's quarterly performance released on Thursday showed that the company's third-quarter overall revenue increased by 6.5% year-on-year, reaching 32.1 billion USD, exceeding the general estimate of about 31.7 billion USD by Wall Street analysts. Adjusted earnings per share increased to 1.12 USD, surpassing analysts' general expectation of 1.06 USD and also higher than the 1.08 USD from the same period last year. Boosted by the better-than-expected performance, the stock surged more than 6% in pre-market trading in New York.
Other key performance indicators of the company also exceeded expectations, including Comcast promoting Olympic live broadcast services on its TV networks and Peacock streaming service, while reducing the scale of loss of internet and cable television customers.
The company's adjusted EBITDA profit in the third quarter decreased slightly by 2.3% year-on-year to 9.74 billion USD; while the adjusted net income was about 4.337 billion USD, down slightly by 3.3% year-on-year.
After the overall low television ratings of the Olympics held in Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro, the Paris Summer Olympics brought a huge success in ratings for NBC under Comcast. The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics attracted over 28.6 million viewers, the largest audience since the 2012 London Olympics. NBC also focused on young influencers to attract new viewers and reignite Americans' interest in the Olympics.
Comcast's Peacock streaming service, under the Comcast umbrella, added approximately 3 million new customers in the third quarter, bringing its total customer base to 36 million, thanks to the Olympics and exclusive NFL games held in Brazil. However, the streaming service under Comcast incurred a loss of approximately 0.436 billion dollars in the third quarter, lower than the consensus among Wall Street analysts. Comcast's media division as a whole saw a significant revenue increase of 37%, reaching 8.23 billion dollars.
Driven by the success of summer films 'Twister' and 'Despicable Me 4', Comcast's film and television studio business revenue grew by approximately 12%, reaching 2.83 billion dollars. Sales and profits of Comcast's theme parks declined amidst an overall slowdown in the industry.
Comcast continues to lose broadband users. The company lost up to 87,000 internet customers, with most losses attributed to the formal end of the federal government subsidy program 'Affordable Connectivity Program'. Comcast stated that without the subsidy program's impact, its broadband customers actually increased by 9,000.
The company lost approximately 0.365 million cable TV subscribers, reflecting a continued trend of consumers shifting to streaming services. Comcast is accelerating its adaptation to this trend by promoting its streaming service Peacock. Revenue related to wireless phone plans remains a bright spot in Comcast's performance, adding about 0.319 million new customer lines.