Comcast sees Q3 boost from theme parks, but broadband disappoints

Cindy Ord/Getty Images Entertainment

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) reported third-quarter results on Thursday that topped expectations, aided by a boost from its theme parks though it saw an unexpected decline in broadband subscribers.

For the period ending September 30, Comcast earned an adjusted $1.08 per share as revenue ticked up 0.9% year-over-year to $30.11B. Analysts had expected adjusted earnings of 95 cents per share and $29.71B in revenue.

During the quarter, Comcast (CMCSA) said adjusted EBITDA for its Parks segment rose 20% to $983M, its highest adjusted EBITDA ever. It lost 18,000 broadband customers during the period, though the average rate per customer increased 3.9% and resulted in 3.8% growth for its domestic broadband segment.

Total adjusted EBITDA for the quarter rose 5.1% to $10B, while free cash flow clocked in at $4B.

Comcast (CMCSA) shares fell more than 7% in pre-market trading on Thursday amid the broadband weakness.

Amid the weakness in broadband, Comcast (CMCSA) also continued to see a downturn in video subscribers, losing 561,000 during the quarter, as more people continue to do away with cable. It ended the period with 14.495M video subscribers.

The company’s streaming service, Peacock, “materially improved” on a year-over-year basis, according to Chief Executive Officer Brian Roberts, who touted that paid subscribers and financial metrics for the service rose on both a year-over-year and sequential basis. It ended the period with 28M paid subscribers, including a gain of 4M during the quarter.

Revenue for the segment came in at $830M, below the analyst estimate of $858.3M, while the adjusted EBITDA loss for Peacock was $565M, better than the $731.8M loss that analysts had anticipated.

Comcast (CMCSA) also touted the success of its Christopher Nolan-directed biopic, Oppenheimer, which has grossed more than $940M at the box office to date. It is the third-highest grossing movie of the year, behind Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) Barbie and Illumination’s (CMCSA) The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which helped drive Comcast’s results last quarter.

Philadelphia-based Comcast (CMCSA) added that it returned $4.7B to shareholders in the form of dividends and buybacks during the quarter, including $1.2B in dividend payments.

Comcast (CMCSA) is slated to host a conference call at 8:30 a.m. EST to discuss the results.

A previous version of this story reported that Comcast added 18,000 broadband subscribers during the period. It lost 18,000 subscribers.