Comcast Shares Tumble as Broadband-Subscriber Losses Widen

Comcast Corp. shares fell as much as 9.9% to their lowest in more than two years after the company reported fourth-quarter revenue and profit that beat Wall Street’s expectations but subscriber losses in its broadband unit raised concerns among investors. 

The Philadelphia-based company shed 139,000 broadband customers in the quarter and 311,000 video subscribers. The cable industry has struggled amid the rise of streaming services and consumers’ desire to cancel pay-TV subscriptions.

Speaking about the broadband market on an investor call after the results were announced, President Michael Cavanagh said “competitive conditions remain intense.” He added that there were “no signs of this changing in the near term.”

Sales in the fourth quarter rose 2% to $31.9 billion, exceeding analysts’ estimates for $31.6 billion. Earnings of 96 cents per share, after adjustments, beat consensus forecasts for 86 cents.

Shares were down 9.3% to $33.87 at 9:44 a.m. in New York. 

Comcast’s own streaming service, Peacock, saw revenue increase 28% to $1.3 billion in the quarter. The platform had 36 million subscribers, missing analysts’ estimates for 38 million. Losses fell by more than half to $372 million. Rivals like Walt Disney Co. and Paramount Global have already achieved profitability in streaming.

Comcast plans to spin off some of its cable networks, including MSNBC, CNBC and the USA Network. The company will retain Peacock and NBC News, among other media assets.

“Peacock is finding out that it’s expensive to compete in the streaming wars and gains are becoming more difficult to come by,” said Emarketer Senior Analyst Ross Benes. “As cord-cutting continues unabated, the decision to sell off TV networks continues to make sense, but buyer prospects of these assets will be limited.”

Comcast’s Universal Pictures released Wicked  in November, and the film quickly became a major hit, breaking records as the highest-grossing movie adaptation of a Broadway musical. Studio revenue jumped 7% to $3.3 billion in the quarter. 

The company’s Universal Studios theme parks business reported flat sales and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $838 million, both ahead of analysts’ projections. That business had been experiencing a slowdown as consumers moved on to other types of vacations, and many await the May opening of Universal Epic Universe, a new theme park in Florida.