UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, ORLANDO, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES – 2019/07/18: Comcast sign logo in the wall of a building at Universal Studios. (Photo by Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Roberto Machado Noa | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Comcast will provide investors with an update on its broadband business when it reports third-quarter earnings on Thursday.
The company, like its cable peers, has been facing fraught competition from alternative internet providers like 5G, or so-called fixed wireless. Earlier this year the company outlined initiatives meant to drive broadband growth — the cornerstone of Comcast’s business.
Comcast’s stock is down roughly 30% in the last year as the company has reported broadband customer losses and executives have identified changes meant to address the stagnation.
Here’s what Wall Street expects Comcast to report on Thursday, according to LSEG:
Earnings per share: $1.10 expectedRevenue: $30.70 billion expected
The flattening of broadband growth has led Comcast and its fellow cable peers, like Charter Communications, to lean on their mobile businesses. In July Comcast said it reached 8.5 million mobile customers.
Outside of Comcast’s Xfinity-branded services like broadband, mobile and pay-TV, the company will report results for its NBCUniversal business, which includes the NBC broadcast network and streaming service Peacock.
This month the company began airing NBA coverage, kicking off the media rights deal that brought games back to NBC and introduced it to Peacock. In July, Mike Cavanagh, now co-CEO of Comcast, noted that the company would see the higher sports programming expense beginning in the fourth quarter.
Comcast is also nearing the end of the process to spin out its portfolio of cable TV networks, which includes CNBC, set to be completed by the end of the year.
Aside from the state of Comcast’s various businesses, investors will be interested to hear any updates or guidance regarding the company’s position on potential mergers and acquisitions in the near term.
Comcast has expressed interest in acquiring some or all of Warner Bros. Discovery’s assets, CNBC recently reported.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. Versant would become the new parent company of CNBC under the proposed spinoff.
