Comcast Corp. shares
CMCSA,
were rising in premarket trading Thursday after the company beat on fourth-quarter earnings expectations despite another sluggish quarter for its broadband business. The company recorded net income of $3.02 billion, or 70 cents a share, compared with $3.06 billion, or 66 cents a share, in the year-before quarter. On an adjusted basis, Comcast earned 82 cents a share, up from 77 cents a share a year before and ahead of the FactSet consensus, which was for 78 cents. Revenue increased to $30.55 billion from $30.34 billion, while analysts were looking for $30.35 billion. “Importantly, we achieved these results while continuing to invest in broadband, our 10G network evolution, Xfinity Mobile, Peacock, and theme parks, and we also took cost actions to further our growth in the future,” Chief Executive Brian Roberts said in a release. Comcast logged $16.6 billion in cable communications revenue for the fourth quarter, up from $16.4 billion a year before. The company saw total broadband customer losses of 26,000 but said it estimated it would have seen net additions of 4,000 when excluding negative impacts from Hurricane Ian. The cable business added 365,000 wireless lines during the quarter. NBC Universal revenue rose to $9.9 billion from $9.3 billion, while revenue for the Sky pay-TV unit was down to $4.4 billion from $5.1 billion, though Comcast suggested that Sky’s decline was largely due to currency impacts.
