Comcast Beats Estimates Despite Losing Broadband and Pay TV Customers

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, ORLANDO, Florida — Comcast reported its third quarter earnings on Thursday, surpassing Wall Street estimates but facing challenges in its broadband unit. The company lost 104,000 domestic broadband customers during the quarter, contributing to its total subscriber base of approximately 31.4 million. This marks the fourth consecutive quarter of losses in broadband customers.

Despite the declines, Comcast’s net income decreased only slightly, by 8%, to $3.33 billion, or 90 cents per share. In contrast, the revenue for the quarter fell nearly 3% to $31.2 billion, compared to $32.1 billion from the same period last year. CFO Jason Armstrong expressed concerns about the competitive nature of the broadband market.

“The broadband environment remains intensely competitive,” said Armstrong during the earnings call. Moving forward, Comcast will implement new strategies to focus on customer retention amid increased competition from 5G providers.

Along with the disappointing broadband results, the company reported a loss of 257,000 domestic pay TV customers, resulting in a total of 11.5 million. This decline, however, is an improvement compared to the previous year’s loss of 365,000 customers.

On a brighter note, Comcast added 414,000 mobile customers, bringing its total to 8.9 million. “We are making steady progress as we reposition the company for long-term growth,” said CEO Brian Roberts.

During the earnings call, Comcast also announced the upcoming leadership change, where Steve Croney will succeed Dave Watson as CEO of the Connectivity & Platforms division. Watson will transition to a vice chairman role, effective 2026.

The company’s media division, which includes NBCUniversal, posted a revenue of $6.6 billion, down almost 20% during the period. However, adjusting for the impact of the Summer Olympics held last year, the revenue would reflect a modest increase.

As the company prepares for the planned spin-off of its cable network assets into a new entity called Versant, the results illustrate both the challenges it faces and the areas of growth it can capitalize on.

Shares of Comcast fell about 9% in premarket trading following the earnings announcement.