Telecom
Comcast's (CMCSA) finance chief says economic softness was underway in the third quarter of last year.
Speaking to investors at the Citigroup Entertainment, Media and Telecom conference in Phoenix Wednesday, Comcast CFO Mike Angelakis echoed recent comments from AT&T (T), saying the weakening economy has hurt its business. "We did see some softness in the third and fourth quarter," Angelakis said in the question-and-answer portion of the presentation Wednesday. He said that Comcast has some "pretty tough markets where there are a lot of foreclosures," but added that overall, the business is still growing. On Tuesday, AT&T chief Randall Stephenson set off some alarm bells by describing the telecom giant's consumer business as soft. The timing of a consumer spending slowdown comes as the top triple play players are now facing increased video competition from satellite companies like EchoStar (DISH) and DirecTV (DTV) as well as a big video push by Verizon (VZ). Comcast's Angelakis said the company has tried to stem some of its customer defections by offering a lower-priced cable modem service that would rival the telco's entry-level DSL product. Another area of vulnerability for Comcast is the strong demand for high-definition video to run on new flat-panel TVs. Big high-def marketing pushes by DirecTV effectively undercut Comcast's premium video service growth leading in part to successive earnings shortfall warnings late last year.TheStreet Premium Services
Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS:
Trade right alongside a Wall Street pro — enjoy access to his Charitable Trust portfolio and be sent trade alerts BEFORE he makes a move. Learn MoreOptionsProfits:
Get 50+ trade ideas a week from the industry's top options experts. Plus — exclusive commentary on market trends and essential trading tools. Learn MoreReal Money:
Our team of professional Wall Street Pros — including Jim Cramer, Doug Kass, and Nicholas Vardy — delivers intelligent analysis, timely trade ideas, and colorful commentary. Learn MoreStocks Under $10:
Break into the market with small- and mid-cap stocks... all $10 or less! David Peltier tells you exactly which low-priced stocks he's buying and selling. Learn MoreTo begin commenting right away, you can log in below using your Disqus, Facebook, Twitter, OpenID or Yahoo login credentials. Alternatively, you can post a comment as a "guest" just by entering an email address. Your use of the commenting tool is subject to multiple terms of service/use and privacy policies - see here for more details.
blog comments powered by Disqus
| Dow Jones | S&P 500 | NASDAQ | 10-Year Note |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12,393.45 | 1,310.33 | 2,827.34 | 15.81 |
Oil *
101.78
|
|
DOWN
26.41 |
DOWN
2.99 |
DOWN
10.02 |
DOWN
0.44 |
10 Yr
1.58%
SPDR Gold
151.62
|
|
-0.21%
|
-0.23%
|
-0.35%
|
-2.71%
|
Data delayed 20 minutes |


Connect with TheStreet