Comcast Beats Q2 Earnings Forecast, Notes Falling NBCUniversal, Sky Revenues
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Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) - Get Report posted stronger-than-expected second quarter earnings Thursday, but noted falling revenues in both its NBCUniversal division and Sky television businesses.
Comcast said adjusted earnings for the three months ending in June came in at 78 cents per share, up 20% from the same period last year and 3 cents ahead of the Street consensus forecast. Group revenues, Comcast said, surged 23.6% to $26.86 billion but fell just shy of analysts' estimate of $27.19 billion.
Comcast's pace of adding new cable subscribers slowed notably, however, falling 23.4% from last year to 152,000 new customer relationships, while average revenues edged 0.3% higher to $156.44 each. NBCUniversal revenues slipped 0.8% to $8.21 billion, Comcast, said, while revenues from its Sky division, the U.K. broadcaster it purchased for $39 billion last year, fell 3.3% to $4.83 billion.
"I am very pleased with our terrific second quarter results and the continued, successful execution of our strategy. Each of our businesses demonstrated healthy growth in adjusted EBITDA, contributing to a double-digit increase in adjusted earnings per share," said CEO Brian Roberts. "Our company's consistent, profitable growth is fueled by our leading scale in direct customer relationships and premier content."
"We now have nearly 55 million high-value direct customer relationships, including the 456,000 net additions in the second quarter, and a vast library of intellectual property and new productions that are extremely popular across generations and geographies," he added. "Our teams throughout the company continue to collaborate to make themselves and each other even stronger, and I'm excited about our growth opportunities ahead."
Comcast shares were marked 3.5% lower in pre-market trading immediately following the earnings release to indicate an opening bell price of $43.30 each, a move that trims the stock's year-to-date gain to around 29%.