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If You Invested $1000 in Comcast a Decade Ago, This is How Much It'd Be Worth Now

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How much a stock's price changes over time is important for most investors, since price performance can both impact your investment portfolio and help you compare investment results across sectors and industries.

FOMO, or the fear of missing out, also plays a role in investing, particularly with tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.

What if you'd invested in Comcast (CMCSA - Free Report) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to CMCSA for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?

Comcast's Business In-Depth

With that in mind, let's take a look at Comcast's main business drivers.

Comcast Corporation is a global media and technology company with three primary businesses: Comcast Cable, NBCUniversal and Sky.

The Philadelphia, PA-based company reported revenues of $103.56 billion in 2020. The company reports in three revenue generating segments:

Cable Communications (58% of total revenues): It consists of the operations of Comcast Cable. This segment offers broadband, video, voice and wireless in the United States individually and as bundled services at a discounted rate over its cable distribution system to residential and business customers.

Cable Communications generates revenues primarily from residential and business customers that subscribe to Comcast’s cable services and from the sale of advertising. The company also offers a wireless phone service (Xfinity Mobile brand) as a component of itsbundled services, which is reported in Corporate and Other.

NBCUniversal Segment (27.1% of total revenues): This segment comprises four reportable segments – Cable Networks, Broadcast Television, Filmed Entertainment and Theme Parks.

Cable Networks consists primarily of Comcast’s national cable networks. Broadcast Television comprises NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks.

Filmed Entertainment consists primarily of the operations of Universal Pictures. Films are also produced under the Illumination, DreamWorks Animation and Focus Features brands.

Comcast has theme parks in Orlando, Florida; Hollywood, California; and Osaka, Japan.

Beginning first-quarter, Comcast started reporting NBCUniversal results under three segments- Media, Studios and Theme Parks.

Sky (17.9% of total revenues): Acquired in 2018, Sky includes a direct-to-consumer business that provides video, high-speed Internet, voice and wireless phone services, and a content business. The business, one of Europe’s leading entertainment companies, also operates the Sky News broadcast network and Sky Sports networks. Sky has 23.99 million customers.

Comcast faces significant competition from streaming-service providers including Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+ and HBO Max. In the theme park segment, the company faces competition from Disney.

Bottom Line

Anyone can invest, but building a successful investment portfolio takes a combination of a few things: research, patience, and a little bit of risk. So, if you had invested in Comcast a decade ago, you're probably feeling pretty good about your investment today.

According to our calculations, a $1000 investment made in June 2011 would be worth $4,873.72, or a 387.37% gain, as of June 17, 2021. Investors should keep in mind that this return excludes dividends but includes price appreciation.

Compare this to the S&P 500's rally of 233.19% and gold's return of 14.12% over the same time frame.

Going forward, analysts are expecting more upside for CMCSA.

Comcast is benefiting from solid high-speed Internet customer wins as reflected by its first-quarter results. Its strategy to provide high-speed Internet at an affordable price plays a pivotal role in providing connectivity and improving customer experience. Moreover, coronavirus-led increased media consumption, and work-from-home and online-learning waves bode well for Comcast’s Internet business. Its streaming service Peacock has gained significant tract within a short span of time and is a key catalyst in driving broadband sales. However, Comcast persistently suffers from video-subscriber attrition due to cord cutting. Theme park revenues are expected to suffer from lower footfall. Further, weakness in film business is also a headwind. Moreover, a leveraged balance sheet is a concern. Shares have underperformed the industry year to date.

Shares have gained 5.31% over the past four weeks and there have been 14 higher earnings estimate revisions for fiscal 2021 compared to none lower. The consensus estimate has moved up as well.

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