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Comcast (CMCSA) Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Rise Y/Y

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Comcast (CMCSA - Free Report) fourth-quarter 2023 adjusted earnings of 84 cents per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5% and increased 2.4% year over year.

Consolidated revenues increased 2.3% year over year to $31.2 billion and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.77%.

Domestic broadband average rate per customer increased 3.9% and drove domestic broadband revenue growth of 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Comcast lost 34K domestic broadband customers in the reported quarter. Moreover, it lost 389K video customers. The company added 310K wireless customers in the reported quarter.

Shares of CMCSA have gained 2.1% in the past six months compared with the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector’s 8.4% growth.

Comcast Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Comcast Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Comcast Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Comcast Corporation Quote

Quarter Details

Connectivity & Platforms revenues (65.3% of revenues) increased 0.5% year over year to $20.41 billion in the reported quarter.

Residential Connectivity & Platforms revenues decreased 0.1% year over year to $18.05 billion. Business Services Connectivity revenues increased 5.9% year over year to $2.36 billion.

Content & Experiences revenues increased 5.7% year over year to $11.5 billion. Media revenues rose 3.1% year over year at $6.97 billion. Studios increased 4.3% year over year to $3.06 billion. Theme Parks surged 12.2% year over year to $2.37 billion.

Peacock’s paid subscribers surged nearly 50% year over year to 31 million, including net additions of 3 million in the fourth quarter. Peacock’s revenues in the fourth quarter jumped 57%, surpassing $1 billion in quarterly revenues for the first time.

Operating Details

Costs and expenses in the fourth quarter of 2023 increased 2.9% year over year to $26.7 billion.

Programming & production costs rose 4.6% from the year-ago quarter to $10.25 billion. Marketing and promotional expenses decreased 6.4% year over year to $2.04 billion.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 0.2% from the year-ago quarter to $8.01 billion.

Total Connectivity & Platforms adjusted EBITDA gained 3.1% year over year to $7.57 billion. Residential Connectivity & Platforms adjusted EBITDA rose 3.3% year over year to $6.27 billion. Business Services Connectivity adjusted EBITDA increased 2.1% year over year to $1.3 billion.

Content & Experiences adjusted EBITDA was $932 million, up 2.3% year over year. Theme Parks adjusted EBITDA came in at $872 million, which rose 11.6% year over year. Studios reported an adjusted EBITDA of $308 million, up 83% year over year. Media adjusted EBITDA plunged 50.2% year over year to $108 million.

Cash Flow & Liquidity

As of Dec 31, 2023, cash and cash equivalents were $6.21 billion, which declined from $6.43 billion as of Sep 30, 2023.

As of Dec 31, 2023, consolidated total debt was $97.09 billion compared with $97.32 billion as of Sep 30, 2023.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, Comcast generated $5.92 billion in cash from operations, which declined from $8.15 billion reported in the previous quarter. Free cash flow was $1.7 billion in the reported quarter, which decreased from $4.03 billion in the previous quarter.

Comcast paid dividends totaling $1.2 billion and repurchased 81.9 million of its common shares for $3.5 billion, resulting in a total return of capital to shareholders of $4.7 billion.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Currently, Comcast carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Cimpress (CMPR - Free Report) , Flexsteel Industries (FLXS - Free Report) and Universal Technical Institute (UTI - Free Report) are some better-ranked stocks that investors can consider in the broader sector. CMPR, FLXS and UTI sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) each at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Shares of Cimpress have gained 14.2% in the past six months. CMPR is set to report its fourth-quarter 2023 results on Jan 31.

Shares of Flexsteel Industries have jumped 37.1% in the past six months. FLXS is set to report its fourth-quarter 2023 results on Feb 5.

Shares of Universal Technical Institute have rallied 96% in the past six months. UTI is set to report its fourth-quarter 2023 results on Feb 7.

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