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ROKU vs. CMCSA: Which Streaming Stock is Better Positioned for Growth?
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Key Takeaways
ROKU leans into ad tech and content integration, while CMCSA relies on diversified assets and broadband scale.
ROKU saw 18% YoY platform revenue growth and 84% higher Roku Channel engagement in the second quarter.
CMCSA's Peacock revenues grew 18% YoY, but losses narrowed only modestly; the platform remains unprofitable.
Streaming is emerging as the fastest-growing area in media, transforming how content is distributed, discovered and monetized. Roku (ROKU - Free Report) and Comcast (CMCSA - Free Report) are both central to this shift-Roku through its connected TV ad platform and operating system and Comcast through its expanding Peacock streaming service, backed by broadband scale.
Per Future Market Insights, the global video streaming market is projected to grow from $246.9 billion in 2025 to $787 billion by 2035, witnessing a 12.3% CAGR. This growth is driven by the rise of connected TV, growing ad-based streaming models and the shift toward platform-led content delivery. Both Roku and Comcast are positioned to benefit meaningfully from these trends. Let’s delve deeper to determine which of the two offers stronger upside potential now.
The Case for ROKU
Roku is the most-used television OS in North America, powering Roku devices and smart TVs from multiple OEMs, with reach across nearly 90 million households. It monetizes through ad-supported streaming, content distribution and embedded commerce.
In the second quarter of 2025, Roku generated platform revenues of $975 million, up 18% year over year, while streaming hours rose to 35.4 billion, up 17.2% year over year. The Roku Channel remained the #2 app on Roku’s platform in the US by engagement and accounted for 5.4% of all U.S. TV streaming time in June, per Nielsen. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter 2025 streaming hours is pegged at 37.03 billion, up 15.8% year over year. The consensus mark for platform revenues is pegged at $1.05 billion, reflecting a 15.5% increase year over year.
To grow its user base and drive monetization, Roku is expanding its content slate by investing in Roku Originals, licensing more premium films and series and offering live channels like Frndly TV to attract value-focused viewers. The upcoming holiday lineup includes Jingle Bell Wedding, Merry Little Mystery and Honest Renovations: A Holiday Home Makeover, expected to strengthen engagement during peak viewing season. In August 2025, Roku also launched Howdy, an ad-free subscription service priced at $2.99 per month with nearly 10,000 hours of content, adding another tier to its ecosystem. Roku has further strengthened its ad tech stack through programmatic deals with Amazon and Wurl and opened access to SMBs via Roku Ads Manager. At the same time, the Roku Sports Channel, which has expanded distribution to Samsung TV Plus, and studio programming such as Women’s Sports Now highlight Roku’s strategy to tap into live sports and broaden audience stickiness.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings is pegged at 12 cents per share, unchanged over the past 30 days, indicating a significant improvement over the year-ago loss of 89 cents per share.
Comcast operates a diversified model across connectivity, content and streaming. Second-quarter 2025 results showed total revenues of $30.3 billion, with free cash flow of $4.5 billion. The Connectivity & Platforms segment, which includes broadband and wireless services, continues to face pressure from rising competition, even as operational stability holds. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter revenues is pegged at $30.8 billion, suggesting steady but slow growth.
In the second quarter of 2025, its wireless unit added 378,000 net lines, reaching 14% penetration of broadband homes with 8.5 million total lines. Comcast introduced new national plans with five-year price guarantees, though uptake for extended commitments has been mixed.
NBCUniversal spans television, film and theme parks. Content & Experiences revenues reached $10.6 billion in the second quarter, with $2.3 billion from theme parks-though performance here remains seasonally sensitive. Peacock, Comcast’s direct-to-consumer platform’s revenues grew 18% year over year to $1.2 billion, narrowing EBITDA losses to $101 million from $348 million last year. Still, the platform remains unprofitable and new content commitments are adding cost pressure. Scripted originals like The Paper and The Burbs, big-budget Universal releases such as Jurassic World Rebirth and Wicked: For Good, and the NBA rights package beginning in 2025–26 all require significant licensing and production spend. These initiatives are designed to scale engagement, but they weigh on profitability at a time when Peacock is yet to break even.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings is pegged at $4.30 per share, unchanged in the past 30 days, suggesting a modest decline from the prior-year profit of $4.33 per share.
While both Roku and Comcast trade at modest valuations, the former presents a more compelling upside narrative tied to platform leverage and engagement-driven monetization. Roku currently trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 2.82X, signaling investor optimism around its expanding ad inventory and tight integration of content, commerce and tech. Comcast, by contrast, trades at a lower 1X P/S, reflecting a more mature footprint with limited near-term growth catalysts in its consumer-facing segments.
ROKU vs. CMCSA: Price-to-Sales Ratio F12M
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
In terms of stock movement, Roku shares have surged 31.2% year to date, driven by strength in platform hours, advertiser demand recovery and new original programming. Comcast shares have declined 10% over the same period, as broadband adds remain muted and Peacock’s path to profitability stays long-dated. While Comcast offers steady cash generation and diversified assets, Roku’s operating model is more tightly aligned with streaming’s growth curve, providing greater torque as engagement scales.
ROKU vs. CMCSA YTD Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Conclusion
Roku presents a sharper, engagement-led growth story, with monetization closely linked to rising platform hours, expanding ad inventory and SMB traction. Its integration of content, commerce and ad tech supports a more scalable growth path. Comcast, while diversified, continues to face broadband saturation and mounting content costs, moderate wireless momentum and streaming cost pressures. Investors should track Roku as the more agile, streaming-first bet. Those evaluating Comcast may prefer to wait for sustained subscriber traction and margin progress at Peacock.
Image: Bigstock
ROKU vs. CMCSA: Which Streaming Stock is Better Positioned for Growth?
Key Takeaways
Streaming is emerging as the fastest-growing area in media, transforming how content is distributed, discovered and monetized. Roku (ROKU - Free Report) and Comcast (CMCSA - Free Report) are both central to this shift-Roku through its connected TV ad platform and operating system and Comcast through its expanding Peacock streaming service, backed by broadband scale.
Per Future Market Insights, the global video streaming market is projected to grow from $246.9 billion in 2025 to $787 billion by 2035, witnessing a 12.3% CAGR. This growth is driven by the rise of connected TV, growing ad-based streaming models and the shift toward platform-led content delivery. Both Roku and Comcast are positioned to benefit meaningfully from these trends. Let’s delve deeper to determine which of the two offers stronger upside potential now.
The Case for ROKU
Roku is the most-used television OS in North America, powering Roku devices and smart TVs from multiple OEMs, with reach across nearly 90 million households. It monetizes through ad-supported streaming, content distribution and embedded commerce.
In the second quarter of 2025, Roku generated platform revenues of $975 million, up 18% year over year, while streaming hours rose to 35.4 billion, up 17.2% year over year. The Roku Channel remained the #2 app on Roku’s platform in the US by engagement and accounted for 5.4% of all U.S. TV streaming time in June, per Nielsen. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter 2025 streaming hours is pegged at 37.03 billion, up 15.8% year over year. The consensus mark for platform revenues is pegged at $1.05 billion, reflecting a 15.5% increase year over year.
To grow its user base and drive monetization, Roku is expanding its content slate by investing in Roku Originals, licensing more premium films and series and offering live channels like Frndly TV to attract value-focused viewers. The upcoming holiday lineup includes Jingle Bell Wedding, Merry Little Mystery and Honest Renovations: A Holiday Home Makeover, expected to strengthen engagement during peak viewing season. In August 2025, Roku also launched Howdy, an ad-free subscription service priced at $2.99 per month with nearly 10,000 hours of content, adding another tier to its ecosystem. Roku has further strengthened its ad tech stack through programmatic deals with Amazon and Wurl and opened access to SMBs via Roku Ads Manager. At the same time, the Roku Sports Channel, which has expanded distribution to Samsung TV Plus, and studio programming such as Women’s Sports Now highlight Roku’s strategy to tap into live sports and broaden audience stickiness.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings is pegged at 12 cents per share, unchanged over the past 30 days, indicating a significant improvement over the year-ago loss of 89 cents per share.
Roku, Inc. Price and Consensus
Roku, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Roku, Inc. Quote
The Case for CMCSA
Comcast operates a diversified model across connectivity, content and streaming. Second-quarter 2025 results showed total revenues of $30.3 billion, with free cash flow of $4.5 billion. The Connectivity & Platforms segment, which includes broadband and wireless services, continues to face pressure from rising competition, even as operational stability holds. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter revenues is pegged at $30.8 billion, suggesting steady but slow growth.
In the second quarter of 2025, its wireless unit added 378,000 net lines, reaching 14% penetration of broadband homes with 8.5 million total lines. Comcast introduced new national plans with five-year price guarantees, though uptake for extended commitments has been mixed.
NBCUniversal spans television, film and theme parks. Content & Experiences revenues reached $10.6 billion in the second quarter, with $2.3 billion from theme parks-though performance here remains seasonally sensitive. Peacock, Comcast’s direct-to-consumer platform’s revenues grew 18% year over year to $1.2 billion, narrowing EBITDA losses to $101 million from $348 million last year. Still, the platform remains unprofitable and new content commitments are adding cost pressure. Scripted originals like The Paper and The Burbs, big-budget Universal releases such as Jurassic World Rebirth and Wicked: For Good, and the NBA rights package beginning in 2025–26 all require significant licensing and production spend. These initiatives are designed to scale engagement, but they weigh on profitability at a time when Peacock is yet to break even.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings is pegged at $4.30 per share, unchanged in the past 30 days, suggesting a modest decline from the prior-year profit of $4.33 per share.
Comcast Corporation Price and Consensus
Comcast Corporation price-consensus-chart | Comcast Corporation Quote
Valuation and Price Performance
While both Roku and Comcast trade at modest valuations, the former presents a more compelling upside narrative tied to platform leverage and engagement-driven monetization. Roku currently trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 2.82X, signaling investor optimism around its expanding ad inventory and tight integration of content, commerce and tech. Comcast, by contrast, trades at a lower 1X P/S, reflecting a more mature footprint with limited near-term growth catalysts in its consumer-facing segments.
ROKU vs. CMCSA: Price-to-Sales Ratio F12M
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
In terms of stock movement, Roku shares have surged 31.2% year to date, driven by strength in platform hours, advertiser demand recovery and new original programming. Comcast shares have declined 10% over the same period, as broadband adds remain muted and Peacock’s path to profitability stays long-dated. While Comcast offers steady cash generation and diversified assets, Roku’s operating model is more tightly aligned with streaming’s growth curve, providing greater torque as engagement scales.
ROKU vs. CMCSA YTD Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Conclusion
Roku presents a sharper, engagement-led growth story, with monetization closely linked to rising platform hours, expanding ad inventory and SMB traction. Its integration of content, commerce and ad tech supports a more scalable growth path. Comcast, while diversified, continues to face broadband saturation and mounting content costs, moderate wireless momentum and streaming cost pressures. Investors should track Roku as the more agile, streaming-first bet. Those evaluating Comcast may prefer to wait for sustained subscriber traction and margin progress at Peacock.
Both Roku and Comcast currently carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.