UPDATE: Comcast Q3 Profit Beats Estimates

Comcast

reported better-than-expected third-quarter profit. The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based company reported a quarterly profit of $2.59 billion, or $0.99 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $1.73 billion, or $0.65 per share. Excluding certain items, the company's adjusted profit gained 12.3% to $0.73 per share. Its revenue surged 4% to $16.79 billion. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.71 per share on revenue of $16.81 billion. The company lost 81,000 video customers in the quarter, versus a year-ago loss of 127,000 customers. It added 315,000 broadband subscribers, up from 297,000. Voice subscriber additions shrank to 68,000, versus 169,000. Broadband revenue rose 9.6%, while voice revenue slipped 0.5%. Business services revenue climbed 21%, while cable business revenue surged 5.2% to $11.04 billion. Operating cash flow increased 5.1% to $4.46 billion in the quarter. At NBCUniversal, operating cash flow gained 13% to $1.42 billion, while operating cash flow at the broadcast unit jumped to $142 million. During the quarter, the company paid dividends totaling $582 million and repurchased 13.9 million of its common shares for $750 million. Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Comcast Corporation, said, “I am pleased to report strong revenue, operating cash flow and free cash flow growth for the third quarter of 2014. Cable results highlight the consistent strength of high-speed Internet and business services, and video customer results were the best for a third quarter in seven years.” Comcast shares fell 1.34% to close at $51.49 yesterday.