Comcast's Winning Streak: Q4 Broadband Expansion, Peacock's Rise, and a Generous Dividend Boost Plus $15B Buyback

Comcast Corp (NASDAQ: CMCSA) reported a fourth-quarter FY23 revenue growth of 2.3% year-on-year to $31.25 billion, beating the consensus of $30.51 billion. Adjusted EPS of $0.84 beat the consensus of $0.79. 

Segments: Revenue for Connectivity & Platforms grew by 0.5% Y/Y to $20.42 billion. Broadband revenue grew 3.7% Y/Y to $6.40 billion.

Customer Relationships decreased by 183,000 to 52.1 million. 

Broadband customer net losses were 34,000, and total video customer net losses were 389,000. The company’s Connectivity & Platforms added 310,000 wireless lines, reaching 6.59 million in the quarter. 

Meanwhile,  AT&T Inc T clocked 5.9 million wireless net adds, including 526 thousand postpaid phone net adds, and Verizon Communications Inc VZ clocked 449 thousand postpaid phone net adds and retail postpaid net additions of 1.46 million.

Revenue from Media increased by 3.1% Y/Y to $6.98 billion due to higher domestic distribution, international networks, and other revenue. 

Revenue from Studios rose by 4.3% Y/Y to $3.06 billion primarily due to higher theatrical revenue, including the performance of Five Nights at Freddy’s, Trolls Band Together, The Exorcist: Believer, and Migration.  

Peacock’s paid subscribers in the U.S. increased nearly 50% Y/Y to 31 million. Peacock’s revenue grew by 57%, surpassing $1.0 billion quarterly revenue for the first time.

Theme Parks’ revenue increased by 12.2% to $2.37 billion due to higher revenue at its international and domestic theme parks.

Adjusted EBITDA margin of Connectivity & Platforms grew by 90 bps to 37.1%.

Comcast generated $1.71 billion in free cash flow and held $6.22 billion in cash and equivalents.

Connectivity & Platforms’ capital expenditures were $2.1 billion, down 19.4% Y/Y. Content & Experiences’ capital expenditures increased by 28.5% to $1.2 billion, reflecting increased investment in constructing the Epic Universe theme park in Orlando.

Dividend and Buyback: Comcast increased its dividend by 6.9% year-over-year to $1.24 per share on an annualized basis for 2024. It declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.31 per share.

The Board also approved a new share repurchase program of $15 billion.

Price Action: CMCSA shares traded higher by 5.16% at $46.06 on the last check Thursday.

Comcast Peacock Photo by rarrarorro on Shutterstock