Comcast climbed Thursday after the cable TV firm reported fourth quarter earnings and revenue that topped Wall Street targets. The company raised its annual dividend and announced a new $15 billion CMCSA stock buyback.
The company reported Comcast earnings before the market open. Broadband subscriber net losses were lower than expected.
Comcast earnings rose nearly 16% to 81 cents in the quarter ending Dec. 31. Revenue rose 2.3% to $31.25 billion. Analysts had predicted adjusted profit of 79 cents on revenue of $30.4 billion.
CMCSA Stock: Broadband Loss Lower Than Expected
Comcast said it lost 34,000 broadband customers versus a 23,000 subscriber loss in the year earlier period. Consensus estimates projected a loss of 59,000 broadband customers. Wireless firms have been expanding 5G broadband services to homes and businesses.
"Cable investors are no longer counting on a re-acceleration in broadband net additions," said Craig Moffett, analyst at MoffettNathanson. "They simply want to see broadband net adds or losses that are predictable enough to allow focus to shift elsewhere. Most importantly, on broadband ARPU (average revenue per user)."
Also, Comcast added 310,000 wireless phone subscribers, bringing its total to 6.58 million.
In Q4, video subscriber losses came in at 389,000 vs. estimates of 447,000. Video losses improved from 490,000 in the September quarter and 440,000 a year earlier.
On the stock market today, CMCSA stock rose 3.4% to close at 45.27. Share were was flat in 2024 heading into the Comcast earnings report. Comcast stock is up about 9% over the past 52 weeks.
Comcast said the board of directors has increased the dividend by 7% to $1.24 a share annually. The board also authorized a new $15 billion buyback. Comcast had $5 billion left in its prior buyback authorization, which has ended.
In Q4, Comcast repurchased $3.5 billion of its own stock.
Walt Disney is expected to buy out Comcast's Hulu stake in 2024.
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