Comcast Reports 1st Quarter 2024 Results

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) today reported results for the quarter ended March 31, 2024.

“Our team is continuing to execute exceptionally well in a dynamic and competitive marketplace," said Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Comcast Corporation. “We delivered double-digit growth in Adjusted EPS and free cash flow while returning $3.6 billion to shareholders, investing aggressively in our businesses, and maintaining our strong balance sheet. We grew broadband ARPU over 4%, delivered 7% revenue growth in our connectivity businesses, and expanded our Adjusted EBITDA margin across Connectivity & Platforms. In Studios, following a record year with eight Oscars including Best Picture, our film group continues to leverage our incredible IP with hits like Kung Fu Panda 4; and Peacock remains one of the fastest growing domestic streamers with impressive acquisition, retention and engagement trends. Overall, I am proud of our ability to consistently perform at the highest levels and continue to position the company for long-term growth."

1st Quarter 2024 Highlights:

• Adjusted EPS increased 13.9% to $1.04; Generated Free Cash Flow of $4.5 Billion
• Total Return of Capital to Shareholders Increased 13.5% to $3.6 Billion Through a Combination of $1.2 Billion in Dividend Payments and $2.4 Billion in Share Repurchases
• Connectivity & Platforms Adjusted EBITDA Increased 1.5% to $8.2 Billion and Adjusted EBITDA Margin Increased 30 Basis Points to 40.5%. Excluding the Impact of Foreign Currency, Connectivity & Platforms Adjusted EBITDA Increased 1.3% and Adjusted EBITDA Margin Increased 50 Basis Points
• Domestic Broadband Average Rate Per Customer Increased 4.2%, Driving Domestic Broadband Revenue Growth of 3.9% to $6.6 Billion
• Domestic Wireless Customer Lines Increased 21% Compared to the Prior Year Period to 6.9 Million, Including Net Additions of 289,000 in the First Quarter
• Kung Fu Panda 4 Debuted in March and Grossed Over $480 Million in Worldwide Box Office Year-to-Date, Contributing to the Panda Franchise's Cumulative Total of $2.3 Billion. Oppenheimer Won 7 Oscars at the Academy Awards, Began Streaming Exclusively on Peacock Beginning in February and Was the Most Watched Pay 1 Movie in Peacock's History
• Peacock Paid Subscribers Increased 55% Compared to the Prior Year Period to 34 Million, Including Net Additions of 3 Million in the First Quarter. Peacock Revenue Increased 54% to $1.1 Billion; Adjusted EBITDA Improved Compared to the Prior Year Period and Also on a Sequential Basis

1st Quarter Consolidated Financial Results

Revenue increased 1.2% compared to the prior year period. Net Income Attributable to Comcast was consistent with the prior year period. Adjusted Net Income increased 7.6%. Adjusted EBITDA was consistent with the prior year period.

Earnings per Share (EPS) increased 6.5% to $0.97. Adjusted EPS increased 13.9% to $1.04.

Capital Expenditures decreased 1.3% to $2.6 billion. Connectivity & Platforms’ capital expenditures decreased 3.8% to $1.9 billion, reflecting lower spending on customer premise equipment, scalable infrastructure and support capital, partially offset by higher investment in line extensions. Content & Experiences' capital expenditures increased 3.8% to $676 million, primarily driven by investment in Theme Parks, which continues to reflect significant spending due to the construction of Epic Universe theme park in Orlando, which is scheduled to open in 2025.

Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities was $7.8 billion. Free Cash Flow was $4.5 billion.

Dividends and Share Repurchases. Comcast paid dividends totaling $1.2 billion and repurchased 56.0 million of its shares for $2.4 billion, resulting in a total return of capital to shareholders of $3.6 billion.

Connectivity & Platforms

Revenue for Connectivity & Platforms was consistent with the prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA increased due to growth in Residential Connectivity & Platforms Adjusted EBITDA and Business Services Connectivity Adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA margin increased to 40.5%.

Total Customer Relationships for Connectivity & Platforms decreased by 166,000 to 52.0 million, primarily reflecting decreases in Residential Connectivity & Platforms customer relationships. Total domestic broadband customer net losses were 65,000, total domestic wireless line net additions were 289,000 and total domestic video customer net losses were 487,000.

Residential Connectivity & Platforms

Revenue for Residential Connectivity & Platforms was consistent with the prior year period, driven by increases in domestic broadband, international connectivity, domestic wireless and advertising revenue, offset by decreases in video and other revenue. Domestic broadband revenue increased due to higher average rates. International connectivity revenue increased due to an increase in broadband revenue from higher average rates and in wireless revenue, reflecting higher sales of wireless services and devices. These increases include the positive impact of foreign currency. Domestic wireless revenue increased due to an increase in the number of customer lines. Advertising revenue increased primarily due to higher domestic political advertising, higher revenue from our advanced advertising business and the positive impact of foreign currency, partially offset by lower domestic advertising. Video revenue decreased due to a decline in the number of video customers, partially offset by an overall increase in average rates and the positive impact of foreign currency. Other revenue decreased primarily due to lower residential wireline voice revenue, driven by a decline in the number of customers.

Adjusted EBITDA for Residential Connectivity & Platforms increased due to lower operating expenses. Programming expenses decreased primarily due to a decline in the number of domestic video customers, partially offset by rate increases under our domestic programming contracts and the impact of foreign currency. Non-programming expenses increased primarily due to higher technical and support costs, the impact of foreign currency and increased direct product costs, partially offset by lower spending on marketing and promotion expenses. Adjusted EBITDA margin increased to 38.3%.

Business Services Connectivity

Revenue for Business Services Connectivity increased due to an increase in revenue from small business customers, driven by higher average rates, and an increase in revenue from medium-sized and enterprise customers.

Adjusted EBITDA for Business Services Connectivity increased due to higher revenue, partially offset by higher operating expenses. The increase in operating expenses was primarily due to increases in direct product costs, marketing and promotion expenses, and technical and support costs. Adjusted EBITDA margin decreased to 56.7%.

Content & Experiences

Revenue for Content & Experiences increased compared to the prior year period driven by Media and Theme Parks. Adjusted EBITDA for Content & Experiences decreased primarily due to decreases in Media, Studios and Theme Parks.

Media

Revenue for Media increased primarily due to higher domestic distribution revenue. Domestic distribution revenue increased primarily due to higher revenue at Peacock, driven by an increase in paid subscribers. International networks revenue increased primarily reflecting the positive impact of foreign currency. Domestic advertising revenue was consistent primarily due to lower revenue at our networks, offset by an increase in revenue at Peacock.

Adjusted EBITDA for Media decreased due to higher operating expenses, which more than offset higher revenue. The increase in operating expenses was primarily due to higher programming costs at Peacock. Media results include $1.1 billion of revenue and an Adjusted EBITDA⁶ loss of $639 million related to Peacock, compared to $685 million of revenue and an Adjusted EBITDA⁶ loss of $704 million in the prior year period.

Studios

Revenue for Studios decreased due to lower content licensing revenue, primarily reflecting the timing of when content was made available by our film studios. Theatrical revenue increased due to the successful performance of recent releases, including Kung Fu Panda 4 and Migration, compared to theatrical releases in the prior year period, including Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and M3GAN.

Adjusted EBITDA for Studios decreased due to lower revenue, which more than offset lower operating expenses. The decrease in operating expenses primarily reflected lower programming and production expenses, mainly due to lower costs associated with the timing of when content was made available by our film studios.

Theme Parks

Revenue for Theme Parks increased due to higher revenue at our domestic theme parks. International theme parks revenue was consistent due to higher underlying revenue, offset by the negative impact of foreign currency.

Adjusted EBITDA for Theme Parks decreased, reflecting higher operating expenses and the negative impact of foreign currency, which more than offset higher revenue. The increase in operating expenses was primarily due to higher marketing and promotions costs.

Headquarters & Other

Content & Experiences Headquarters & Other includes overhead, personnel costs and costs associated with corporate initiatives. Headquarters & Other Adjusted EBITDA loss in the first quarter was $243 million, compared to a loss of $232 million in the prior year period.

Eliminations

Amounts represent eliminations of transactions between our Content & Experiences segments, the most significant being content licensing between the Studios and Media segments, which are affected by the timing of recognition of content licenses. Revenue eliminations were $731 million, compared to $817 million in the prior year period, and Adjusted EBITDA eliminations were a benefit of $33 million, compared to a benefit of $24 million in the prior year period.

Corporate, Other and Eliminations

Corporate & Other

Corporate & Other primarily includes overhead and personnel costs; our Sky-branded video services and television networks in Germany; Comcast Spectacor, which owns the Philadelphia Flyers and the Wells Fargo Center arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Xumo, our consolidated streaming platform joint venture beginning in June 2022. Corporate & Other Adjusted EBITDA decreased primarily reflecting an increase in operating expenses primarily due to higher costs related to our corporate functions, Sky and Xumo.

Eliminations

Amounts represent eliminations of transactions between Connectivity & Platforms, Content & Experiences and other businesses, the most significant being distribution of television network programming between the Media and Residential Connectivity & Platforms segments. Revenue eliminations were $1.4 billion, consistent with the prior year period, and Adjusted EBITDA eliminations were a loss of $26 million compared to a benefit of $3 million in the prior year period.

Numerical information is presented on a rounded basis using actual amounts. Minor differences in totals and percentage calculations may exist due to rounding.

Conference Call and Other Information

Comcast Corporation will host a conference call with the financial community today, April 25, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time (ET). The conference call and related materials will be broadcast live and posted on our Investor Relations website at www.cmcsa.com. A replay of the call will be available starting at 11:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, April 25, 2024, on the Investor Relations website.

From time to time, we post information that may be of interest to investors on our website at www.cmcsa.com and on our corporate website, www.comcastcorporation.com. To automatically receive Comcast financial news by email, please visit www.cmcsa.com and subscribe to email alerts.

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes statements that may constitute forward-looking statements. In evaluating these statements, readers should consider various factors, including the risks and uncertainties we describe in the “Risk Factors” sections of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, our most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements include changes in and/or risks associated with: the competitive environment; consumer behavior; the advertising market; consumer acceptance of our content; programming costs; key distribution and/or licensing agreements; use and protection of our intellectual property; our reliance on third-party hardware, software and operational support; keeping pace with technological developments; cyber attacks, security breaches or technology disruptions; weak economic conditions; acquisitions and strategic initiatives; operating businesses internationally; natural disasters, severe weather-related and other uncontrollable events; loss of key personnel; labor disputes; laws and regulations; adverse decisions in litigation or governmental investigations; and other risks described from time to time in reports and other documents we file with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made, and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or our actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any such forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise. The amount and timing of any dividends and share repurchases are subject to business, economic and other relevant factors.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In this discussion, we sometimes refer to financial measures that are not presented according to generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S. (GAAP). Certain of these measures are considered “non-GAAP financial measures” under the SEC regulations; those rules require the supplemental explanations and reconciliations that are in Comcast’s Form 8-K (Quarterly Earnings Release) furnished to the SEC.

About Comcast Corporation

Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and technology company. From the connectivity and platforms we provide, to the content and experiences we create, our businesses reach hundreds of millions of customers, viewers, and guests worldwide. We deliver world-class broadband, wireless, and video through Xfinity, Comcast Business, and Sky; produce, distribute, and stream leading entertainment, sports, and news through brands including NBC, Telemundo, Universal, Peacock, and Sky; and bring incredible theme parks and attractions to life through Universal Destinations & Experiences. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.

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