Telecommunications and media company Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) beat Wall Street’s revenue expectations in Q2 CY2026, with sales up 4% year on year to $29.94 billion. Its non-GAAP profit of $1.04 per share was 7.6% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
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Comcast (CMCSA) Q2 CY2026 Highlights:
- Comcast to split the cable businesses from the media business, creating two separate publicly traded companies
- Revenue: $29.94 billion vs analyst estimates of $29.27 billion (4% year-on-year growth, 2.3% beat)
- Peacock reached positive profitability for the first time since its 2020 launch
- Adjusted EPS: $1.04 vs analyst estimates of $0.97 (7.6% beat)
- Adjusted EBITDA: $8.9 billion vs analyst estimates of $8.87 billion (29.7% margin, in line)
- Operating Margin: 17.2%, in line with the same quarter last year
- Free Cash Flow Margin: 15.4%, similar to the same quarter last year
- Domestic Broadband Customers: down 3.05 million year on year
- Market Capitalization: $84.02 billion
Company Overview
Formerly known as American Cable Systems, Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) is a multinational telecommunications company offering a wide range of services.
Revenue Growth
Examining a company’s long-term performance can provide clues about its quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but many enduring ones grow for years. Regrettably, Comcast’s sales grew at a weak 2.3% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years. This was below our standards and is a poor baseline for our analysis.
We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within consumer discretionary, a stretched historical view may miss a company riding a successful new product or trend. Comcast’s annualized revenue growth of 1.7% over the last two years aligns with its five-year trend, suggesting its demand was consistently weak. 
We can better understand the company’s revenue dynamics by analyzing its number of domestic broadband customers and domestic video customers, which clocked in at 28.49 million and 10.67 million in the latest quarter. Over the last two years, Comcast’s domestic broadband customers averaged 3.5% year-on-year declines while its domestic video customers averaged 10.5% year-on-year declines. 
This quarter, Comcast reported modest year-on-year revenue growth of 4% but beat Wall Street’s estimates by 2.3%.
Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to decline by 1.4% over the next 12 months, a deceleration versus the last two years. This projection doesn’t excite us and suggests its products and services will face some demand challenges.
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Operating Margin
Operating margin is a key measure of profitability. Think of it as net income - the bottom line - excluding the impact of taxes and interest on debt, which are less connected to business fundamentals.
Comcast’s operating margin has been trending down over the last 12 months and averaged 15.3% over the last two years. The company’s profitability was mediocre for a consumer discretionary business and shows it couldn’t pass its higher operating expenses onto its customers.
In Q2, Comcast generated an operating margin profit margin of 17.2%, in line with the same quarter last year. This indicates the company’s overall cost structure has been relatively stable.
Earnings Per Share
We track the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) for the same reason as long-term revenue growth. Compared to revenue, however, EPS highlights whether a company’s growth is profitable.
Comcast’s EPS grew at 6.2% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years. This performance was better than its revenue growth but doesn’t tell us much about its business quality because its operating margin improvement was less than peers.
In Q2, Comcast reported adjusted EPS of $1.04, down from $1.25 in the same quarter last year. Despite falling year on year, this print beat analysts’ estimates by 7.6%. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects Comcast’s full-year EPS to shrink by 6.5% from $3.79 to $3.54.
Key Takeaways from Comcast’s Q2 Results
It was encouraging to see Comcast beat analysts’ revenue and EPS expectations this quarter. We were also glad its Peacock streaming service showed progress on profitability. Overall, this print had some key positives. The stock remained flat at $23.67 immediately following the results.
Big picture, is Comcast a buy here and now? When making that decision, it’s important to consider its valuation, business qualities, as well as what has happened in the latest quarter. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).
