Comcast beat Wall Street expectations for its third quarter of 2025, despite profits falling 8.2% year over year to $3.3 billion as the company continued to bleed broadband and pay TV customers. The overall results were negatively impacted by a comparison to last year’s Paris Olympics, when the company generated $1.9 billion in extra revenue.
The media giant lost 104,000 domestic broadband customers during the period – its fourth consecutive quarter of broadband losses – bringing its total subscriber base to roughly 31.4 million. Meanwhile, Comcast shed 257,000 video customers for a total of 11.5 million, though it was an improvement from the 365,000 video customers lost in the prior year period. Wireless was a bright spot, adding 414,000 customers for a total of 8.94 million.
Executives acknowledged that the broadband market remains “intensely competitive” and said they would be “very active” in migrating customers to new pricing and packaging offers. They also said that it’s unlikely that broadband average revenue per user would grow in 2026 due to the investments they’re making and its decision to not take a rate increase in the early half of the year.
“This pivot we are making will take time, but it sets the foundation for a far more stable broadband base in a more challenged, competitive environment and we’re confident we’re on the right path,” Comcast Chief Financial Officer Jason Armstrong said. “And while we invest to stabilize broadband, wireless is our core growth engine.”
Peacock continued to make improvements in profitability, narrowing its quarterly loss to $217 million, compared to a loss of $436 million a year ago, but the streaming service’s growth remained flat at 41 million paid subscribers and revenue came in at $1.4 billion, down from $1.5 billion in the prior year period which included the Paris Olympics.
Elsewhere, the Studios business saw strong revenue growth 6.1% to $3 billion on higher content licensing and theatrical revenue, though profits fell 21.9% to $365 million, driven by higher programming, production and marketing and promotion expenses as a result of increased spending on upcoming theatrical releases.
The opening of Epic Universe in May also boosted the theme parks business, with revenue growing 18.7% to $2.7 billion and segment profit climbing 13.1% to $958 million.
Here are the quarter’s results:
Net income: $3.33 billion, down 8.2% year over year. On an adjusted basis, net income fell 4.9% to $4.13 billion.
Earnings per share: A profit of 90 cents per share. On an adjusted basis, EPS came in at $1.12 per share, compared to $1.10 per share expected by analysts surveyed Yahoo Finance.
Revenue: $31.2 billion, down 2.7% year over year, compared to $30.68 billion expected by analysts surveyed Yahoo Finance.
Shares of Comcast have fallen over 5% during Thursday’s trading session following the release of the quarter’s results.
Comcast bar for M&A remains ‘very high’
In addition to the results, Comcast said that its Connectivity & Platforms CEO Dave Watson will step down from his role and transition to vice chairman of the company, where he will advise the company and lead strategic initiatives starting in 2026. Watson will be succeeded by the division’s chief operating officer Steve Croney.
Comcast president Mike Cavanagh will also serve as co-CEO alongside Brian Roberts, who previously said he looks forward to partnering with him for “years to come.”
Cavanagh also addressed Warner Bros. Discovery putting itself up for sale following “unsolicited interest” from “multiple parties” for all or part of the company, emphasizing that Comcast’s bar for M&A remains “very high.”
While noting that Comcast’s strategies are “really sound and durable without M&A,” Cavanagh told analysts that they should expect the company to “look at things that are trading in the space around our industry” and figure out if there’s ways to add value. He suggested the company would be open to WBD’s studio and streaming assets following the spin off of its cable network portfolio into Versant.
Paris Olympics comparison weighs on Content & Experiences
The Content & Experiences division saw revenue fall 6.8% year over year to $11.7 billion and its profits fall 8.4% to $1.95 billion due to an unfavorable comparison from the Paris Olympics.
Overall media revenue fell 4.2% to $6.6 billion, while its profit grew 28% to $832 million driven by Peacock. Excluding the unfavorable comparison from the Olympics, it would’ve seen revenue growth of 4.2%.
Domestic advertising revenue fell 41.3% to $1.96 billion and domestic distribution revenue fell 13.1% to $2.84 billion, primarily reflecting the Paris Olympics in the prior year period. Excluding that impact, ad and distribution would’ve increased 2.6% and 1.5%, respectively. International networks revenue grew 17% to $1.25 billion, primarily due to an increase in revenue associated with the distribution of sports networks and the positive impact of foreign currency.
Content licensing revenue in its Studios business grew 9.1% to $2.04 billion. Theatrical revenue grew 4.6% to $639 million, due to higher revenue from an increased number of releases in the current quarter, including “Jurassic World Rebirth.”
Executives touted the launch of the NBA on NBC and Peacock last week, which it said is “off to a great start.” Though it expects a positive impact on ad and distribution revenue, Comcast acknowledged that sports rights costs would create “some upfront dilution, particularly in the first season.”
When asked how Peacock would continue to scale if Comcast doesn’t participate in M&A, Cavanagh touted the company’s partnerships with creative talent, including its new massive $1 billion TV and film deal with “Yellowstone” and “Landman” creator Taylor Sheridan, as well as Jason Blum, Chris Melendandri, Steven Spielberg, Jordan Peele, Christopher Nolan and others.
“Obviously, pay one movies and originals are a piece of the pie of driving scale in Peacock. And likewise, sports has been very successful for us,” Cavanagh continued. “It’s hard to build the kind of portfolio that we have. So obviously we have to pay the bill to meet the market. But beyond that, you have to produce it well and I think NBC Sports has just got a great tradition of working with partners. Many partners look to us to broaden their reach, increase the brand of their own properties and I think that’s a durable advantage for NBC broadly. So I don’t think M&A is necessary.”
Comcast prepares to spin off cable networks into Versant
Comcast remains on track to spin off its cable network portfolio into Versant by the end of the year.
The standalone, publicly-traded company will house CNBC, MSNBC, E!, SYFY, Oxygen, USA Network and Golf Channel, along with digital assets such as Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and SportsEngine. Versant’s portfolio of networks reached between 54 million and 65 million households as of the end of 2024.
In a first glimpse at its financials ahead of the spin off, Comcast disclosed that Versant’s profits fell 16% to $670 million and revenue fell 6% to $3.42 billion in the first half of 2025. For the six-month period, linear distribution revenue fell 5.6% to $2.1 billion, while advertising revenue fell 12.6% to $814 million. Platform and content licensing revenue were both bright spots, climbing 7.4% to $398 million and 1.8% to $100 million.
