Comcast executives aren’t sweating a European inquisition to the U.S. cable market — not openly, at least.
“Concerning Altice, it’s good to see others recognize the value in the cable market as we have,” Comcast Cable President and CEO Neil Smit (pictured above) said when asked about the foreign telecom company’s acquisition of stateside competitor Cablevision. “There’s always things we can learn.”
“They do some interesting things with self service, their IT consolidation, their structural approach,” Smit, who’s also Comcast Corporation senior executive vice president, added.
Cablevision was sold to Altice for $10 billion in September. Following the merger of Cablevision with Suddenlink, Altice will be the No. 4 cable operator in the U.S.; Comcast, Time Warner Cable/Charter and Cox rank 1-3, respectively.
Earlier on Tuesday, Comcast reported its third quarter 2015 financials, nailing Wall Street’s earnings per share expectation and surpassing analysts’ revenue forecasts.
The media giant’s sales rose thanks in large part to the box office successes of “Jurassic World” and “Minions.” Company executives also singled out broadcaster NBC’s first place summer ratings finish, NASCAR’s contributions to the cable side, and continued growth in the Theme Parks segment as highlights from the three-month fiscal period.
Comcast also declared a new quarterly dividend on Tuesday morning. Despite the positivity from execs, Comcast’s stock (CMCSA) slid in the initial minutes of the U.S. trading day.