Comcast saw a substantial net income lift in the second quarter of 2025, owing to the sale of its Hulu share to Disney. Net income was reported as $11.1 billion on Thursday thanks to the $9.4 billion the company received from the sale.
Revenue also increased 2.1% year-over-year to hit $30.3 billion. This was partially due to growth in the company’s Content and Experiences division, which saw a 6% uptick in revenue thanks to the opening of Universal’s latest Orlando theme park, Epic Universe. Connectivity revenue also increased 5.4% due to growth in domestic broadband and wireless as well as international connectivity and business services connectivity.
As for the television and film side of the business, media EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) increased 9.3% year-over-year to hit $1.5 billion. This uptick was largely driven by Peacock, which increased its revenue by 18% to hit $1.2 billion during the quarter, as well as decreases in programming and production costs. Peacock’s EBITDA losses accounted for $101 million, a $247 million improvement from the year prior.
During the company’s second quarter earnings call, president Michael Cavanagh called Peacock a “standout” and noted that total sales for the streamer was up more than 20% year over year. It also represented over a third of NBCUniversal’s total volume of ad sales for the year.
The studios division saw a EBITDA decrease of 31%, accounting for $85 million. Despite seeing an 8% increase in revenue over the quarter, higher operating expenses led to the overall decline. Specifically, those expenses reflected higher costs connected to content licensing sales as well as higher marketing and
promotion expenses spent on both recent and upcoming theatrical film releases. Two of the company’s buzziest movies — the live action “How to Train Your Dragon” and “Jurassic World: Rebirth” — premiered in summer, which partially accounted for the increased costs.
Here are the key takeaways:
Net income: $11.1 billion, up 183% year over year. On an adjusted basis, net income fell 1.7% to $4.65 billion.
Earnings per share: $2.98 per share, compared to $1.13 per share expected by analysts surveyed by Yahoo Finance.
Revenue: $30.3 billion, compared to $30.31 billion expected by analysts surveyed by Yahoo Finance.
Cavanagh also broke down Comcast’s most recent big purchase: the NBA. The deal, which will reportedly cost the company $2.5 billion annually, will appear in Comcast’s fourth quarter earnings for the year and will go through the full season. In its first season, Comcast plans to take a full year’s worth of cost amortization.
“We are going to be essentially straight lining the 11-year contract where our cash costs are substantially lower in the early years. That will have big working capital benefits that I’ll be calling out in the first couple of years of the contract,” Cavanagh explained.
“Obviously it’s a sport that is hugely culturally relevant, so there’s lots of thinking going on in our entertainment side of how to build things beyond sports around the new audience,” he said. “The next few years we’ll have the opportunity to drive Peacock subscribers higher as we leverage NBA and other content and the continuation of consumer trends moving from the linear ecosystem to the streaming ecosystem.”
The latest quarterly results come as Comcast is preparing to spin off its cable network portfolio into a publicly traded, standalone company called Versant by the end of 2025. Comcast is still roughly on track for that date, stating on the earnings call that it’s aiming to launch in late 2025, into 2026. Versant, which is expected to reach over 65 million U.S. households and generate $7 billion in annual revenue, will house MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network, Oxygen, E!, SYFY, Golf Channel and digital assets Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and SportsEngine.
Versant Unveils Full Board of Directors
The move will be tax-free to Comcast’s shareholders. Last week, Versant unveiled its full board of directors, which will include its CEO Mark Lazarus, former Yum Brands! CEO David Novak as chairman and Disney’s former international content and operations chairman Rebecca Campbell, among others.
“When you look ahead, a couple of quarters down the road, after the Versant spin, we’ll then have a media business made up of NBC in broadcast, Bravo, Telemundo as well as Peacock that really are completely symbiotic leveraging the strengths of the entertainment business, which is both scripted and reality entertainment, as well as sports and news,” Cavanagh said. “I’m really glad we’ve got the business set up the way it’s set up.”
It also comes as NBCUniversal recently closed its upfront negotiations, touting a nearly 15% year over year increase in ad commitments across its broadcast offerings, including news, sports and entertainment. It also said it was the largest digital upfront and strongest sports upfront in history, though it offered no hard numbers.
Versant, which will continue to be represented by NBCU in the next two upfront cycles, saw a nearly 10% increase in clients investing in its brands, while Peacock saw an over 20% year over year increase, representing nearly a third of the media giant’s total upfront commitments. The company’s new 11-year media rights deal with the NBA contributed to a 20% increase in new clients compared to the 2024-2025 season and a 45% year over year increase in volume. Over 25% of NBCUniversal’s NBA advertisers will be new to broadcast this year.
Peacock has hiked the price of its plans by $3 per month, with its premium plan hitting $10.99 per month and premium plus plan hitting $16.99 per month. The change took effect for new customers on July 23 and will impact existing customers on Aug. 22. It also is testing a $7.99 per month Select tier, which will feature current seasons of NBC and Bravo programming and a broad assortment of library titles.
