Comcast Sees Broadband Improving With Revamped Offerings
Comcast, like Charter Communications, saw Q2 continue a trend of broadband subscriber losses. But it also marked Comcast's best quarter ever in mobile subscriber growth, the company said as it announced results Thursday. It said it's starting to see progress from a revamp of its broadband offerings.
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President Mike Cavanagh said that revamp includes consistent national pricing; four flagship speed tiers, each with unlimited data; price cuts; one- and five-year price guarantees; and a free Xfinity Mobile line for a year. Comcast is also making customer service easier by removing several steps from its purchase process and seeing stabilization in voluntary churn and overall connect activity, he added.
The company ended Q2 with 29 million residential broadband subscribers, down 600,000 from the same quarter a year earlier. CEO of Connectivity and Platforms Dave Watson said broadband competition is still "intense." Fixed wireless "remains very active," and fiber overbuilding continues.
Comcast added 378,000 wireless lines in Q2, which, it said, was its best quarter. It ended the period with 8.5 million domestic wireless lines, up from 7.2 million year over year, and 11.8 million U.S. video subscribers, compared with 13.2 million in Q2 2024. Paid Peacock subscriptions were at 41 million. The company reported Q2 revenue of $30.3 billion, up 2.1% year over year.
Charter’s most recent financial results, announced last week, saw it ending the quarter with 27.9 million residential broadband subscribers, versus 28.3 million the same quarter a year earlier; 12.1 million residential video subscribers, down from 12.7 million; and 10.5 million residential mobile lines, up from 8.5 million. The company said it lost 117,000 broadband subscribers in Q2 alone -- better than the 149,000 losses in Q2 2024, but higher than Wall Street analysts expected.
Charter shares have tumbled since then -- down more than 18% over the past five days. Comcast shares closed Thursday at $33.23, up 2.3% for the day.
Expectations for Comcast results were lower than they were for Charter, MoffettNathanson's Craig Moffett noted Thursday. Cable is hurt by the market's lack of confidence in its broadband business, with mobile growth not offsetting that broadband bearishness, he said.
Pointing to Comcast's T-Mobile mobile virtual network operator partnership (see 2507230013), Cavanagh said it lets Comcast expand its mobile offering to business customers. At the same time, he said, Comcast "continue[s] to value" its Verizon MVNO.
Cavanagh also said the addition of NBA content this fall will mean Peacock will offer more live hours of sports than any streaming platform in 2026. A $3-a-month price hike for Peacock, rolling out now, will help cover the increasing cost of sports rights, including the NBA contract, he added.
Comcast's spinoff of cable networks into a stand-alone business, Versant (see 2411200001), remains on track for completion at the end of 2025 or early 2026, Cavanagh said. Asked about future mergers and acquisitions, he said the "bar is super high" as Comcast focuses on its existing businesses.
CFO Jason Armstrong said the 100% bonus depreciation provision in the revised federal budget reconciliation package, signed into law last month, should result in a $1 billion annual tax benefit for Comcast for the next several years -- much of it due to broadband infrastructure spending. The tax legislation "provides a tailwind" as Comcast builds out an additional 1.2 million locations a year, he said.