CMCSA Q3 '26

Moments, ranked

1. 108:58 ETQ&A▼ -1.80%

   “Yeah, as we really assess, the marketplace, we maintain, that gig pricing, at $30 to $40, in some cases, even less, is going to be really hard, to sustain, so as we assess, the overall environment, we're going to continue, to compete aggressively, but we're going to compete, with discipline, and really focus on, differentiating our products, adding value, through deepening, our customer relationships, and continuing, to provide a great, customer experience, so we're not giving, our customers a reason to leave.”

   Analyst asked: irrational?

   Management, 23.1x volume, adj. next 5 min: -1.87% raw vs -0.07% sector

   New, abnormal minute at the statement

   high confidence

2. 208:50 ETprepared▲ +0.62%

   “ARPA growth, over, we ended the quarter, 18% year-over-year, and percent, and EBITDA, was essentially flat, and while we were seeing, ongoing competitive pressure, in mobile, security solutions, like security edge, together,”

3. 308:54 ETprepared▲ +0.57%

   “to urge, in the fourth quarter, transformation efforts, and I would quantify that, at over 1 billion, dollars, reflecting the underlying strength, favorable timing impacts, previously announced, we, at least through the separation,”

4. 409:21 ETQ&A▼ -1.39%

   “We had an unusually high volume of those rolling off.”

5. 509:15 ETQ&A▲ +0.30%

   “So we're really leaning into this, and we think we're well positioned as this continues to progress over time.”

1. +0.44%0:00OperatorGood morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Comcast's third quarter earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in listening-only mode. Please note this conference call is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to Executive Vice President, Investor Relations, Ms. Marci Reibacher. Please go ahead, Ms. Reibacher.
2. +0.44%0:20ManagementThank you, Operator, and while we do slide two of the presentation, a company can also be found on our Investor Relations website, which contains our safe word-looking statements. In addition, during this call, we will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures. Please see our results of these non-GAAP financial measures to GAAP. Good morning, Marci, and good morning, everyone.
3. +0.22%1:05ManagementWe are on track to complete the transaction by the middle of next year.
4. +0.22%1:15ManagementIt includes, and I'm pleased, that credibility, a few minutes highlighting what gives us that confidence.
5. +0.22%1:55ManagementWe have been operating in an intensely competitive environment for some time, and promotional satellite is not yet a material factor. We recognize the importance of anticipating emerging forms of competition, and we are making fundamental changes to our pricing,
6. +0.06%2:33Managementand we are making substantial changes to our high-performance products. We are the foundation of our products and services,
7. +0.01%3:16Managementranked number one nationally for consistent quality experience,
8. +0.01%3:22Managementsimplifying how custom, making it easier to do seamless experience,
9. -0.90%4:13Managementsubstantially larger than Challenger. We are 90% of Xfinity Mobile's churn,
10. -0.90%4:50Managementexpanding portfolio, and increasing adoption of advanced services.
11. -0.53%6:09ManagementWe operate more efficiently.
12. -0.53%6:13ManagementMichelangelo has a meaningful value.
13. +0.25%7:22ManagementStrong competitiveness, leading film and television,
14. +0.29%8:14Managementdirect-to-consumer relations, key and fandom, growing franchises,
15. +1.07%9:07ManagementNBA, and, beyond sports, iconic live events, such as, and partners, choose franchises across, fragmentation, entertainment landscape,
16. +1.07%9:52Managementcompany and consumers, poorly, partners, and third-party audiences, where, it's bundled with YouTube, our content and brands,
17. +0.63%10:25Managementto a new technology and experience,
18. -0.26%12:02Managementincluding in Orlando, and, second,
19. -0.26%12:31Managementwe do Bondar, Albertson, the fundamentals of the business,
20. -0.21%13:10Management2027, with,
21. -0.21%13:55ManagementI'll start with an overview of our consolidated results, before turning the performance of our businesses. On a pro forma basis, adjusted earnings per share, let me now get into more detail on our, Mike outlined the scale of the transformation ahead, and the significant opportunity we see,
22. -0.66%14:27Managementby redesigning our organization, significant charge,
23. -0.88%15:04Managementin the fourth quarter, with Sierra, and, currently reduced customer, and eliminated,
24. -0.88%15:46Managementmore consumer-agentic world, innovation, pointed awareness of our wireless product, and now will push wireless relationship, has been a key tool, in building awareness.
25. +0.22%16:31ManagementBut we're now positioned to push premium plans, and new device offerings, which meaningfully reduce churn, security, protection, and cyber, as a category, we can reap as, confident these actions, will strengthen our competitive position, and unlock greater earnings, and cash flow potential, internal and external, our intention, to provide more context, early next year,
26. +0.62%17:13Managementcontinues to reflect, the financial impact, of the go-to-market changes, we've made, over the, declining 2.6%, and EBITDA, declining 4.4%, order demonstrated, we're beginning to see modest, free wireless lines, into paid, year-over-year declines, in convergence ARPA, and broadband ARPU,
27. +0.62%17:59Managementnarrowed sequentially, by 190 basis points, respect, forms EBITDA decline, narrowed by 140 basis points, proved again, year-over-year, reflecting stronger, customer perceptions, of our service experience, and approximately 45% of our broadband base, is now on gig, 10 percentage points, in these underlying financial, we continue migrating, broadband customers, to our new pricing, and packaging, and offering free wireless lines,
28. +0.01%18:38Managementand key measures, of our continued pressure, on broadband revenue, 144,000 broadband subscribers, and added 368,000, net wireless lines, in the quarter,
29. +0.27%19:15Managementa higher than typical, of our legacy broadband, and wireless, manage these transitions, and signs, into paying, higher value plan, residential,
30. +0.27%20:00Managementpostpaid, phone relationships, of our strategy, to build a wireless awareness, sell into multi-line, and premium customers, now account for roughly 25%, of improving mix, customer relationships, and support convergence,
31. +0.62%20:44ManagementARPA growth, over, we ended the quarter, 18% year-over-year, and percent, and EBITDA, was essentially flat, and while we were seeing, ongoing competitive pressure, in mobile, security solutions, like security edge, together,
32. +0.48%21:29Managementhelping us increase the value, of our existing, customer relationships, healthy demand, for advanced connectivity, managed networking, and security solutions, I'd like to highlight, and EBITDA, grew more than 500 million, to 24 million,
33. +0.04%22:09Managementin the third quarter, of media results, 21 million of EBITDA, a 478 million, improvement, sub fees, and growth, in paid subscribers, 7 million year-over-year, demonstrating strong retention, even as we began implementing, a price increase,
34. +0.04%22:54Managementgrew 23%, driven by the FIFA World Cup, one streaming show, this summer, in the timing, of lower margin, rated 1.8 billion, in worldwide box office, to become Universal's biggest, box office record, for focus features, and became the top-grossing, original film,
35. +0.67%23:34Managementof an EBITDA decline, and Japan, often, this began in June, can, and financial performance, Hollywood should benefit, from the recent opening, of the new Fast and Furious, to remain headwinds,
36. +0.57%24:16Managementto urge, in the fourth quarter, transformation efforts, and I would quantify that, at over 1 billion, dollars, reflecting the underlying strength, favorable timing impacts, previously announced, we, at least through the separation,
37. +0.57%25:00Managementas we ensure both businesses, are positioned, with strong balance sheets, and investment grade, growth strategies, for the long,
38. +0.18%25:22Operatorwe'll now begin the question, and answer session, if you have a question, please press star, and the number one, on your touch-tone phone, if you wish, to be removed from the queue, please press star, and the number two, if using a speaker phone, you may need to pick up, the handset first, before pressing the numbers, once again, if there are any questions, please press star, the number one, on your touch-tone phone, our first question, is coming from Craig Moffitt, from Moffitt & Nathanson, your line is now live.
39. +0.18%25:50AnalystHi, thank you, a question for Jason, I guess, Jason, about a month ago, you talked about, irrational competition, you mentioned it, short, a short time ago, in your, in your prepared remarks, as well, in the, just in the past, I guess, two weeks or so, we've seen, AT&T raised prices, pretty considerably, we've seen, just about everybody, now, start to raise prices, in broadband, I know it's very early days, but have those, price changes, that have happened in the market, had any, impact yet, on the kind of results, that you're seeing, as, the, the competition, I guess, to use your words, maybe becomes a little less,
40. -1.66%26:33Analystirrational?
41. -1.66%26:36ManagementHey, thanks Craig, it's Jason, I'll start, and Steve can, chime in, see at the end of the second, $1,200, plus more expensive,
42. -1.77%27:18Managementwith construction, deploying fiber, going up, against, you know, what we saw, is $30 to $40 pricing, you know, in specific markets, in the third quarter, as we look at, the return profile, of that, you know, to us, that, that is a rational competition, a lot of people have asked us, to sell, you know, on our wireless strategy, and sort of pointed the finger, back at us, and said, well, you guys are offering, free wireless lines, isn't that irrational? I would just point out, we actually think, we're competing very rationally, in wireless, when we offer, a free wireless line, it is against, an NB&O model, the extent people, are using our network, engaging with us, there could be within a year,
43. -1.80%28:02Managementto a very rational price point, we think, and then our goal, is obviously to upsell them, over time, so I won't call, the last couple weeks, as a, you know, real change in trend, I think it continues, to be very competitive, but Steve can fill in, some of the details as well. Yeah, as we really assess, the marketplace, we maintain, that gig pricing, at $30 to $40, in some cases, even less, is going to be really hard, to sustain, so as we assess, the overall environment, we're going to continue, to compete aggressively, but we're going to compete, with discipline, and really focus on, differentiating our products, adding value, through deepening, our customer relationships, and continuing, to provide a great, customer experience, so we're not giving, our customers a reason to leave.
44. -1.80%28:43OperatorCertainly, next question is coming, from Michael Rollins, from the city, your line is now live.
45. -1.80%28:50AnalystThanks, and good morning, so keeping on, the theme of broadband, and convergence, you know, curious, as you're at, an 18% penetration, of your residential, broadband customers, is there a, a tipping point, that, we should all keep in mind, that you can get to, where that then, starts to show, a meaningfully, better performance, in converged revenue, and particularly, in broadband, you know, as you keep building, that scale, of the bundle.
46. -1.51%29:23ManagementSo, I'll jump in there, you know, we feel, if I leadership, that helps with the offload, which enables us, to create a great, value proposition, that's resonating, with our customers, as you stated, at 18% penetration, 7% of lines, there's a huge ups, switching activity, slow down a bit, in the quarter, you know, with some of the new, product offerings, in the marketplace, some of the new, converged offerings, in the marketplace, well, that being said, we still added, you know,
47. -1.16%30:05Managementit'll be our best, strategically, how we're attacking, the value of convergence, secondarily, it increased awareness, with our customer base, which was hugely important, and that has since, driven adoption, and expanded, the wireless space, and the great news is, 70 portings, very similar, to a paid customer, usage is similar, to a paid customer, our premium mix, is actually a bit higher,
48. -1.16%30:49Managementin that free line base, as we really leaned, into the premium segment, good news there, as we continue, to see those lines, per account, increase over time, so really, really pleased, with that strategy, then as I touched on, you know, leaning into the premium strategy, if you go back, a year or so ago, we weren't even competing, in that marketplace, we're now connecting, at about 40% attached, and 25% of our base, has a premium product, quality of our, of our mobile customer base, which is great, and now we're really focusing, on investing in multi-line attach, and further deepening, our relationships, which is hugely important to us, so you know, I think once again, back to that 7% number, we have a long runway, ahead of us,
49. -0.50%31:33Managementand we really like, the benefits we see, in the broadband base, when we do attach,
50. -0.50%31:42Operatorour next question, is coming from John Hudlick, from UBS, your line is now live,
51. -0.50%31:47Analystgreat thank you, maybe a couple questions, on Peacock from Mike, obviously strong, profitability this quarter, do you expect that to continue, or on a quarterly basis, going forward, anything you can tell us about, sort of longer term, target margins, and then, should we see an uptake, in the overall profitability, of the Peacock business, when the YouTube, agreement kicks in,
52. -0.22%32:09Managementearly next year? 48 million this quarter, increase that was, or so far successfully landed, in the, I think the quarters ahead, are different prospective years, and an annual basis, and I'm looking forward, to continue to drive,
53. -0.22%32:53Managementprofitability in the business, plus library, plus originals, it's a formula that we like, what we see, it works in concert, with what we're doing at NBC, and Universal Studio, you mentioned separately, was YouTube, so let me just come back,
54. -0.40%33:30Managementanniversary of Peacock, we're based, what you can point recently, we open our, in the ecosystem, certainly having Peacock, you've seen us do things,
55. -0.61%34:15Managementtalk about YouTube for a second, of YouTube premium, with what makes YouTube, particularly attractive, content, consume there, so there's an awareness, of, familiar with our brands, and franchises, to reach,
56. -0.61%34:54Managementmain, good about the, with YouTube as well, we extended our linear portfolio distribution, deal with YouTube TV, expanded some aspects, our advertising relationships with them, and about the relationship with YouTube, and went into the, into the new year,
57. -0.71%35:27Managementwhen we start to get ready to,
58. -0.76%36:06Operatorour next question, is, we're from Jessica Reefer, like from Bank of America, your line is now live.
59. -0.76%36:11AnalystThank you, I guess just maybe, staying on NBCU, but moving on to advertising, can you, give, you know, give us an update on what you're seeing, in the overall market, any flow through benefits from the World Cup, and just a follow up on Peacock, I asked this question in court, but do you feel like you have enough scale, and are there any other, you've obviously just talked to the YouTube premium bundle,
60. -0.76%36:35Managementany thoughts on other partnerships, or, you know, any thoughts on other partnerships, or, you know,
61. -0.76%36:35Analystany thoughts on other partnerships, or, you know, any thoughts on other partnerships, or, you know, any thoughts on other partnerships, or, you know, any thoughts on other partnerships, or, you know, bundling, which seems like the direction the industry is headed anyway.
62. -0.76%36:44ManagementHey Jessica, and strength, obviously. I mean, in terms of scale, I think as I just commented on Peacock, we have a strategy of consumer,
63. -0.54%37:28Managementand that's working, and we are open to doing more of the same, and it's key to the fundamental, you know, strategy of the new NBC Universal. Make the point that, we have scale, as I talked about last, scale in terms of our position in biz business, sports, and NBC sports, leading brand,
64. -0.36%38:09Managementand the greatest secular pressure, which is, you know, pay TV networks, a very outstanding and stable leadership team. So I think we have the ingredients we need to what NBC Universal and Sky together are gonna be once we complete.
65. -0.36%38:42OperatorOur next question is coming from Cutdown Morale from Evercore ISI, your line is now live.
66. -0.36%38:48AnalystGreat, thank you for taking the questions. I was hoping to get more color on the operating and cost transformation plan. I know it's early days, but is there anything more you can share, on how we should think about the financial implications beyond the Q4 charge, especially as we look to 2027, operating even on free cash flow trends? And importantly, you know, I know this is not just a cost cut exercise, it's a reshaping of how you operate with the goal to reinvest in the business. So, what can these reinvestments look like? Will this be about driving growth in areas like mobile, or edge compute, or maybe helping to reshape your ongoing go to market evolution, including, pricing contracts that impact ARPU? Thank you.
67. -0.10%39:31ManagementI'll start, and I think you, so you're spot on. So what we said is we'll take in the fourth quarter, that is to get ahead of, you know, cost actions that'll facilitate sort of a fast start into 2027 as we, you know, get into some of these initiatives. But you're right to sort of more broadly frame this as a transformation exercise. We don't look at it as a cost cutting exercise. This is the ability to simpler, to be more nimble in decision making. And I think really create capacity. It's the knowns. You talked about it. Steve talked about it. You know, pushing into wireless. We've had the free line strategy. You know, we're gonna increasingly push into premium.
68. -0.17%40:15ManagementWe see a place for us in multi-lines. I think that's a big opportunity. Business services, which we haven't talked about. We've had a history of pushing into additional markets through advanced services and adjacent products across a, you know, a continually expanding base. There's more opportunities to do that. So freeing up capacity to do more of that. And then there's the other, you know, perhaps more speculative things, but things we gotta go take our shot at. And see, you know, what's real over time. And have some growth drivers that are in addition to sort of what I just laid out. So you mentioned edge compute. That's a very good one. We're staring at that right now. We've got, you know, 1400 sort of hefty megawatts of capacity. That's a big opportunity.
69. -0.17%40:59ManagementI wouldn't put that in front of you, you know, super near term. But that's one thing we're investing in. You know, obviously to, we think about all these. That's the opportunity around transformation. And it's obviously sort of strengthening our competitive position. It is unlocking greater earnings and cash flow potential for the long term at its core. But, you know, namely in the form of growth. Thanks, Cutgun. Operator, next question please.
70. -0.32%41:24OperatorOur next question is coming from Sean Diffley from Morgan Stanley. Your line is now live.
71. -0.32%41:29AnalystGreat, thanks very much, team, too, if I may. First I wanted to hear how you're thinking about your overall pricing power in broadband. And do you think the rise of AI agents like Muse could potentially impact the connectivity sector? And do you think it could be a deflationary force or an opportunity for you on both the customer acquisition and retention front? And then second, I think this is a great question. Would you ever consider doing a wholesale partnership with a satellite player leveraging your CBRS spectrum and Wi-Fi, or do you think that'd be too great of a risk to enable a potentially disruptive competitor down the line?
72. -0.17%42:01ManagementThanks. All right, Jason, let me start with, Steve will pile on, as you mentioned, with, you know, we've obviously, there's been a,
73. -0.17%42:31Managementyou have a product, you still want this, there are broadband usage up, you know, 10% year over year, pretty consistent rate, more in an agentic, by the way, the industry's pretty well positioned. I think if you look at the number of devices in particular that are hung off base, continues to move higher, they're using you more year over year,
74. -0.14%43:15Managementthey're using you more, the industry checks the box. Within your product category, you know, where are you on the scale? You have forms of differentiation that increasingly protect you against this question. So, yeah, I think as you think about the things we've said, you know, over the course of the past year, in terms of the transformation efforts, we are leaning heavily into the customer experience, right? Whether that was addressing pain points and the price into, how do we lean into additional drivers of growth over time where we actually think we can differentiate, right? Wireless is a great way to do that. It's good when we offload at a higher rate, you know, increasingly penetrate multi-lines.
75. -0.14%43:56ManagementWe do think we can reinvent, as I mentioned. So all these things, initiation, hence, parts of ways we can play offense, right? So if you look at where, you know, wireless is a great example. I think, you know, anybody looking to play offense.
76. -0.27%44:39ManagementBasically, we've launched an agentic front end from Cresta for our assisted channels, which is really helping us effectively manage bot to human interactions, and over time, also in partnership with Sierra, bot to bot interactions. And all this is supported by our personalized data models and offer recommendation engine, which really enables us to differentiate treatments depending on the type of transaction and the specific customer. And on top of that, additionally, we joined the recently announced personal agent protocol group. And this was led by Sierra and Meta, and that's to develop standards for personal agents interacting with businesses, providing additional visibility and control. So we're really leaning into this, and we think we're well positioned as this continues to progress over time.
77. +0.30%45:23ManagementAnd then to your second part of your question, you know, today we do partner with Starlink today in Comcast business. We combine our very pleased with our MV&O partners, Verizon, T-Mobile, they're great. But as we've always shown, you know, we're open to strategic discussions and partnerships that make sense. Thanks, Sean. Operator, next question, please.
78. +0.30%45:53OperatorOur next question is coming in from Michael Lang from Goldman Sachs. Your line is now live.
79. +0.30%45:57AnalystHey, good morning. Thank you for the question. I'll ask a couple about parks. First, it was encouraging to hear about parks performance expected to strengthen throughout 2027. Just in terms of some of the factors that you called out, on the Orlando side, you know, when do you think we could see Orlando trends begin to improve? Will we have to wait until the lapping of those initial headwinds in June of 2027? And then anything you could share as it relates to kind of in-state, out-of-state, and international patrons to Orlando? And then second, just on Hollywood, maybe just philosophically, like how do you usually think
80. +0.81%46:40Analystabout the ROIs for new attractions like the fast coaster? Is that, you know, a capacity expansion and attendance opportunity? Is that a pricing opportunity? Just would love some thoughts around that. Thank you very much.
81. +0.81%46:54ManagementSure. Thanks, Michael. So the lapping 2025 around, you know, June of this year. So I think in and start to learn the things we can, you know, take care of. And then, you know, we're going to have to get the park in control.
82. +0.35%47:38ManagementSo we've got a new head of marketing. So we're going to bring some promotional and product packages into the market. Three park passes and the like. Really focus on media investment to get people into our collection of parks in Orlando. Operationally, we're doing a lot of work. The team's doing well to, you know, make progress on epic capacity, which is another item I talked about earlier, to get reliability of attractions and to put load times. And that's a combination of just getting the tech settled down, getting the staff trained to load and unload at the right speed and the like. Things that, you know, are just a challenge, a particular challenge given the sophistication of that park.
83. +0.27%48:21ManagementBut we are going to want long-term growth in Orlando. Next year we'll have fast attraction coming into the, not epic, but the other parks. So the whole campus will be, you know, be an investment area, you know, for the future. The team's got lots of ideas and it's an important market for us and will be there when you step back and look at Orlando on a two-year period. You know, we've got a, you know, attendance, per cap spending, overall financial performance. They're all materially above where they were a couple of years ago. And guest satisfaction continues to be strong. So before going to California, I mean,
84. +0.36%49:06Managementthe point is we invest with a long, these are long duration assets. We're going to have these for decades and decades and decades. So once you're in one, you then move to what brings incremental attendance, you know, refreshes the attendance that you're going to have, takes you above the baseline that you would otherwise have. And that's where something like the coaster in Hollywood, you know, comes into, you know, which I think is, there's a natural, sort of, I think of as already, you know, built. You see us in comparison. You see us in competitors that are good at that. And you factor all that into your ROI calculations to make sure that you're
85. +0.36%49:49Managementgetting the lift. And it could be a combination of pricing and attendance that you model out against what you hope to do. Fantastic. And we'll be bringing a version of it to Orlando and any attractions. Thanks, Mike. Operator.
86. +0.09%50:16OperatorOur final question today is coming from Sebastiano Petty from J.P. Morgan. Your line is now live.
87. +0.09%50:20AnalystHi. Thank you for taking the question. Just a quick follow-up. Jason, in your prepared remark, you talked about I think there's a higher than typical volume of customers facing transition. Can you maybe just help unpack what that is? Does that pertain to the legacy customers? Is that new pricing and packaging customers? Just wanted to kind of double-click on that.
88. +0.09%50:41ManagementYeah. Thanks, Sebastiano. I'll start. Steve can chime in as well. But what we're referring to there is, you know, it's largely two years. We had our job on that. But there's highlighted that this quarter. We had an unusually high volume of those rolling off. In addition to, you know, what I've highlighted before, which is a very good thing. I think you covered it, Jason.
89. -1.39%51:23ManagementBrian is here. So I'm going to hand it to him for a few comments before we go. We spent years building. It transforms itself. We're meeting the moment. And I think you've heard really good plans,
90. -1.39%51:56Managementthe transformation plan and lines accomplished,
91. -1.03%53:05Managementexcited about what we're going to share and some of the relationships we're going to be able to have. It really gives us a unique place in the market, working with hopefully everybody or many companies. We launched the MBA season and Odyssey. So many ideas that, you know, we have a lot of great ideas that the team, when we go there and talk to them,
92. -1.03%53:45Managementmany years, actions and creative lots to do. We have a discipline to our balance sheet. Go on and want to thank the teams for what they've accomplished this quarter and look forward to doing it again. Thank you.
93. +0.45%54:08OperatorThat does conclude today's conference call. A replay of the call will be available starting at 1130 Eastern Time today on Comcast Investor Relations website. Thank you for participating. You may all disconnect.