Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) reported mixed quarterly results Thursday — beating Wall Street estimates on earnings but falling short on revenue — and posted a big beat on high-speed internet adds.
Earnings were 65 cents per share vs. 60 cents per share forecast.
Revenue was $21.74 billion vs. $21.86 billion forecast.
The company also reported a net increase of 260,000 high-speed internet customers vs. 195,000 forecast by industry watchers.
The company's second-quarter revenue represents a 2% year-over-year increase. Earnings per share jumped 25% from the year-ago period.
The report comes on the heels of a busy quarter of evolving M&A strategy for the media giant, which owns NBCUniversal. Comcast has been in bidding wars for U.K. broadcaster Sky and 21st Century Fox (NASDAQ: FOXA) assets, but last week abandoned its bid for Fox.
Comcast's pursuit of new media assets comes amid consistent declines in video customers for the last four quarters.
Last quarter, Comcast saw a revenue boost from NBC's coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl. Revenue from the company's NBCUniversal segment — absent those one-time boosts — was flat in the second quarter.
The company also revealed Thursday it had declared a quarterly dividend of 19 cents a share on the company’s common stock. The quarterly dividend is payable on October 24, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on October 3
Shares began trading Thursday up $1.25, or 3.7%, to $34.67, within a 52-week trading range of $30.43 to $44.00
