Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) on Thursday reported first-quarter earnings that surpassed expectations, but revenue fell short. Closely watched data on new high-speed internet customers beat projections.
Earnings per Share registered at 76 cents, adjusted, as opposed to the 68 cents expected in a survey of analysts
Revenue, however, proved another story, coming in at $26.86 billion, compared to $27.2 billion expected in the survey
The number of high-speed internet customers: 375,000 vs. 353,000 net adds expected.
Comcast said its revenue miss was due in part to the difficulty in comparing this quarter with the first quarter of 2018, which included NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics and Super Bowl. Comcast had surpassed estimates on the top and bottom lines for the last two quarters and has seen its stock rise 25% over the past 12 months.
Comcast said this quarter reflected its best quarterly EBITDA cable growth in over 10 years with a 9.8% increase to $5.7 billion. The increase reflects higher revenue despite a 0.8% increase in operating expenses.
With analysts anticipating a decline in Comcast’s video segment, the company has laid out plans to branch out further into streaming. This quarter, Comcast lost 121,000 video customers compared with 96,000 during the same period last year.
Comcast’s report included performance for British broadcaster Sky for the second time following its acquisition last year. Comcast reported pro forma first-quarter revenue for Sky of $4.8 billion, driven mainly by higher content revenue.
Comcast shares climbed $1.35, or 3.2%, to $43.20
