Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Price Target Raised to $36.00

Key Points

• Evercore raised its price target on Comcast from $35 to $36 and kept an "outperform" rating, implying roughly a 22% upside from the prior close.
• Q1 beat expectations: Comcast reported $0.79 EPS vs. $0.73 expected and $31.46B revenue vs. $30.42B expected, driven by advertising/content strength and narrower broadband losses, with management saying Peacock should approach profitability and wireless monetization should improve in 2H 2026.
• Market reaction and consensus: Shares fell 6.9% to $29.45 despite the beat; MarketBeat shows a consensus "Hold" rating with an average price target of $35.13 (9 Buys, 17 Holds, 2 Sells), alongside notable insider selling and large institutional position changes.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by equities researchers at Evercore from $35.00 to $36.00 in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has an "outperform" rating on the cable giant's stock. Evercore's price target suggests a potential upside of 22.23% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Pivotal Research downgraded Comcast from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Arete Research set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Comcast in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Comcast in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.13.

Comcast Stock Down 6.9%

Shares of CMCSA stock traded down $2.19 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $29.45. 3,732,290 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 32,797,797. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.80. Comcast has a one year low of $25.75 and a one year high of $36.66. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $29.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The cable giant reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.06. Comcast had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 16.17%.The firm had revenue of $31.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.09 earnings per share. Comcast's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Comcast will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Comcast news, CEO Michael J. Cavanagh sold 57,947 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.66, for a total transaction of $1,892,549.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 622,336 shares in the company, valued at $20,325,493.76. The trade was a 8.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Comcast

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,498,626,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 140,343,399 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $4,194,929,000 after purchasing an additional 24,166,881 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 65.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 55,664,933 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $1,663,825,000 after purchasing an additional 21,958,603 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 4.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 180,687,135 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $5,677,190,000 after purchasing an additional 7,917,335 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 2,970.5% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,394,728 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $221,028,000 after purchasing an additional 7,153,895 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Comcast

Here are the key news stories impacting Comcast this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 financial beat — Comcast reported adjusted EPS of $0.79 vs. $0.73 expected and revenue of $31.46B (vs. ~$30.4B est.), driven by advertising and content strength. This is the principal catalyst for the rally as top- and bottom-line beats reduce short-term uncertainty. Comcast beats estimates on sports boost, easing broadband losses
• Positive Sentiment: Sports-driven ad spike and content momentum — incremental ad revenue from the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics and Super Bowl LX materially boosted the Content segment and helped revenue growth. Winter Olympics and Super Bowl power Comcast's Q1 ad sales spike
• Positive Sentiment: Connectivity trends improving — domestic residential broadband net losses narrowed (to ~65k) and Comcast added a large number of wireless lines (record mobile additions), signaling stabilization in core subscriber trends that investors view as a turning point. Comcast beats revenue, earnings expectations as broadband losses improve
• Positive Sentiment: Peacock and wireless monetization outlook — management expects Peacock to approach profitability next quarter and anticipates converting the majority of free wireless lines to paid in 2H 2026, suggesting future margin improvement. Comcast anticipates converting the significant majority of free wireless lines to paid in 2H
• Neutral Sentiment: New wireless plans / product expansion — Xfinity Mobile launched premium plans (Mobile Plus, Mobile Select) that could help ARPU and customer retention, but impact will be gradual. Xfinity Mobile Launches Mobile Plus and Mobile Select
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation debate — DCF / P/E analyses have suggested potential upside versus the market price, which supports buy-side interest but depends on execution (broadband stabilization, Peacock profitability). Is Comcast (CMCSA) Offering Value After DCF And P/E Suggest Large Upside To Fair Value?
• Negative Sentiment: Longer-term subscriber pressure and share drag — despite improvement this quarter, Comcast’s stock has been pressured by a year-long decline tied to persistent broadband subscriber losses; investors will watch whether the improvement sustains. Comcast Stock Is in a Slump. Earnings Must Show Its Subscriber Exodus Is Slowing.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider/institutional flows — recent filings show notable institutional position changes and some insider selling; while not unusual, these actions can weigh on sentiment if execution slips. Comcast shares jump as Q1 results top expectations and broadband losses improve

About Comcast

Comcast Corporation NASDAQ: CMCSA is a diversified global media and technology company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its principal operations are organized around Comcast Cable, which provides broadband internet, video, voice and wireless services to residential and business customers in the United States under the Xfinity and Comcast Business brands, and NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment group that develops, produces and distributes content across broadcast and cable networks, film, and streaming platforms.

NBCUniversal's assets include the NBC broadcast network, a portfolio of cable channels, Universal Pictures and other film and television production businesses, and the Peacock streaming service.

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