Comcast Q1 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Leadership and strategic pivot: Comcast reorganized its leadership with Michael J. Cavanagh as Co‑CEO and Steve Croney running Connectivity & Platforms as the company implements a “strategic pivot” and operational restructuring to improve performance.
• Connectivity momentum but near‑term ARPU pressure: Broadband net losses improved by 117,000 YoY (first YoY improvement since Q4 2020) and Comcast posted a record 435,000 wireless net additions, but broadband ARPU fell 3.1% and management expects incremental ARPU pressure for another quarter.
• Media strength offset by rights costs; cash generation strong: Major sporting events drove roughly $2 billion in ad sales and helped Peacock add 2 million subscribers (46 million total) with revenue up >70% and the service “on track to approach profitability,” yet NBA rights caused media EBITDA dilution and adjusted EBITDA declined 9%; Comcast reported EPS of $0.79, free cash flow of $3.9 billion, returned $2.5 billion to shareholders, and ended the quarter with net leverage around 2.3x.

Comcast NASDAQ: CMCSA executives told investors the company began 2026 with early signs of progress from a strategic pivot in its connectivity business, record wireless additions, and a media quarter boosted by major sporting events, while acknowledging near-term margin pressure from pricing and investment decisions.

Leadership changes and company-wide focus

In prepared remarks, Brian Roberts said the company has “taken a hard look” at both the market and its performance and made “real changes,” including a new leadership structure with Michael J. Cavanagh serving as Co-CEO and taking the day-to-day lead on improvements, and Steve Croney “fully running connectivity and platforms.” Roberts said Croney has brought in new talent and is “quickly restructuring a lot of the operations.”

Roberts said the company has aligned around “a clear set of priorities with a sense of urgency,” and emphasized opportunities to connect big events and launches across the business, including “the mobile launch we just announced, the Olympics, the Super Bowl, or Xfinity’s new membership program.”

Connectivity: broadband losses improve, wireless hits a record quarter

Cavanagh said Comcast’s first-quarter results included an improvement in broadband net losses of more than 100,000 year-over-year, which he called the first year-over-year improvement since the fourth quarter of 2020. He also said Comcast delivered “the best wireless net additions of any quarter in our history,” describing both trends as early proof that a “strategic pivot” in Connectivity & Platforms is underway.

Chief Financial Officer Jason S. Armstrong provided more detail, saying broadband subscriber losses improved by 117,000 year-over-year to 65,000. He attributed the improvement to better connects, lower voluntary churn, higher take rates on gig-plus speeds, and continued uptake of the free wireless line offer. Comcast also amplified Xfinity branding during what management called “Legendary February,” highlighting gig speeds and a five-year price guarantee; Armstrong said Comcast estimates those specific offers accounted for “over half” of the year-over-year improvement in subscriber losses.

Armstrong said broadband ARPU declined 3.1%, reflecting the absence of a beginning-of-year rate increase, the new go-to-market pricing (including Legendary February offers), and dilution from free wireless lines. He said the company expects “incremental pressure” on broadband ARPU for another quarter, with improvement later as Comcast anniversaries early transition efforts and free lines begin rolling into paying relationships “in greater volumes as we exit this year.”

On wireless, Armstrong said Comcast added 435,000 net wireless lines, its strongest quarter on record, with nearly half of residential postpaid phone connects coming from customers taking a free line. He said wireless service revenue grew 15%, while convergence revenue (broadband revenue plus wireless service revenue) declined 2.8% and convergence ARPA was down 0.8%. Comcast ended the quarter with 9.7 million total lines, representing 16% penetration of its domestic residential broadband base.

Croney, the CEO of Connectivity & Platforms, said the company is “mobile-led,” is improving lifecycle management, and is seeing about 30% of line net additions come from existing mobile customers adding lines. He also highlighted that Comcast offloads “about 90% of XM traffic” and said it has “lower acquisition costs because we’re selling to our base.”

Management also discussed premium plans. Cavanagh said Premium Unlimited has broadened the offering for customers seeking a more feature-rich experience, and Armstrong said premium plans now account for about 30% of postpaid phone connects. Cavanagh said Comcast launched a new “Mobile Plus” premium plan that includes “lifetime device protection for all devices” at no additional charge as part of the plan.

In Q&A, Croney said Comcast saw improvement “across all” competitive environments when asked about fixed wireless versus fiber dynamics. He also said the company expects the market to remain highly competitive, including from satellite becoming “more promotional,” but argued Comcast’s network “exceeds the capabilities of fixed wireless and satellite,” which he said are capacity constrained. Responding to a question about fiber overbuilds, Croney said “about 55%,” without further context on the overlap metric.

Media and Peacock: record ad sales and subscriber gains, NBA costs weigh on EBITDA

Cavanagh described “Legendary February” as a 17-day stretch featuring the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, Super Bowl 60, and the NBA All-Star Game. He said more than 225 million Americans watched across those events, driving record advertising sales of roughly $2 billion during the period and helping accelerate Peacock’s momentum.

Cavanagh said Peacock added 2 million net new subscribers in the quarter, with revenue up more than 70%, putting Peacock “on track to approach profitability for the first time next quarter.” Armstrong reported that Peacock paid subscribers rose 5 million year over year and 2 million sequentially to 46 million. He said Peacock’s EBITDA loss was $432 million, and that the quarter reflected peak dilution from the first year of the new NBA contract because Comcast straight-lines amortization of rights, with about 50% of games played in the first quarter.

Armstrong said media revenue increased over 60%, including $2.2 billion of incremental revenue from the Olympics and Super Bowl. Excluding those events, he said media revenue was up 13%, driven by 21% growth in distribution and 5% growth in advertising. Media EBITDA was a loss of $426 million, which Armstrong said was consistent with expected NBA-related dilution; he said the second quarter should mark a “meaningful inflection point,” with Peacock expected to approach profitability.

Parks and studios: Epic Universe demand, but some international pressure

Cavanagh said Parks generated “healthy underlying EBITDA growth” driven by robust demand at Epic Universe. Armstrong said theme parks revenue increased 24% and EBITDA rose 33%; adjusting for roughly $100 million of Epic pre-opening costs in the prior-year quarter, he said parks EBITDA grew over 7%.

Armstrong said Orlando performed strongly as Epic drove higher attendance and per-cap spending across the resort, helping position Universal Orlando as “a true week-long destination.” He said some pressure at other parks partially offset Orlando’s strength, including attendance impact in Osaka tied to “China-related inbound travel trends” and a “more challenging macroeconomic environment” in Beijing.

In studios, Cavanagh cited an “exceptional start” for Nintendo and Illumination’s “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” which he said has crossed $750 million globally and helped bring the franchise’s global box office gross to $2 billion. Armstrong added that studios results were aided by content licensing deals, including the renewal of “The Office” on Peacock, while noting that the intercompany impact drives larger eliminations at the Content & Experiences level.

Financial results, investment posture, and capital returns

Armstrong said first-quarter revenue increased 11% on a pro forma basis, benefiting from the Olympics and Super Bowl; excluding those events, he said revenue rose low single digits. Adjusted EBITDA declined 9% as Comcast invested in the broadband go-to-market pivot and customer experience improvements and absorbed the full cost of the first year of the new NBA contract, which he said produced peak dilution in the quarter.

Armstrong reported earnings per share of $0.79 and free cash flow of $3.9 billion. Comcast returned $2.5 billion to shareholders, including $1.25 billion in share repurchases and $1.2 billion in dividends. He said net leverage ended the quarter at 2.3x and noted leverage could “tick up a bit” as Versant exits the trailing 12-month calculation, with the company’s intention to return leverage to 2.3x.

During Q&A, Cavanagh said the company views negative sentiment around the cable segment as an opportunity and said Comcast is “undervalued, frankly,” adding that executing the connectivity plan is “plan A.” Roberts said Comcast will continue to evaluate opportunities to create shareholder value while trying to avoid distractions and focusing first on execution.

About Comcast NASDAQ: CMCSA

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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