Comcast reported a second straight profitable quarter at Peacock, with $261M in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization on $1.8B of revenue.
Peacock's paid subscribers grew 17% from a year earlier to 48M, helped by record-high viewership for the FIFA World Cup final games on Telemundo and Peacock.
That's a sharp reversal from the streamer's $217M pre-tax loss in the same quarter last year, according to Reuters. Media division revenue climbed 13% to $5.36B, lifted by soccer World Cup programming and "Love Island USA."
Universal also contributed, passing $5B in global box office on the back of Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey," which has grossed nearly $1.9B worldwide since its July opening.
Adjusted EBITDA in the film unit rose 19% to $402M. Theme parks went the other way, with revenue down 4.4% to $2.6B and profit at parks falling 17% to $780M.
The cable business keeps shrinking
Comcast lost 144K residential broadband customers in the quarter, worse than the 133K analysts expected and deeper than the 91K lost a year ago.
Video customers fell by 274K. Wireless was the offset, adding 368K lines, though that missed Wall Street's 392K forecast.
Comcast Gained Wireless Lines While Broadband and Cable Shrank
Net customer change in Q3 2026 (quarter ended Sept. 30), in thousands.
Bar chart. Net change (K). Broadband: Net change (K) -144. Cable TV: Net change (K) -274. Wireless lines: Net change (K) 368.
Aggressive price cuts from AT&T and smaller fiber providers are making broadband customers harder to keep without heavy discounting. Comcast now runs 10.6M total wireless lines, and 40% of customers converting from free offers picked premium unlimited plans.
The split is still on track
Comcast confirmed its plan to separate NBCUniversal and Sky from the core connectivity business remains on schedule, with the spinoff targeted by mid-2027.
Overall revenue came in at $29.3B, adjusted earnings reached $1.07 per share against the $0.98 consensus, and adjusted EBITDA hit $9.1B versus forecasts of $8.9B. Free cash flow was $4.2B.
The company is reportedly planning significant job cuts as part of a restructuring of its cable, broadband, and wireless operations.
One half of Comcast is finally making money on streaming. The other half is still handing customers to cheaper rivals every quarter.
