Comcast Revenue Beat Expectations as Internet Customers Climb
Despite the collapse of the Time Warner Cable merger and an ongoing fight to rebuild its image amid customer-service issues, Comcast beat earnings estimates for the first quarter. The company’s revenue increased 2.6 percent to $17.9 billion, while its earnings per share rose 14.1 percent to $0.81.
High-speed Internet has continued to be a big growth area for the company, which added 407,000 Internet customers and saw revenue in that area climb 10.7 percent (the strongest rate growth in four years.)
Broadcasting the Super Bowl bowl on NBC didn’t hurt either, bringing in a cool $376 million in revenue for NBCUniversal. The company even claims that it was the most-watched television event of all time.
On the cable side, the company reports a 6.3 percent revenue increase to $11.4 billion. Still, it lost 8,000 cable subscribers in the quarter — a sign that viewers are continuing to “cutting the cord” and hunt for different entertainment options. Comcast also reported that 25 percent of its triple play customers now have X1, its new TV platform.
Capital expenditures rose 19.2 percent to $1.7 billion in the first quarter of 2015 compared to the first quarter of 2014. For cable communications, capital expenditures increased 26.2 percent during the same time period — — due to the increased deployment of X1, investments in cloud technology and attempts to increase network capacity.
Meanwhile, operating cash flow rose 7.6 percent and operating income jumped 9 percent.
