NBCUniversal's "Legendary February" drove a 61% jump in media revenue, while broadband losses improved by more than 100,000 year over year
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Comcast $CMCSA reported first-quarter revenue of $31.46 billion, beating analyst expectations, as NBC's broadcast of the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics pushed advertising sales to record levels. On an adjusted basis, the company earned $0.79 per share, clearing the $0.73 consensus estimate, according to CNBC.
NBCUniversal-driven media segment sales reached $7.28 billion, a gain of nearly 61% from the prior-year period. Advertising sales within the segment surged 135% to $3.45 billion; remove the two marquee February events from the calculation, however, and ad revenue advances to only $1.54 billion — a 4.7% gain — while overall segment growth narrows to roughly 13%, according to CNBC.
The company described February as a standout month. The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics averaged 23.5 million viewers, making it the most-watched Winter Games since 2014, and Super Bowl LX averaged 125 million viewers, the most-watched event in NBCUniversal's history, the company said. NBC received an average $8 million per 30-second ad during the Super Bowl, according to CNBC.
Peacock, Comcast's streaming service, added subscribers and revenue on the back of the sports programming. The platform ended the quarter with 46 million paying subscribers, up 12% from a year ago, and for the first time crossed the $2 billion revenue threshold, reaching $2.1 billion — roughly double its year-earlier total. Despite that growth, the service posted a $432 million quarterly loss, widening from $215 million twelve months prior. During the morning analyst call, CFO Jason Armstrong signaled that the second quarter should represent a turning point, with the streamer on track to near breakeven, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Outside of media, Comcast's connectivity and platforms unit — which houses its Xfinity broadband, cable TV, and mobile businesses — posted connectivity revenue of $11.6 billion, up 1.6%. Broadband subscriber losses totaled 65,000 for the quarter, a notably smaller deficit than the 183,000 customers shed in the comparable stretch of 2025. A record 435,000 wireless line additions pushed the company's mobile subscriber base to 9.7 million.
Universal's film division brought in $3.43 billion, a 21% increase, while the theme parks unit generated $2.33 billion — 24% more than a year earlier — with the recently opened Epic Universe complex contributing to the gain.
Net profit fell to $2.17 billion from $3.38 billion a year ago, a drop of about 36%. Adjusted EBITDA was $7.93 billion, down 17% from last year. Comcast generated $3.9 billion in free cash flow and returned $2.5 billion to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks. This was Comcast’s first earnings report since it spun off most of its cable network portfolio into Versant Media Group, a deal completed on January 2, 2026.
Comcast stock climbed as much as 8% in premarket trading.
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