Comcast $CMCSA's Peacock posted its first quarterly profit on Thursday, as the FIFA World Cup, the NBA playoffs, and reality series Love Island USA drove subscriber growth and advertising revenue higher.
Comcast's streaming service earned $189 million in adjusted EBITDA and added 2 million paid subscribers in the second quarter
Cheng Xin / Getty Images
Comcast $CMCSA's Peacock posted its first quarterly profit on Thursday, as the FIFA World Cup, the NBA playoffs, and reality series Love Island USA drove subscriber growth and advertising revenue higher.
The streaming service reported adjusted EBITDA of $189 million for the April-June quarter, a $290 million improvement from the same period a year earlier, the company said. Peacock added 2 million paid subscribers during the quarter, bringing its total to 48 million. Revenue rose to $1.9 billion, up from $1.2 billion in the prior-year period. The service had posted an adjusted EBITDA loss of $101 million in the second quarter of 2025.
Analyst expectations called for roughly 500,000 net subscriber additions in the quarter, according to Reuters. Total revenue and adjusted earnings per share of $1.04 also beat analyst estimates, according to CNBC.
The FIFA World Cup, which began in mid-June, contributed $440 million in incremental revenue to Comcast's media segment and drove what the company called record engagement across Telemundo and Peacock, including the top ten most-watched matches in Spanish-language television history. Higher domestic distribution revenue at Peacock also reflected higher average rates and a larger paid subscriber base compared to the prior year.
Comcast co-CEOs Brian L. Roberts and Mike Cavanagh said in a statement that Peacock "reached profitability for the first time, supported by a broad slate of sports, entertainment and major live events."
Comcast's film studio also turned in a robust performance, with hits like The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and Obsession pushing revenue 25% higher to $3 billion. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has grossed over $1 billion at the worldwide box office year-to-date, the company said.
The milestone for Peacock comes as Comcast posted a $432 million quarterly loss for the service in the first quarter, despite crossing $2 billion in revenue for the first time. At that point, CFO Jason Armstrong had signaled that the second quarter should represent a turning point for the streamer.
The profit also arrives as Comcast prepares to spin off NBCUniversal and Sky into a separate publicly traded company. Co-CEO Brian L. Roberts told investors Thursday that his outlook on the separation has only improved since it was first disclosed, saying he feels "more positive and energized today than I was on the day we announced."
Comcast's core connectivity business continued to face pressure. The company lost 167,000 broadband residential customers and 280,000 cable TV subscribers during the quarter, though it added a record 448,000 wireless lines, bringing its total mobile subscriber count to 10.2 million.
Comcast stock was up 3% in premarket trading.
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