Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) reported first-quarter earnings Thursday that beat analyst estimates on the top and bottom lines.
Earnings Per Share came in at 86 cents, topping the 80-cent-per-share, figure expected by experts. Revenue proved to be $31.01 billion vs. $30.5 billion.
High-speed internet customers totaled 262,000 vs. 229,000 net additions, according to analysts.
The company’s Europe-based Sky division saw its revenue slide 4.5% year over year to $4.8 billion, due to the impact of currency, as well as lower content revenue. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were projecting Sky revenue of $4.92 billion for the quarter.
Comcast’s Universal theme park business continued to recover after extended shutdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic. Revenue in the division soared more than 151% year over year to $1.56 billion, which exceeded analysts’ projected $1.44 billion
“Our recovery from the pandemic at theme parks has been fantastic and shows no signs of slowing down,” Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said in a statement.
NBCUniversal saw a roughly 46% revenue rise in the first quarter, which included $1.5 billion from the Beijing Olympics and the Super Bowl.
Advertising revenue jumped 59.2% during the quarter, in large part because of those two events.
Excluding revenue from the Beijing Olympics and the Super Bowl, Comcast said its media division brought in $5.38 billion of revenue during the quarter, an increase of 6.9% year over year.
Roberts said during Comcast’s earnings conference call that NBCUniversal’s streaming platform Peacock added 4 million paid subscribers to 13 million total. Peacock has 28 million monthly active users, up from 24.5 million, though Roberts added that the Olympics and the Super Bowl last quarter led to a spike in Peacock growth that will likely subside in quarters to come.
CMCSA shares pointed downward in price $1.71, or 3.9%, to $42.74.