Comcast Corp. reported fourth quarter earnings that surpassed analysts’ expectations. The telecom company also hiked its dividend for a fifteenth consecutive year.
Comcast’s adjusted profits for the three months ending in December came in at 82 cents per share, beating the Street consensus forecast by 5 cents. Revenues rose +0.6% year-over-year to $30.522 billion, also topping analysts' estimates of $30.32 billion.
Free cash flow was $1.33 billion, well below the $2.05 consensus estimate.
The company lost a net -26,000 broadband subscribers over the quarter.
Cable revenues grew 1.4% to $16.64 billion. Net new 5 million subscribers got added to its Peacock streaming service taking the total to exceed 20 million. Ad sales at NBCU rose +4% to $2.86 billion. Theme park revenues rose 12% to $2.11 billion notwithstanding COVID-19-related closures in China.