NBCUniversal streamer Peacock swung to a $189 million profit for the three months ended in June, its first quarter in the black, and added 2 million paid subscribers to reach 48 million.
Streaming, along with wireless and the studio numbers all contributed to parent Comcast‘s quarterly earnings report Thursday, its first since announcing it plans to split into two companies.
The FIFA World Cup, the NBA Playoffs, and Love Island USA were all key drivers for Peacock.
The Studios division had a standout quarter, with left-field horror hit Obsession taking in more than $400 million at the box office.
Comcast said total Content & Experiences saw $440 million in incremental revenue from the FIFA World Cup and Studios. Media and Studios both saw revenue surge 25% to, respectively, about $5.7 billion and $3 billion. Studios profit more than tripled to $202 million from $61 million. Media profit was up 3.7% to $708 million.
Comcast total revenue dipped 1.2% from the prior-year period to hit $29.9 billion. That beat Wall Street forecasts, as did adjusted earnings per share. Net income fell 68% but that’s because the year-earlier quarter was inflated by a one-time $9.4 billion gain – $7.1 billion net of tax – reflecting a check from Disney to acquire Comcast’s stake in Hulu.
The company, which has been actively restrucuturing, is reporting proforma numbers to account for the spinoff of Versant early this year as well as the sale of Sky Germany.
The World Cup ran from June 11 to July 19 on Telemundo and Peacock (and Fox of course) with the juggernaut final between Spain and Argentina generating record viewership that will boost the current third quarter. The final was the most-watched World Cup in Spanish-language history with 23.9 million tuning in to Telemundo and Peacock. Overall, it was the most-watched World Cup in Spanish-language history with an average of 6.3M viewers on Telemundo across the 104 games.
Curry Barker’s low-budget indie Obsession released May 15 quickly became a massive hit, becoming the top grossing film ever from ever Universal’s specialty label Focus Features. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie grossed more than $1 billion after its April bow. International distribution of Michael also buoyed studio profits, which rose to $141 million. For the current third quarter and beyond, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey just opened to massive numbers.
Theme parks, however, are facing headwinds. Higher revenue at domestic parks driven by the opening of Epic Universe in May 2025 were partially offset by lower revenue at our international parks. Profit declined, reflecting higher operating expenses which more than offset higher revenue.
Fresh off the Versant spin, which took effect last January, Comcast is now busy working on another, spinning off NBCUniversal and Sky into a standalone company, separate from the Connectivity & Platforms business. The NBCUniversal business will be run by Comcast co-CEO Mike Cavanagh. Comcast’s former CFO Michael Angelakis will become CEO of Comcast after the separation is complete, anticipated in about a year, and will join as a strategic advisor until then.
Shortly after that news hit in late June, Sky inked a £1.6 billion ($2.1 billion) deal to acquire ITV‘s television network operations, a major shakeup in the UK media landscape.
Wall Street is enthusiastic about the separation. It’s designed to unlock the value of assets that can likely perform better apart than together and is likely to generate M&A interest.
Connectivity & Platforms, total residential customer relationships decreased by 230,000 to 47.7 million, reflecting a decrease in domestic and international residential customer relationships.
Total domestic broadband residential customer net losses were 167,000, about in line with expectations. The company has been working hard with some success to slow the rate of decline here amid stiff competition from fiber and fixed wireless providers from AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile.
Total domestic wireless line net additions were 448,000 and total domestic video customer net losses were 280,000.
The division saw revenue dip 4.3% to $17 billion and earnings fall 8% to $6.4 billion.
“Second quarter results show continued progress against our strategic priorities,” said co-CEOs Brian Roberts and Cavanagh in a statement alongside the earnings. “In Connectivity & Platforms, our strategic pivot in broadband is gaining traction, and we are seeing that progress extend across the broader connectivity portfolio.
“Within Content & Experiences, Media delivered mid-single digit EBITDA growth and Peacock reached profitability for the first time, supported by a broad slate of sports, entertainment and major live events that drove strong engagement across our platforms. Our Studios continued to perform at a high level across franchises, animation, originals and specialty titles, capped by the recent success of The Odyssey. While we are seeing some near-term softness in Theme Parks, we remain confident in the long-term opportunity, supported by our world-class brands, attractive locations and proven ability to create attractions and experiences that drive real consumer demand.”
Investors will be looking for updates on Comcast’s numbers and plans on a post-earnings call set for 8:30 ET.
More to come