A big comeback for NBCUniversal paced Comcast’s results in the second quarter as the media giant beat Wall Street forecasts.
Total revenue climbed 20% to $28.5 billion, while earnings per share increased 22% to 84 cents. Wall Street analysts had expected earnings of 67 cents a share and revenue of $27.2 billion.
At NBCU, adjusted EBITDA rose 12.5% to $1.6 billion, including a loss of $363 million on Peacock, the company’s year-old streaming service. No new stats were offered for Peacock, which had 42 million sign-ups as of the end of the first quarter, about one-third of which translated to active users of the platform.
Comparisons with the second quarter of 2020, the depths of the coronavirus pandemic, were favorable. Theme parks had their first profitable quarter since the first one in 2020, driven by Universal Orlando results.
Overall revenue at NBCU jumped 26% to $5.2 billion, propelled by a 33% gain in advertising as well as momentum in distribution.
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The release of F9 boosted the film operations in the quarter, though revenue perked up a more modest 8% at the studio.
At Comcast Cable, the numbers followed a familiar pattern. Total broadband customer net additions were 354,000, while total video customer net losses were 399,000.
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