Comcast Reports 4th Quarter 2023 Results

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) today reported results for the quarter ended December 31, 2023.

“We capped off 2023 and the fourth quarter with excellent operational and financial performance," said Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Comcast Corporation. "For the third consecutive year, we generated the highest Revenue, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EPS in our company's history. At the same time, we invested in future growth, returned $16 billion to shareholders and maintained a healthy balance sheet. We drove strong revenue and Adjusted EBITDA growth in our Connectivity & Platforms businesses and continued to expand and upgrade our network to fuel broadband. We also reported the highest Adjusted EBITDA on record at Theme Parks; were the #1 studio in worldwide box office for the first time since 2015; and maintained Peacock's position as the fastest growing streamer in the U.S. 2024 is already off to a great start – I couldn't be more proud of how our company came together to deliver a record-breaking NFL Wild Card game on Peacock and the nation's biggest night on the Internet ever. Our unique and complementary capabilities will enable us to capitalize on the many opportunities ahead, and the Board's confidence in our future is reflected in today's announcement that we are increasing our dividend for the 16th consecutive year."

4th Quarter and Full Year 2023 Highlights:

• Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA in the Fourth Quarter Was Consistent With the Prior Year Period, Including Severance and Other, and Increased 3.2% for the Full Year; Adjusted EPS in the Fourth Quarter Increased 2.4% to $0.84 and Increased 9.3% to $3.98 for the Full Year; Generated Free Cash Flow of $1.7 Billion in the Fourth Quarter and $13.0 Billion for the Full Year
• Returned $4.7 Billion to Shareholders in the Fourth Quarter Through a Combination of $1.2 Billion in Dividend Payments and $3.5 Billion in Share Repurchases. Total Return of Capital to Shareholders for the Full Year was $15.8 Billion
• Increased Dividend by $0.08, or 6.9% Year-over-Year, to $1.24 per Share on an Annualized Basis for 2024, the 16th Consecutive Annual Increase; Increased Share Repurchase Authorization to $15 Billion
• Continued the Successful Execution of Our Domestic Network Expansion and Upgrade Strategy; Increased Homes and Businesses Passed in 2023 by 1.1 Million to 62.5 Million; Expanded Deployment of Mid-Split Technology to 35% of Our Footprint at Year-End; and Began Rolling-Out Multi-Gigabit Symmetrical Speeds Starting in Select Markets in the Fourth Quarter
• Domestic Broadband Average Rate Per Customer Increased 3.9% and Drove Domestic Broadband Revenue Growth of 3.7% in the Fourth Quarter and 4.2% for the Full Year
• Domestic Wireless Customer Line Net Additions Were 310,000 in the Fourth Quarter and 1.3 Million for the Full Year; Lines Increased 24% Compared to the Prior Year Period Reaching 6.6 Million
• Peacock Paid Subscribers Increased Nearly 50% Compared to the Prior Year Period to 31 Million, Including Net Additions of 3 Million in the Fourth Quarter. Peacock Revenue in the Fourth Quarter Increased 57%, Surpassing $1.0 Billion in Quarterly Revenue for the First Time; Adjusted EBITDA in the Fourth Quarter Improved Compared to the Prior Year Period
• Studios Ranked #1 in Worldwide Box Office for the Full Year, Including 3 of the Top 5 Films: Super Mario Bros. Movie, Oppenheimer and Fast X
• Theme Parks Generated Its Highest Adjusted EBITDA on Record for a Fourth Quarter and a Full Year. Adjusted EBITDA Increased 11.6% to $872 Million in the Fourth Quarter and 24.7% to $3.3 Billion for the Full Year

4th Quarter Consolidated Financial Results

Revenue increased 2.3% compared to the prior year period. Net Income Attributable to Comcast increased 7.8%. Adjusted Net Income decreased 3.1%. Adjusted EBITDA was consistent with the prior year period, including $527 million of severance and other in the quarter and $638 million of severance in the prior year period. Excluding severance and other⁷, Adjusted EBITDA decreased 1.2%.

Earnings per Share (EPS) increased 15.7% to $0.81. Adjusted EPS increased 2.4% to $0.84.

Capital Expenditures decreased 6.9% to $3.3 billion. Connectivity & Platforms’ capital expenditures decreased 19.4% to $2.1 billion, reflecting lower spending on customer premise equipment, scalable infrastructure and support capital, partially offset by higher investment in line extensions. Content & Experiences' capital expenditures increased 28.5% to $1.2 billion, reflecting increased investment in constructing the Epic Universe theme park in Orlando, which is scheduled to open in 2025.

Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities was $5.9 billion. Free Cash Flow was $1.7 billion.

Dividends and Share Repurchases. Comcast paid dividends totaling $1.2 billion and repurchased 81.9 million of its common shares for $3.5 billion, resulting in a total return of capital to shareholders of $4.7 billion.

Today, Comcast announced that it increased its dividend by $0.08, or 6.9% year-over-year, to $1.24 per share on an annualized basis for 2024. In accordance with the increase, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.31 per share on the company's stock, payable April 24, 2024, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on April 3, 2024. The Board of Directors also approved a new share repurchase program authorization, effective as of January 26, 2024, of $15 billion, which does not have an expiration date. We expect to repurchase shares of our Class A common stock under this authorization in the open market or private transactions, subject to market and other conditions.

Connectivity & Platforms

Revenue for Connectivity & Platforms was consistent with the prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA increased 3.1%, including $422 million of severance and other in the quarter and $456 million of severance in the prior year period. Excluding severance and other and the impact of foreign currency⁷, Adjusted EBITDA increased 2.4% due to growth in Residential Connectivity & Platforms Adjusted EBITDA and Business Services Connectivity Adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA margin increased 90 basis points to 37.1%. Excluding severance and other and the impact of foreign currency⁷, Adjusted EBITDA margin increased 110 basis points.

Total Customer Relationships for Connectivity & Platforms decreased by 183,000 to 52.1 million, reflecting decreases in Residential Connectivity & Platforms customer relationships. Total domestic broadband customer net losses were 34,000, total domestic wireless line net additions were 310,000 and total domestic video customer net losses were 389,000.

Residential Connectivity & Platforms

Revenue for Residential Connectivity & Platforms was consistent compared to the prior year period, but decreased when excluding the positive impact of foreign currency. Growth in residential connectivity revenue was driven by: international connectivity revenue due to increases in wireless revenue, reflecting higher sales of wireless devices and services, and in broadband revenue, as well as the positive impact of foreign currency; domestic broadband revenue due to higher average rates; and domestic wireless revenue due to an increase in the number of customer lines. The growth in residential connectivity revenue was offset by: a decrease in video revenue due to a decline in the number of video customers, partially offset by an increase in average rates and the positive impact of foreign currency; lower advertising revenue primarily due to a decline in domestic political advertising; and lower other revenue primarily due to lower residential wireline voice revenue, driven by a decline in the number of customers.

Adjusted EBITDA for Residential Connectivity & Platforms increased 3.3%, including $380 million of severance and other in the quarter and $449 million of severance in the prior year period. Programming expenses decreased primarily due to the decline in the number of domestic video customers, partially offset by domestic contractual rate increases, an increase in programming expenses for international sports networks and the impact of foreign currency. Non-programming expenses decreased primarily due to lower spending on marketing and promotion, lower fees paid to third-party channels related to advertising sales, lower technical and support costs, and lower severance and other. These decreases were partially offset by increased direct product costs associated with our wireless service, from increases in device sales and the number of customers receiving our wireless service, and by the impact of foreign currency. Excluding severance and other and the impact of foreign currency⁷, Adjusted EBITDA increased 1.9%. Adjusted EBITDA margin increased 120 basis points to 34.8%. Excluding severance and other and the impact of foreign currency⁷, Adjusted EBITDA margin increased 120 basis points.

Business Services Connectivity

Revenue for Business Services Connectivity increased due to an increase in revenue from small business customers, driven by higher average rates, and an increase in revenue from medium-sized and enterprise customers.

Adjusted EBITDA for Business Services Connectivity increased 2.1%, including $42 million of severance in the quarter and $7 million of severance in the prior year period. The increase in Adjusted EBITDA reflects higher revenue, partially offset by higher operating expenses primarily due to an increase in direct product costs and higher severance. Excluding severance and the impact of foreign currency⁷, Adjusted EBITDA increased 4.8%. Adjusted EBITDA margin decreased 200 basis points to 55.2%. Excluding severance and the impact of foreign currency⁷, Adjusted EBITDA margin decreased 50 basis points.

Content & Experiences

Revenue for Content & Experiences increased compared to the prior year period driven by Theme Parks, Media and Studios. Adjusted EBITDA for Content & Experiences increased 2.3%, including $101 million of severance in the quarter and $186 million of severance in the prior year period primarily in Headquarters and Other. Excluding severance⁷, Adjusted EBITDA decreased 5.9%, primarily due to a decrease in Media, partially offset by increases in Studios and Theme Parks.

Media

Revenue for Media increased due to higher domestic distribution, international networks and other revenue, partially offset by lower domestic advertising revenue. Domestic distribution revenue increased primarily due to higher revenue at Peacock, driven by an increase in paid subscribers. International networks revenue increased primarily reflecting an increase in revenue associated with the distribution of sports channels and the positive impact of foreign currency. Domestic advertising revenue decreased reflecting the unfavorable comparison to Telemundo's broadcast of the FIFA World Cup in the prior year period. Excluding the contribution from World Cup advertising⁷ in the prior year period, advertising revenue increased 2.7%, primarily due to an increase in revenue at Peacock, partially offset by lower revenue at our networks.

Adjusted EBITDA for Media decreased due to higher operating expenses, which more than offset higher revenue. The increase in operating expenses was due to increased sports programming costs and higher programming costs at Peacock, partially offset by a decrease in content costs at our entertainment television networks, including the impacts of the Writers Guild and Screen Actors Guild work stoppages in the current year period. The increase in sports costs reflected the contractual rate increase in NFL programming, the addition of Big 10 and higher Premier League costs compared to the prior year period when games were paused for four weeks to accommodate the timing of the FIFA World Cup. Media results in the fourth quarter include $1.0 billion of revenue and an Adjusted EBITDA⁹ loss of $825 million related to Peacock, compared to $660 million of revenue and an Adjusted EBITDA⁹ loss of $978 million in the prior year period.

Studios

Revenue for Studios increased primarily due to higher theatrical revenue, including the performance of Five Nights at Freddy's, Trolls Band Together, The Exorcist: Believer and Migration. Content licensing revenue was consistent as higher content licensing revenue at our film studios was offset by lower content licensing revenue at our television studios, primarily due to the timing of when content was made available under licensing agreements, including the impacts of the Writers Guild and Screen Actors Guild work stoppages in the current year period.

Adjusted EBITDA for Studios increased due to higher revenue and consistent operating expenses. The consistent operating expenses primarily reflected consistent programming and production expenses, due to lower costs associated with lower content licensing sales at our television studios, including the impacts of the work stoppages in the current year period, offset by higher film costs.

Theme Parks

Revenue for Theme Parks increased due to higher revenue at both our international and domestic theme parks. Domestic theme parks revenue increased, reflecting higher revenue at our theme park in Hollywood due to the continued success of Super Nintendo World, partially offset by lower revenue at our theme park in Orlando which continued to be above comparable pre-pandemic 2019 levels.

Adjusted EBITDA for Theme Parks increased, reflecting higher revenue, which more than offset higher operating expenses. The increase in operating expenses was due to higher costs primarily associated with increased guest attendance.

Headquarters & Other

Content & Experiences Headquarters & Other includes overhead, personnel costs and costs associated with corporate initiatives. Headquarters & Other Adjusted EBITDA loss in the fourth quarter was $337 million, compared to a loss of $353 million in the prior year period. The year-over-year change included the impact of lower severance in the current year period.

Eliminations

Amounts represent eliminations of transactions between our Content & Experiences segments, the most significant being content licensing between the Studios and Media segments, which are affected by the timing of recognition of content licenses. Revenue eliminations were $933 million, compared to $968 million in the prior year period, and Adjusted EBITDA eliminations were a loss of $20 million, compared to a benefit of $97 million in the prior year period.

Corporate, Other and Eliminations

Corporate & Other

Corporate & Other primarily includes overhead and personnel costs; our Sky-branded video services and television networks in Germany; Comcast Spectacor, which owns the Philadelphia Flyers and the Wells Fargo Center arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Xumo, our consolidated streaming platform joint venture beginning in June 2022. Corporate & Other Adjusted EBITDA decreased primarily reflecting an increase in operating expenses related to Sky operations in Germany, due to higher Bundesliga costs compared to the prior year period when games were paused for four weeks to accommodate the timing of the FIFA World Cup and content charges related to a shift in our entertainment content development strategy.

Eliminations

Amounts represent eliminations of transactions between Connectivity & Platforms, Content & Experiences and other businesses, the most significant being distribution of television network programming between the Media and Residential Connectivity & Platforms segments. Revenue eliminations were $1.4 billion, consistent with the prior year period, and Adjusted EBITDA eliminations were a loss of $5 million compared to a benefit of $28 million in the prior year period.

Numerical information is presented on a rounded basis using actual amounts. Minor differences in totals and percentage calculations may exist due to rounding.

Conference Call and Other Information

Comcast Corporation will host a conference call with the financial community today, January 25, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time (ET). The conference call and related materials will be broadcast live and posted on our Investor Relations website at www.cmcsa.com. A replay of the call will be available starting at 11:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, January 25, 2024, on the Investor Relations website.

From time to time, we post information that may be of interest to investors on our website at www.cmcsa.com and on our corporate website, www.comcastcorporation.com. To automatically receive Comcast financial news by email, please visit www.cmcsa.com and subscribe to email alerts.

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes statements that may constitute forward-looking statements. In evaluating these statements, readers should consider various factors, including the risks and uncertainties we describe in the “Risk Factors” sections of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, our most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements include changes in and/or risks associated with: the competitive environment; consumer behavior; the advertising market; consumer acceptance of our content; programming costs; key distribution and/or licensing agreements; use and protection of our intellectual property; our reliance on third-party hardware, software and operational support; keeping pace with technological developments; cyber attacks, security breaches or technology disruptions; weak economic conditions; acquisitions and strategic initiatives; operating businesses internationally; natural disasters, severe weather-related and other uncontrollable events; loss of key personnel; labor disputes; laws and regulations; adverse decisions in litigation or governmental investigations; and other risks described from time to time in reports and other documents we file with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made, and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or our actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any such forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise. The amount and timing of any dividends and share repurchases are subject to business, economic and other relevant factors.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In this discussion, we sometimes refer to financial measures that are not presented according to generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S. (GAAP). Certain of these measures are considered “non-GAAP financial measures” under the SEC regulations; those rules require the supplemental explanations and reconciliations that are in Comcast’s Form 8-K (Quarterly Earnings Release) furnished to the SEC.

About Comcast Corporation

Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and technology company. From the connectivity and platforms we provide, to the content and experiences we create, our businesses reach hundreds of millions of customers, viewers, and guests worldwide. We deliver world-class broadband, wireless, and video through Xfinity, Comcast Business, and Sky; produce, distribute, and stream leading entertainment, sports, and news through brands including NBC, Telemundo, Universal, Peacock, and Sky; and bring incredible theme parks and attractions to life through Universal Destinations & Experiences. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.