Comcast’s CMCSA shares have lost 0.8% year to date against the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector’s growth of 10.9%. The stock has also underperformed the Zacks Cable Television industry and its peers like Naspers NPSNY, WideOpenWest WOW, and Charter Communications CHTR.

In the same time frame, shares of NPSNY, WOW and CHTR have gained 33.8%, 33.3% and 1.5%, respectively, against the industry’s decline of 0.5%. 

This underperformance of CMCSA’s shares can be attributed to sluggish growth in Residential Connectivity & Platforms revenues and a fall in domestic broadband customers as well as video customers. In the third quarter of 2024, Residential Connectivity & Platforms revenues decreased 0.5% year over year to $17.87 billion. Further, Comcast lost 87K domestic broadband customers and 365K video customers.

Will CMCSA’s Partnership Aid the Top Line?

Comcast recently inked an agreement with the State of Indiana to provide fast internet connectivity to more than 10K rural houses as well as businesses.

Comcast Corporation Price and Consensus

Comcast Corporation price-consensus-chart | Comcast Corporation Quote

Comcast’s $55 million agreement to invest in expanding its market reach is a joint effort between the Office of Community & Rural Affairs and Indiana Broadband Office. This deal is aimed at providing the residents of Indiana with reliable as well as affordable access to broadband. 

Comcast’s efforts to grow its network connectivity will aid in securing customers in areas including Boone, Morgan, Shelby, Fayette, Delaware, Miami and Rush countries. 

As part of the agreement, users will be given access to services like Xfinity Internet, which delivers a 99.9% reliability score, Xfinity Mobile offering flexible data plans, Xfinity X1 offering live content and streaming apps and Xfinity Home.

Apart from Xfinity's complete suite of services, Indiana residents will also have access to Comcast’s Internet Essentials program that provides low-priced internet service to eligible households.

CMCSA’s Epic Universe Bodes Well for Investors

Comcast’s Epic Universe launch in May 2025 is expected to drive the top line by enhancing customer engagement. 

Epic Universe aims to not only expand Comcast’s Experience portfolio offering, this will also make it a leader in the U.S. theme park segment by launching the biggest and most technologically advanced park for customers with more than 50 experiences throughout the premise.

However, in the third quarter of 2024, Comcast reported a 5.3% year-over-year revenue decline from theme parks, which negatively impacted adjusted EBITDA of $847 million for the quarter by 13.8%. 

This decline can be attributed to low attendance in CMCSA’s domestic parks compared with the previous financial year.

CMCSA’s Near-Term Outlook

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter 2024 earnings is pegged at 89 cents per share, down by a cent in the past 30 days, indicating 5.95% year-over-year growth.

The consensus mark for fourth-quarter 2024 revenues is pegged at $31.71 billion, indicating year-over-year growth of 1.48%. 

For 2024, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $123.46 billion, indicating year-over-year growth of 1.56%. 

The consensus mark for earnings is pegged at $4.25 per share, up by a cent in the past 30 days and up 6.78% year over year.

The company’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 6.45%.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.

CMCSA's Shares: Buy, Hold or Sell?

CMCSA’s shares are currently undervalued, as indicated by a Value Score of A.
 
In terms of the forward 12-month Price/Earnings (P/E) ratio, CMCSA is trading at 9.84X, lower than the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector’s 19.26X.

However, we expect prospects to remain dull due to persisting inflation, intense competition in the online video streaming segment as well as ongoing consolidation of telecom and cable TV operators in the U.S. pay-TV industry.

CMCSA currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), which implies that investors may want to wait for a more favorable entry point. 

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.




 

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