By George Glover

Comcast earnings topped expectations, but the cable-and-entertainment company's revenue fell as nearly 200,000 broadband customers exited their contracts.

The NBCUniversal parent reported an adjusted first-quarter profit of $1.09 a share on Thursday, as revenue slipped 0.6% from the same period a year earlier to $29.9 billion. Analysts were expecting a profit of 99 cents a share on revenue of $29.8 billion, according to a FactSet poll.

Comcast said it had lost 199,000 domestic broadband customers over the quarter, exceeding the 146,000 customer losses that analysts were forecasting. Revenue for the connectivity and platforms segment, which includes broadband and mobile, was down 1% from a year ago to $17.6 billion.

Comcast won't be immune if President Donald Trump's tariffs cause the U.S. economy to weaken, and there are signs that the slowdown is already dragging on the company's top line. Theme-park revenue dropped 5.2% from a year ago to $1.9 billion. The company said that dip was due to lower guest attendance, including the impact of January's Los Angeles fires, which temporarily shut down its Universal Studios park in Hollywood. Media advertising revenue, which tends to be closely correlated to economic growth, fell 6.8% from a year ago to $1.9 billion.

Comcast stock fell 3.4% to $33.31 in premarket trading. Shares in fellow cable operator Charter Communications, which is set to report its own first-quarter earnings Friday,were 3.7% lower. Futures tracking the benchmark S&P 500 were down 0.2%.

Streaming and studios were two bright spots. NBCUniversal's video-streaming service Peacock added seven million paid subscribers over the quarter, taking the total number to 41 million. That exceeded Wall Street's expectations, although the gains are likely down to a deal in late March with Charter Communications that gave Charter's Spectrum TV customers access to Peacock at no extra cost. Still, Peacock's losses narrowed, and revenue for the platform climbed 16% from a year ago to $1.2 billion.

Revenue for the studios segment, which includes Universal Pictures rose 3% from a year ago to $2.8 billion. Comcast said that was down to demand for box-office hits Wicked and Nosferatu, both of which hit the home-entertainment market last quarter.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com

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April 24, 2025 07:38 ET (11:38 GMT)

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