Jan 29 (Reuters) – Comcast lost more broadband customers than expected in the fourth quarter, as rivals lured away consumers with aggressive offers, piling pressure on the company’s mainstay business.
Promotional campaigns by high-speed fiber providers and the launch of cheaper fixed-wireless access internet services have deepened competition in the U.S. broadband market – long dominated by the likes of Comcast and Charter Communications.
Comcast on Thursday said it lost 181,000 broadband customers in the quarter, compared with an estimate of 173,780-user decline, according to data compiled by FactSet.
To compete better, the company has decided not to raise prices this year, while revamping packages, bundling services and offering free mobile lines.
Analysts, however, do not expect any material customer growth until 2027.
Comcast expects to transition a meaningful portion of customers on free lines into paid relationships in the second half of this year.
The company reported total revenue of $32.31 billion for the three months ended December, in line with estimates of $32.35 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Its performance was helped by a strong showing at its theme parks business, which comprises Epic Universe in Orlando. The unit saw its best quarter on record, with revenue rising 21.9% to $2.98 billion.
Shares of the company rose about 3% in early morning trading.
The company’s Peacock streaming service added 3 million paid subscribers, after muted growth in 2025, thanks to the addition of National Basketball Association games and an exclusive National Football League deal. But costs linked to the deals widened Peacock’s losses to $552 million.
Co-CEO Mike Cavanagh said NBCUniversal will deliver roughly 40% of the industry’s major live events this year such as the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics.
Free cash flow for the quarter came in at $4.37 billion, compared with analysts’ estimates of $2.23 billion.
Adjusted profit came in at 84 cents per share, beating expectations for 75 cents.
(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
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