(Reuters) -Comcast surpassed Wall Street expectations for quarterly results on Thursday, thanks to the growing popularity of its theme parks and strong box office returns from its latest “Jurassic World” movie. Shares of the company rose 2.6% in premarket trading. A source told Reuters last week that Comcast was looking into a possible acquisition of Warner […]
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Comcast tops third-quarter estimates on ‘Jurassic World’, theme park boom
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(Reuters) -Comcast surpassed Wall Street expectations for quarterly results on Thursday, thanks to the growing popularity of its theme parks and strong box office returns from its latest “Jurassic World” movie.
Shares of the company rose 2.6% in premarket trading.
A source told Reuters last week that Comcast was looking into a possible acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery’s assets after the HBO parent put itself up for sale following multiple interests from potential buyers.
Comcast’s park business as well as its Peacock streaming service could benefit from WBD’s rich IP library, which holds popular titles such as “Harry Porter” and “Game of Thrones”.
The parks division posted a nearly 19% jump in third-quarter revenue, powered by the May launch of its Epic Universe park, which features themed worlds such as “How to Train Your Dragon-Isle of Berk.”
Comcast’s studio revenue rose 6.1% to $3 billion in the quarter, lifted by the release of “Jurassic World: Rebirth” in July, which has generated nearly $900 million at the global box office.
The company lost 104,000 broadband customers in the July-September quarter, below the consensus of 143,200 losses per FactSet, indicating that its push for simplified pricing and bundled services may be starting to steady its core internet business.
Bundling also helped Comcast add 414,000 wireless phone subscribers, its best additions on record.
Comcast’s Peacock maintained its paid subscriber base of 41 million, despite a price hike in July. Losses at the unit also narrowed to $217 million from $436 million a year earlier.
The company is banking on NBA’s return in mid-October to fuel subscriber growth for Peacock.
Advertising revenue fell 12.5%, as Comcast faced tough comparisons to last year’s Olympic-driven results.
Total revenue came in at $31.20 billion, above estimates of $30.72 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. Adjusted earnings of $1.12 per share also surpassed expectations.
(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)