Shares rocketed to $29.53 in after-hours trading on July 28, extending a stunning rebound from last week's post-earnings dip and capping a 35% rally from the July 23 close of $21.92. Three catalysts converged: Q2 results that beat Wall Street on every major metric, a blockbuster distribution deal with YouTube announced July 27, and growing investor enthusiasm for Comcast's planned breakup into two companies.
• Peacock Finally Makes Money — Six Years and Billions of Dollars Later. Comcast's streaming service posted its first-ever quarterly profit — $189 million in EBITDA — a $290 million swing from a loss of $101 million a year earlier.
It added 2 million paid subscribers to reach 48 million, on revenue of $1.9 billion, up from $1.2 billion a year ago. That 54% revenue surge was fueled by live sports — the FIFA World Cup, NBA playoffs — and reality programming. Management said it expects Peacock to remain profitable on an annual basis going forward. The timing matters: on July 27, NBCUniversal struck a deal to bring Peacock's full library to YouTube Premium's 125 million+ global subscribers starting in early 2027 — Peacock's largest wholesale distribution agreement yet.
• Wireless Is the Quiet Growth Engine Investors Had Overlooked. Comcast added a record 448,000 wireless lines in Q2, lifting its total to 10.2 million — roughly 7% of addressable homes in its footprint.
Wireless service revenue grew 14.2% to over $1 billion.
The next test: Q3 will reveal how many promotional free-line users convert to paying customers, and at what price. At only 7% penetration, the upside is large — but so is the uncertainty around conversion rates.
• The Breakup Sweetens the Math. On June 29, Comcast announced it will split into two public companies via a tax-free spinoff of NBCUniversal and Sky, separating media from broadband and wireless.
Analysts at New Street Research noted the split positions the cable side for potential mergers, most obviously with Charter. With Peacock now profitable and bundled into YouTube, the media entity arrives at independence with far stronger finances than expected.
• Broadband Weakness Remains the Elephant in the Room. Broadband average revenue per user fell 3.8% as Comcast held off on price hikes and steered customers toward cheaper plans.
The company lost 167,000 broadband subscribers in Q2.
Still, overall adjusted EPS of $1.04 beat the $0.96 consensus by 8%, and the stock trades at just 4.7x trailing earnings with a 5.5% dividend yield — deeply cheap if the new growth stories hold.