This year’s crazy election paid dividends for NBCUniversal parent Comcast Corp., which rode a wave of advertising to a solid fourth-quarter performance that beat expectations. The company also announced a 15 percent increase in its dividend and reported a 2-for-1 stock split.
Thursday morning, Comcast reported revenue of $21.025 billion and earnings of 89 cents a share for the three months ended Dec. 31. That compares with the $19.3 billion in revenue and earnings of 79 cents a share the company reported for the corresponding period last year. It also topped analyst estimates, which were revenue of $20.7 billion and earnings of 87 cents a share.
“I look back on 2016 with pride and enthusiasm,” chairman and CEO Brian L. Roberts said. “This is a special company, with a team I am delighted to work with, executing at a high level. We’re pleased to report another year of strong financial and operational results, which reflect our focus on innovation, investing in the business and putting the customer first. Our performance at Comcast Cable was exceptionally strong.”
Roberts continued: “We grew operating cash flow 5.6%, added 161,000 video subscribers, the best video customer results in a decade, and delivered our best high-speed Internet customer results in nine years. NBCUniversal also had a terrific year, fueled by the tremendous success of the Olympics, the opening of new attractions at our theme parks, and strong theatrical performances, particularly in animation. The consistency and strength of our results enables us to announce that we are increasing our dividend by 15% per share, we will split our stock two-for-one, the twelfth split in our company’s history, and we expect to repurchase $5 billion of our stock this year. As we begin 2017, we are well positioned to continue driving growth and shareholder value as we embark on the opportunities ahead.”
As traditional pay-TV companies lose subscribers to cord-cutting, Comcast has expanded its Internet TV offerings, launching streaming services Watchable and comedy-centric Seeso. Comcast has since added exclusive programming to Watchable from millennial-friendly brands like Jukin Media to entice people who may not shell out for a full cable package to join the service.
That’s helped the telecom giant add 161,000 video subscribers in the quarter, even as the cable industry shrinks.
On the entertainment side, Comcast needed a strong performance from its TV holdings to make up for a weaker year from Universal’s film studio, which slipped to fourth in market share last year after topping all studios in 2015 behind huge hits like “Jurassic World.” But the small screen — and theme parks, which continue to benefit from new attractions like the “Wizarding World of Harry Potter” at Universal Studios Hollywood — enjoyed another solid quarter.
Comcast will hold a conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET to discuss the earnings.