What Management Said
Read the full Q4 2025 transcript ↗From day one running this business, he's challenged long-held assumptions and moved quickly to reset priorities around actions that will drive growth. As we continue to pivot the company towards our six growth drivers, Mike is leading the strategy and execution of that shift. We moved with urgency to make decisive management, operational, and structural changes, resetting how we run our businesses and how we compete, all with a clear focus on positioning the company for sustained growth. We also strengthened our wireless approach with new offers tailored to different customer segments, from Premium Unlimited plans for higher-value households to a 12-month free line promotion designed to increase mobile awareness and attachment.
Turning to wireless, I'm pleased to share that we've modernized our MVNO partnership with Verizon, supporting continued profitable growth for Comcast, Charter, and Verizon. That performance reinforces wireless as a key growth engine for the company while also strengthening customer relationships and lifetime value across our connectivity portfolio. Our investments are delivering tangible operating benefits, including a 20% reduction in trouble calls and a 35% reduction in repair minutes where we've deployed FDX technology. We strengthened our content pipeline with a long-term creative partnership with Taylor Sheridan, adding premium franchise-scale film and television IP.
Our priorities in connectivity and platforms are clear: position the business for a return to growth, deepen convergence through wireless, and fully leverage our network leadership across residential and business services. And in Comcast Business, we'll remain focused on stabilizing small business while accelerating growth in mid-market and enterprise, where demand for advanced, secure, and scalable connectivity continues to increase. And at Peacock, we expect another year of meaningful EBITDA improvement as we continue progressing toward break-even, even as we absorb the NBA rights. We've been consistent in investing behind the six growth engines that define our future while protecting one of the strongest balance sheets in the industry and returning substantial capital to shareholders.
- Wireless had its strongest year yet, adding approximately 1.5 million net lines in 2025 and ending the year with over 9 million total lines at roughly 15% penetration of the residential broadband base; Q4 added 364,000 lines.
- Theme parks delivered another strong quarter with revenue up 22% and EBITDA up 24%, with EBITDA crossing the $1 billion level in a quarter for the first time, driven by strong results at Universal Orlando and Epic.
- Peacock revenue grew more than 20% to a record $1.6 billion with paid subscribers up 8 million year-over-year to 44 million, and full-year Peacock losses improved over $700 million year-over-year.
- The company generated $19.2 billion of free cash flow for the full year, the highest on record, including about $2 billion of a cash tax benefit related to an internal corporate reorganization.
- Comcast completed the spin-off of Versant Media on January 2nd, creating a focused, well-capitalized public company and enabling NBCUniversal to concentrate on media profitability.
- Total advertising increased 1.5% with strong underlying demand from a record upfront, the most-watched Sunday Night Football season in its history, and the launch of the NBA.
- Broadband subscriber losses were 181,000 as early traction from new initiatives was more than offset by continued competitive intensity.
- Adjusted EBITDA declined 10% and adjusted EPS declined 12% in the quarter, reflecting the investment period in broadband and the full first-year cost of the new NBA contract.
- Connectivity and platforms EBITDA declined 4.5%, reflecting broadband ARPU dilution and elevated marketing, product, and customer service expenses.
- Media EBITDA declined in the quarter, primarily reflecting the addition of NBA rights, with Peacock losses of $552 million for the quarter due to NBA rights and the exclusive NFL game.
- Studios results reflected tough comparisons to last year's film slate, the timing of content licensing deals, and higher marketing spend tied to a higher volume of films.
Guidance Changes
| Metric | Period | Current guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Broadband ARPU growth | Next couple of quarters | Further pressure from absence of rate increase, free wireless lines, and base migration to simplified pricing (Pressured) |
| Connectivity & Platforms EBITDA | Until 2H 2026 | Incremental EBITDA pressure over the next couple of quarters until lapping initial investments (Pressured then improving) |
| Free wireless line conversion | Second half of 2026 | Expect to convert the vast majority of free lines into paying relationships, a meaningful tailwind to convergence revenue (Upcoming tailwind) |
| Peacock losses | Full-year 2026 | Expect to meaningfully improve again while progressing toward break-even (Improving) |
| NBA EBITDA dilution | Q1 2026 | Q1 to be peak volume (~50% of games) and peak EBITDA dilution (Peaking in Q1) |
| Cash tax benefit (one-time 2025 items) | 2026 | One-time 2025 cash tax benefits will not recur; new tax legislation averages ~$1B/year for five years (Non-recurring) |
Performance Breakdown
| Metric | YoY | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Total company revenue | +1% | Strength across six growth businesses (≈60% of revenue, mid-single-digit growth) |
| Adjusted EBITDA | -10% | Broadband investment period and full first-year NBA contract cost |
| Adjusted EPS | -12% | EBITDA decline from investment period and NBA cost |
| Connectivity & Platforms EBITDA | -4.5% | Broadband ARPU dilution and elevated marketing, product, and customer service expenses |
| Theme Parks revenue | +22% | Strong results at Universal Orlando driven by Epic |
| Theme Parks EBITDA | +24% | Epic driving higher per-cap spending and attendance; EBITDA crossed $1B for the first time |
| Media revenue | +6% | Primarily driven by Peacock |
| Peacock revenue | +20%+ to $1.6B | Distribution growth of 30%+ on 8M YoY subscriber gain plus ~20% advertising growth |
| Broadband ARPU | +1.1% | New go-to-market pricing including lower everyday pricing and free wireless line adoption |
| Convergence revenue | +2% | Driven by 18% growth in wireless |
| Business services revenue | +6% | Modest SMB growth and strong enterprise solutions momentum |
Earnings Call Themes & Trends
| Topic | Previous mention | Current period | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadband competition | Intense | Remains intense; wireless competition stepped up toward end of Q4 | Stable to intensifying |
| Wireless net adds | Record 414,000 in Q3 | 364,000 in Q4; ~1.5M for full-year 2025 (strongest year yet) | Strong |
| Broadband ARPU growth | 2.6% in Q3 | +1.1%, slight growth | Decelerating |
| Peacock losses | Just over $200M in Q3 | $552M in Q4 (NBA + NFL game); full-year improved $700M+ | Full-year improving, q4 elevated by nba |
| Network upgrade | ~60% transitioned (prior context) | ~60% of footprint on mid-split and virtualized architecture | Progressing |
Q&A Summary
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