Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Jason Armstrong: Yes, and I think Stephen, important for us as we came into this year with the re-segmentation, how we start to present it out to the world, this was an important category. So, international connectivity, as we think about Sky and taking the brand name and reputation that they sort of earned in video and taking that into other products like broadband and wireless, the way they have, this quarter $1 billion in revenue coming from connectivity international. So, kudos to the team, and I think it’s important that we’ve been able to highlight that at the street.

Stephen Kale: Thank you.

Marci Ryvicker: Thanks, Steve. Operator, next question please.

Operator: Our next question is coming from John Hodulik from UBS. Please go ahead.

John Hodulik: Great. Thanks, guys. Maybe a couple of questions on profitability, I think maybe for Jason, first, really impressive performance on the cable side 240 bps, 47%, I mean how is the visibility into further margin expansion from here, especially given, you know, you kind of gave a couple of mix shift issues obviously more broadband like video, but also more wireless, so anything you tell us about sort of outlook there? And then, on the Peacock side, doing better in terms of losses there; is $3 billion losses for this year still the right number for Peacock? And anything you say about the sort of path to profitability beyond ’23 would be great. Thanks.

Jason Armstrong: Yes, thanks, John; good question. So, on mix and margins in the connectivity business, I think we have had a fairly consistent track record if you look at the last several years of margin expansion. If you look at the core sort of legacy cable business, as we mentioned this quarter, record margin over 47%. And the factors that have contributed to that historically are in place as we look forward. I think Mike’s comment upfront about being able to grow revenue, being able to grow margins; that’s a key part of it. So, to your question specifically on connectivity, there is a mix shift going on, when we talk about sort of the six key growth drivers across the company, three are sort of core connectivity growth drivers, whether it’s residential broadband, business services, or wireless, this is an accretive mix shift for us, as we think about the way the categories are sort of shifting and what’s growing versus what’s not growing.

So, I would look for more of the same. I think also importantly for the team for the second consecutive quarter, every expense line in connectivity and platforms was down year-over-year, except for direct product costs, and those are the costs that directly support the connectivity and platforms, revenue growth and the categories we talked about. So, our outlook for more of the same in continued margin expansion out of the business. I think on Peacock, you are right, we came into the year, and gave guidance for roughly $3 billion in losses, no change to that. And as you see, we are pacing to that over the first couple of quarters. We’ve got a lot of incremental content as we think in the back-half of the year, as Mike said, so no change to that guidance.

John Hodulik: Great, thanks a lot.

Marci Ryvicker: Thanks, John. Operator, next question please.

Operator: Our next question is coming from Vijay Jayant from Evercore ISI. Your line is now live.

Vijay Jayant: Good morning. So, I think Jason talked about future expansion of this footprint being a high priority, and the bid dollars by state have been sort of allocated. Can you just talk about, is that really going to be a big opportunity in terms of product stating in that, and driving that footprint? Thanks.