CMCSA - Comcast Corporation
| Previous Close | 44.61 |
| Open | 44.76 |
| Bid | 44.66 x 3200 |
| Ask | 44.67 x 1300 |
| Day's Range | 44.59 - 44.80 |
| 52 Week Range | 32.61 - 47.27 |
| Volume | 3,439,995 |
| Avg. Volume | 15,146,747 |
| Market Cap | 203.283B |
| Beta (3Y Monthly) | 1.08 |
| PE Ratio (TTM) | 16.56 |
| EPS (TTM) | 2.70 |
| Earnings Date | Jan 21, 2020 - Jan 27, 2020 |
| Forward Dividend & Yield | 0.84 (1.89%) |
| Ex-Dividend Date | 2020-01-07 |
| 1y Target Est | 51.46 |
- Yahoo Finance Video
Streaming outlook as 'Friends' reunion special heads to HBO Max: Hollywood Reporter
A potential "Friends" reunion is reportedly in the works at HBO Max, while Netflix has nabbed a one-time licensing deal with Paramount for the fourth installment of "Beverly Hills Cop" starring Eddie Murphy. Why streaming giants are relying on reboots to attract consumers. Yahoo Finance's Alexandra Canal breaks it down. Zack Guzman & Emily McCormick, along with Strictly Cookies CFO Courtney Comstock, join in on the conversation.
- Business Wire
City of Peculiar Embraces a Connected Future with Comcast Business
Comcast today announced the City of Peculiar, Missouri has selected Comcast Business to enhance its broadband connectivity to help optimize government service operations and better serve its citizens. Comcast Business will equip all City of Peculiar buildings and facilities with vital unified communications infrastructure, specifically point-to-point fiber connectivity, Wide Area Network (WAN) and scalable Internet Access, allowing data to be delivered at up to 10 Gigabits/second. This new agreement will enable the City of Peculiar to become one of the first “Smart Cities” in Missouri utilizing Comcast technology, providing city staff with tools to help monitor key infrastructure, maximize efficiency and reduce unnecessary expense.
- Investopedia
At Your Discretion
Sector rotation strategies are in play. The discretionary sector could break out as the streaming battle heats up.
- GuruFocus.com
Mason Hawkins Sells Alphabet, General Electric
Guru's largest sales of the 3rd quarter Continue reading...
- Insider Monkey
Hedge Funds Open Kimono: 5 Best Media Stocks To Buy
We believe one of the best tools for ordinary investors who are on the hunt for new ideas is 13F filings. Once every quarter hedge funds with at least $100 million in total positions in publicly traded US stocks/options are required to open the kimono and disclose the number of shares and the total value of […]
- American City Business Journals
'Top Chef'-themed fast-casual eatery coming to Comcast Center
A “Top Chef”-themed eatery will open at the Concourse at Comcast Center ahead of the popular television show’s season 17 premiere next year. Top Chef Quickfire, a fast-casual concept from Bravo and Philadelphia-based hospitality company Spectra, will feature dishes based on creations from the show. Monitors in the space will show clips from past seasons of "Top Chef," including clips from episodes where the dishes being served at Quickfire were created.
- Yahoo Finance
'Friends' reboot? Why streaming giants are cashing in on revivals
“Friends” might be getting a reboot on HBO Max while Netflix secures a one-time licensing deal with Paramount for the fourth installment of “Beverly Hills Cop." Why reboots are all the rage as platforms look to beat out streaming competitors.
- Reuters
EXPLAINER-What's behind Labour's plan to overhaul BT and the British broadband network?
Britain's opposition Labour Party says if it wins the Dec. 12 election it will nationalise BT's broadband network and provide free internet for all within a decade, a radical election pledge to roll back decades of private ownership. The UK's biggest broadband and mobile phone provider was the flagship of Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's policy of selling state-owned assets, a political revolution that she said would improve efficiency and "spread the nation's wealth among as many people as possible".
- American City Business Journals
This Universal patent may give rise to other future attractions
Theme parks have to constantly think outside the box for each new attraction, as guests expect to feel or experience something they never have before. After all, new additions not only offer potential opportunities for new ride construction and a lure for repeat visitation, but new technology used in a ride also has the potential for additional uses in the commercial sector. In fact, another Universal patent, dubbed Ride Vehicle Elevator and Motion Actuator, published in early November appears to tackle how ride cars can change levels mid-ride via an elevator system while still staying within the ride’s story.
- Bloomberg
‘Talking Car’ Dream Gives Way for Gadgets Under FCC Proposal
(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has proposed taking back some of the spectrum long promised to automakers and re-allocating it to other wireless uses, according to people familiar with the matter.It’s a potentially significant development in a years-long debate that saw automakers fight to retain frequencies they’ve barely used. Carmakers say they’re poised to finally use the airwaves to connect vehicles and infrastructure to prevent collisions.The FCC sent the proposal to the Transportation Department in recent days, said two people who asked not to be identified discussing the private deliberations. If DOT agrees, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai could set a Dec. 12 vote on the proposal to modify the grant of airwaves it made 20 years ago.The Transportation Department has long resisted the idea and remains concerned and will likely oppose the FCC’s latest plan, one of the people said.Representatives for both agencies declined to comment.Cable providers who offer Wi-Fi for customers’ wireless use are hungry for spectrum as digital technology transforms everything from cars to video feeds and household appliances.More airwaves are needed to help “deliver a future of ubiquitous connectivity,” Charter Communications Inc. said in a Nov. 12 filing. Charter’s network supports more than 300 million devices, the Stamford, Connecticut-based company said.Auto industry companies including General Motors Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and Denso Corp. spent more than a decade developing vehicle-to-vehicle, or “V2V,” communications systems to link cars, roadside beacons and traffic lights into a seamless wireless communication web to avoid collisions and heed speed limits. Yet deployments have been few, and no major automakers produce cars using the technology in the U.S.The auto industry has broadly shifted to favor a newer technology based on cellular systems, in part because it offers a path to transition to 5G systems in the future, proponents of the FCC’s plan say.Ford announced earlier this year that it will outfit all its new U.S. models starting in 2022 with cellular vehicle-to-everything technology. The system would enable Ford’s cars to communicate with one another about road hazards, talk to stop lights to smooth traffic flow and pay the bill automatically while picking up fast food.Automakers and their allies last year asked the FCC to let them use part of the band for cellular-based technology - rather than the Wi-Fi format the agency mandated in 1999 - while preserving all of the airwaves for transportation safety. In a petition the companies said the newer, cellular technology is more reliable, with greater range.The airwaves could be used for fast communications including machine-to-machine links, and smart city applications such as smart cameras, traffic monitoring and security sensors, NCTA-The Internet & Television Association, a trade group for companies including Comcast and Charter, told the FCC in a Sept. 25 filing.(Updates with Charter filing in seventh paragraph.)\--With assistance from Keith Naughton.To contact the reporters on this story: Ryan Beene in Washington at rbeene@bloomberg.net;Todd Shields in Washington at tshields3@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Jon Morgan at jmorgan97@bloomberg.net, Elizabeth WassermanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Bloomberg
Jeremy Corbyn Wants to Nationalize the Internet
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party is behind in the polls for the U.K. election so it’s unsurprising that he’s chucking out more giveaways to voters. The policy to nationalize BT Group Plc’s fixed-telecoms networks business and provide free fiber broadband to every British household is a humdinger nonetheless.Of course, the chances of this becoming reality are slim given that Corbyn’s best hope of becoming prime minister is a coalition with more moderate political parties. Yet the idea has stimulated even more debate than Labour’s previous plans to re-nationalize the railways and the energy utilities, so it’s at least worth thinking about. Taking it at face value, the policy would be a huge mistake that would achieve the opposite of its stated aim of accelerating Britain’s sluggish rollout of fiber broadband.First, there’s the cost. A Labour government would add 15 billion pounds ($19 billion) to an existing 5 billion pound broadband spending pot, according to Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell. Even assuming that would cover the required capital expenditure — a big assumption — it would cost at least the same again to nationalize Openreach, BT’s networks division.McDonnell says the state would pay for the acquisition by giving BT’s shareholders government bonds as compensation. Yet why would investors, especially those outside the U.K. protected by treaties against asset expropriation, exchange an 8.1% annual dividend yield from their BT stock for the less than 1% returns from U.K. gilts? The network spending itself would be funded by an increased tax on the likes of Facebook Inc., Alphabet Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. But the G-20 will probably adopt new international tax standards next year to try to curb Big Tech’s avoidance tactics. So a Labour government might not even be able to whomp up these levies without breaching the new guidelines.Then there’s the speed of rolling out the networks. While the U.K. is well behind the pace on high-speed broadband rollout (it’s 10th in the European Union’s 2019 connectivity rankings), a tortured nationalization process isn’t the answer. BT would have no incentive to keep investing during that period.The same’s true for private competitors such as John Malone’s Virgin Media, Vodafone Group Plc and Comcast Corp.’s Sky. Increased competition has at least accelerated the pace of the rollout: The proportion of homes with fiber access has doubled in two years.Infrastructure investors have also been attracted by the returns promised by fiber, prompting a flurry of investment from KKR & Co., Macquarie’s infrastructure fund and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. McDonnell’s comments have certainly caused some consternation. TalkTalk Telecom Group Plc. said it had paused talks to sell a fiber project, for which Goldman-backed CityFibre Ltd. was the lead bidder. Should Labour ever get the chance to offer free broadband to everyone through a state-owned provider, tens of thousands of private sector jobs would be jeopardized. How would other companies be able to compete?And full-fiber broadband might not even really be necessary. The adoption of next-generation 5G mobile networks promises the ability to transmit far more data at far greater speeds. That would make fiber to every home redundant in parts of the country.There are better and more thoughtful ways to get fiber installed sooner: Making it easier to get permits to build the network; permanently reducing business tax rates for new fiber; and making it obligatory for customers to accept fiber upgrades. If McDonnell is willing to hand over 15 billion pounds to BT shareholders to snap up Openreach, why not use the funds to subsidize the rollout directly?To contact the author of this story: Alex Webb at awebb25@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: James Boxell at jboxell@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Alex Webb is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Europe's technology, media and communications industries. He previously covered Apple and other technology companies for Bloomberg News in San Francisco.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- American City Business Journals
The rise of esports is leading to a building boom
From shopping malls to purpose-built arenas, a cascade of new venues are under construction or in development to meet the rise of esports in the U.S., becoming the real-life battlegrounds for competitive gaming.
- Reuters
UPDATE 7-UK's Labour plans high-speed connection to voter hearts with BT nationalisation
Britain's opposition Labour Party plans to nationalise BT's broadband network to provide free internet for all if it wins power, making a radical election pledge to roll back 35 years of private ownership that caught both the company and its shareholders by surprise. Labour's proposed overhaul of the telecoms infrastructure, an addition to its already broad nationalisation plan, would be paid for by raising taxes on tech firms such as Alphabet's Google, Amazon and Facebook and using its Green Transformation fund. The announcement by Labour, which is currently lagging Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservatives in opinion polls ahead of the Dec. 12 election, sent BT's shares down as much as 3.7%, wiping nearly half a billion pounds off its market value.
- Barrons.com
Beware Telco and Cable Stocks Amid Streaming War
With cord-cutting accelerating and the range of streaming video options expanding, the time has come to back away from most U.S. telecom and cable stocks, HSBC analyst Sunil Rajgopal says.
- American City Business Journals
Owners say esports lessons transfer to traditional sports
Traditional sports team owners say they are seeing crossover benefits from investing in esports, applying lessons they learn from one realm to the other.
- MarketWatch
Only one telecom company remains a buy, analyst says
Amid the rapidly changing video landscape and uncertainty over T-Mobile US Inc.’s pending merger with Sprint, only one U.S. telecommunications name still has room for upside, according to HSBC.
- InvestorPlace
Disney’s Legacy Businesses Are Still an Issue for DIS Stock
I've been mostly skeptical toward Disney (NYSE:DIS), and so far, mostly wrong. Optimism toward the company's Disney+ streaming service sent Disney stock soaring in April. More recently, solid fourth-quarter results and a fast start to the streaming launch have sent the the stock's price to new all-time highs.Source: James Kirkikis / Shutterstock.com To be sure, I understand the bull case for Disney stock, and the streaming opportunity is real. Disney+ is beating rivals AT&T (NYSE:T) and Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) to market. Its nearly full ownership of Hulu and its massive library make Disney the strongest competitor to Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) on a global basis.And given that Netflix has a market capitalization of $130 billion, more than half that of Disney, a streaming business that rivals or exceeds that of Netflix obviously can have a material impact on the price of DIS stock.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsThat said, there long have been concerns about the rest of Disney's business. ESPN revenue and profits have stalled out amid cord-cutting pressure. Other networks like ABC are feeling the same pinch. The licensing business has softened, and Disney's parks business faces cyclical risk in year eleven of an economic expansion. * 10 Cheap Stocks to Buy Under $10 The concern with Disney stock since the Disney+ launch has been that investors have forgotten about those issues. That's particularly dangerous given that Disney+ itself is likely to exacerbate the weakness in the legacy business.In that context, I'm still skeptical toward the company's stock. Yes, streaming is a big deal for DIS, but investors need to focus on the rest of the business as well. Q4 Earnings Were Better Than You ThinkDisney's fourth-quarter report, which beat consensus estimates, was well received. But expectations aside, the quarter at first glance looks close to disastrous. The company's non-GAAP earnings per share declined 28% year over year, and fell 19% in fiscal 2019 as a whole. Free cash flow in FY19 was just $1.1 billion -- down dramatically from $9.8 billion the year before.Of course, there are a number of moving parts affecting earnings and cash flow. The deal with Comcast that brought Hulu under Disney's control also brought Hulu's operating losses onto Disney's balance sheet in full. Twenty-First Century Fox's movie studio posted losses in both the third and fourth quarters. Those two factors alone reduced adjusted EPS by 47 cents, per commentary on the Q4 conference call. Spending behind the Disney+ launch took off another 18 cents or so, based on operating income discussion.Given that adjusted EPS declined by just 41 cents -- 10 cents better than the average Wall Street estimate -- upon closer inspection, Q4 looks reasonably strong. Hulu's losses will reverse over time. Fox simply had a bad quarter. Aside from these relatively one-time impacts, Disney is still growing earnings. And that seems to set the company, and the stock, up well now that Disney+ has officially launched. …But Concerns PersistThat said, looking closer, the old worries persist. Per the call, ESPN profits declined. Cable Networks profits actually declined in the quarter, as the drop in ESPN earnings more than offset the benefit of FX and National Geographic, acquired in the Fox deal. Broadcasting profits, too, declined due largely to weakness at ABC.Bear in mind that the Media Networks group, even adjusting for restructuring and acquisition costs, accounted for over 40% of total earnings in fiscal 2019. (The exact figure is difficult to calculate until Disney files its annual report.) That significant contribution to overall earnings is the key reason why Disney stock traded sideways for almost four years before the Disney+ launch.Problems in Media Networks aren't going away. ESPN+ has been a point of focus, but closed the quarter with just 3.5 million subscribers. The ESPN network may well have lost that many subscribers just in fiscal 2019 (here, too, the actual figure hasn't yet been disclosed), and at significantly higher monthly revenue than the $5 the company charges for ESPN+.TV weakness is a significant headwind for Disney earnings. And it's likely that Disney+ itself will accelerate cord-cutting, and add to that headwind. Cable stocks like AMC Networks (NASDAQ:AMCX) and Discovery Communications (NASDAQ:DISCA, NASDAQ:DISCB) trade well off their highs because of precisely that trend.Meanwhile, Fox is off to a difficult start under Disney ownership. The film studio in Q3 reverted to a $170 million loss from an estimated $180 million profit the year before. According to the Q4 call, it lost $100 million more in the fourth quarter than it had in Q4 2018. Ad Astra and Dark Phoenix both flopped.Streaming is important to Disney. It's likely the most important business for Disney stock, as I wrote in a detailed piece this summer. But the other businesses matter too. And they have not performed well in recent quarters, or in Q4. The Case For and Against DIS StockAgain, investors have shrugged off those concerns for some seven months now, and continue to do so. And, again, to some extent, I understand why. If Disney+ really is a Netflix competitor, let alone a Netflix killer, it could well be worth over $100 billion. That suggests the rest of Disney is "only" valued at roughly $160 billion.Those non-streaming businesses in fiscal 2019 probably generated around $13 billion in adjusted net income in fiscal 2019. Again, between impairments, purchase accounting for the Fox deal and spending behind not just Disney+ but Hulu and ESPN+, it's difficult to pin down a precise figure. But it seems likely that adjusted EPS would have come in nicely above $7, and closer to $8. The latter figure would imply over $14 billion in profits. Assign a reasonable 15x multiple to that number and Disney as a whole would be worth over $300 billion. * 7 Inexpensive, High-Dividend ETFs to Buy That in turn implies a stock price above $170 for DIS against the current $148. And investors may well see the strength in Parks, the dominance of the studio business and the intellectual property as supporting an even higher non-streaming multiple, and thus a higher Disney stock price. Meanwhile, Disney's first-day haul of 10 million Disney+ subscribers is another piece of evidence to suggest that the service can be a juggernaut and a real threat to Netflix.But there's a lot that needs to go right there. Bear in mind that Disney+ has a five-year target of 90 million subscribers, at which point Netflix should be nearing 300 million. Disney still generates significant profit from home video, some of which will be cannibalized by Disney+ subscribers who no longer buy individual movies. It's foregoing licensing revenue from Netflix in bringing back its content.Even if Disney+ is worth $100 billion-plus, and the rest of the business declines, I'm skeptical that Disney stock should be valued at much more than the current price, if that. And from that standpoint, Q4 appears less encouraging that investors seem to believe.Again, I've been wrong before, and long-term investors betting on Disney and CEO Bob Iger haven't been disappointed. But there are concerns here, and I remain skeptical that streaming alone can fix them.As of this writing, Vince Martin did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 10 Cheap Stocks to Buy Under $10 * These 10 Stocks to Buy Make the Perfect 'Retirement' Portfolio * 5 Streaming Stocks to Buy for Huge Upside Over the Next Decade The post Disney's Legacy Businesses Are Still an Issue for DIS Stock appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- Zacks
How Disney+ Is Already Reforming The Streaming Space
In the first 24 hours of its release, 10 million people had already signed up for this much anticipated streaming service.
- TheStreet.com
Netflix Sued by Comedian Mo'Nique for Alleged Race, Gender Discrimination
Mo'Nique is unhappy with the offer she received from the streaming service for her comedy special, compared with what other comics have received.
- TheStreet.com
[video]AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Altice Cut at HSBC; Comcast Is Lone Telecom Buy
Concern about competition and the changing content business model in the industry drove the rating moves by analyst Sunil Rajgopal.
- Zacks
Buy Roku Stock at a 'Discount' on Disney, Apple & Streaming TV Growth?
Roku stock has already recovered from its post-Q3 earnings release selloff after bullish streaming TV investors snatched up a perceived buying opportunity. But the streaming TV stock might have even more room to run...
- Zacks
Streaming Wars Get Hot for Disney, Netflix, Roku and The Trade Desk
The content explosion is creating massive new opportunity for advertisers and the one platform that connects everything.
- Barrons.com
Disney Stock Jumps After Big First Day for Disney+
Launched on Tuesday, Disney+ is the media and entertainment giant’s splashiest foray into the increasingly crowded world of streaming video. Disney stock (ticker: DIS) was up 4.8% on the news on Wednesday afternoon. (NFLX) (NFLX), which risks losing market share to the extent that Disney+ and other new services succeed, saw its shares drop 2.7%.
- Reuters
U.S. Supreme Court weighs Comcast appeal in Byron Allen racial bias lawsuit
U.S. Supreme Court justices on Wednesday expressed sympathy toward allowing comedian and producer Byron Allen to pursue his racial bias lawsuit accusing cable television operator Comcast Corp of discriminating against black-owned channels. Over the course of an hour of oral arguments, however, the justices struggled over whether a lower court that cleared the way for the $20 billion lawsuit against Comcast to proceed had reviewed the case under the proper legal standard. At issue in the litigation is the refusal by Comcast to carry channels operated by Entertainment Studios Networks, owned by Byron Allen, who is black.
