Tech

Comcast shares dip on broadband subscriber guidance that shows slowing growth

Key Points
  • Shares of Comcast dipped Tuesday after the company provided updated full-year broadband addition guidance.
  • Comcast expects to add a total of 1.3 million net broadband adds this year, the president and CEO of Comcast Cable, Dave Watson, said at the UBS Global TMT Virtual Conference.
  • It comes in below the estimated 1.4 million, according to FactSet estimates.

In this article

The Comcast building in New York.
Scott Mlyn | CNBC

Shares of Comcast dipped Tuesday after the president and CEO of Comcast Cable, Dave Watson, said the company expects to add 1.3 million high-speed internet customers for the year. That's short of analyst expectations for 1.4 million subscribers, per a FactSet consensus.

The company's stock closed down more than 5% on an otherwise green day for tech stocks. Watson's comments were made at the UBS Global TMT Virtual Conference.

The figure implies Comcast may add 185,000 new high-speed internet customers during the fourth quarter, far below the 538,000 it added in the same quarter last year.

It's the second time this year Comcast has provided early guidance on broadband subscribers that caused the stock to dip. Comcast CFO Michael Cavanagh had previously warned in September that the company expected broadband additions to slow during the third quarter.

Investors have feared a slowdown in the broadband segment after the Covid-19 pandemic fueled internet services growth. Shares of Comcast are off about 19% from the 52-week high hit on Sept. 3, 2021.

Disclosure: Comcast is the owner of NBCUniversal, parent company of CNBC.

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