Comcast: News and Earnings

[PerceptiveCoot]

I figured it might be good to have a thread dedicated specifically to news about the Comcast organization as a whole, as an alternative to having a new thread for every quarterly earnings call or bit of organizational business that might redound to the parks (though those threads are still welcome!).

Comcast announces plan to spin off cable channels, including MSNBC, CNBC and USA

The new company will also include Oxygen, E!, SYFY and the Golf Channel.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[P_Roko21]

Rough Earnings for Comcast but seems like a great buy point especially being close to a 5 year low. With all the current investments (epic, horror unleased, Texas and GB developments) they've made, just seems like they will have a lot more upside over the next few years. Obviously debt is a very big concern but the future is bright IMO.
The streaming service i can't speak too, that's been a big negative for them, I know I find myself not on there nearly as much as other streaming services. My only watch is Traitors and during Halloween season for the movies.

 

[Mad Dog]

First the good news: Comcast cable and entertainment posted better than expected numbers.
Now the bad news: Very bad numbers for Universal theme parks.
*Revenue $1.876 million revenue in 2025 vs. 1.979 million in 2024...A 5.2% loss
*Adjusted EBITDA 429 million in 2025 vs. 632 million in 2024 A 32.1% loss
This reflected lower revenue and higher operating expenses, including apx. $100 million of pre opening costs for Epic.
But that's still a loss of over $100 million if Epic operation is excluded. This is a significantly bad number.
*Note: 2024 First Quarter was weak also, so that makes these comparison numbers even worse.

 

[rageofthegods]

LA fires were a big factor here, no?

 

[Mad Dog]

LA fires were a big factor here, no?

A factor yes, but Hollywood isn't a major revenue numbers contributor since there's no hotels, and just one park. So they're a small piece of the pie. The main issue is that this is eight straight quarters that US theme park revenue is flat, or down. Not a good trend....I'm guessing WDW numbers are also going to be weak for 2025 first quarter since they haven't had the typical strong spring break crowds. This is probably largely an Orlando problem, that will continue with international tourism evaporating. Those big spending, long stay, tourists are a significant contributor to revenue.

 

[DrStarlander]

At the time tourists would have been committing and planning for a Q1visit to Orlando -- say, August through December 2024 -- it was a very uncertain time in terms of negative press about the economy and of course the election. I'm sure that had a dampening effect. Plus, some travelers are holding off awaiting Epic to open. Now we have the tariffs instability and US travel boycott to muscle through over the next few months. Hopefully things are back on track and Universal can fully exploit its investment in Epic starting by late summer.

 

[Mad Dog]

At the time tourists would have been committing and planning for a Q1visit to Orlando -- say, August through December 2024 -- it was a very uncertain time in terms of negative press about the economy and of course the election. I'm sure that had a dampening effect. Plus, some travelers are holding off awaiting Epic to open. Now we have the tariffs instability and US travel boycott to muscle through over the next few months. Hopefully things are back on track and Universal can fully exploit its investment in Epic starting by late summer.

Just having Epic open should boost the second quarter revenue numbers into positive territory for Universal. But with international tourism down sharply, it's going to continue being tough for the Orlando market for both WDW and Universal. Prior to the pandemic, both park system execs. used to say that 30% of their guests were international tourists. I doubt they're anywhere near those figures today. And, significantly, that's a big spending sector. Both companies are still flat/down from their 2022 revenge covid numbers....and off from their 2019 pre covid numbers. Last year, I expressed concern that the first quarter and second quarters would be soft for the Orlando market, and while I think Epic will do relatively well, since word of mouth is that it's a terrific park, I'm still thinking the rest of the Universal and WDW parks will have revenue challenges....Disney's revenue savior thus far has been the large revenue they've been getting from the Premier and Premier plus charges.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Universal's Park Business since 2010


I do expect Epic to provide a significant boost this year and into next year, but I do question the longevity of that boost.

 

[Jake S]

i’d be curious what percentage of visitors post 2020 have been international, how that compares to before 2019 and how you’re both compare to 2024-present. the dollar has been strong compared to european currency for a good while, which i have to imagine had already depressed international visitation to orlando.

tl;dr i know what a lot of people are saying about inbound tourism, but i’d love to see the numbers for myself. we are an unreliable species.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

i’d be curious what percentage of visitors post 2020 have been international, how that compares to before 2019 and how you’re both compare to 2024-present. the dollar has been strong compared to european currency for a good while, which i have to imagine had already depressed international visitation to orlando.

tl;dr i know what a lot of people are saying about inbound tourism, but i’d love to see the numbers for myself. we are an unreliable species.

Numbers vary slightly year to year, but international travelers make around 8-10% of leisure-related tourism according to Visit Orlando.

Obviously, this doesn't mean the parks reflect the same data... but it's probably close.


Waiting on the 2024 numbers to be released, but we did see a decline in domestic tourism between 2022 and 2023, with international travelers picking up the slack... so I don't think international tourism is entirely to blame either.

MCO Passenger Volume increased 2.3% last year, so probably a similar story to 2023 visitation wise.

 

[Mad Dog]

Numbers vary slightly year to year, but international travelers make around 8-10% of leisure-related tourism according to Visit Orlando.

Obviously, this doesn't mean the parks reflect the same data... but it's probably close.
View attachment 26147

Waiting on the 2024 numbers to be released, but we did see a decline in domestic tourism between 2022 and 2023, with international travelers picking up the slack... so I don't think international tourism is entirely to blame either.

MCO Passenger Volume increased 2.3% last year, so probably a similar story to 2023 visitation wise.

. Theme parks numbers are probably much different since execs. from both companies touted 30 % figures on revenue in the past years before covid. So this graph probably doesn't really say much. Revenue is the key number that's not addressed here. Haven't heard from Universal, but in a number of quarterly press discussions in the past couple of years, Disney blamed a significant drop in International visitation/revenue for their flat/loss WDW quarterly reports.

 

[Disneyhead]

These numbers don't really surprise me. They are still above 2019 pre-COVID, with the added pressure of people postponing trips waiting on Epic! to open.

I expect the rest of the year will look a wee bit different.

 

[Mad Dog]

They don't surprise me either....especially since it's 8 straight flat/loss quarterly results (not inflation adjusted either) for Universal Orlando, even with significant ticket/food/beverage/hotel increases. Yes, I'm sure they baked in lower results for the past two quarters. Epic will do fine, it's a strong new park that appears to probably be the best park, besides MK, in Orlando. Studios will do well at HHN season. The rest, for IOA and Studios, will bear watching.