What Mattered Most In Comcast’s Latest Quarter

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Comcast (CMCSA) shares rose 3.4% alongside a 1.2% decline for the S&P 500 on October 22, 2026, the day the company reported its fiscal Q3 2026 results. Earnings per share exceeded the consensus estimate by 5.7%, while revenue fell 2.8% short of its estimate. Those figures cover the entire company. So what did the quarter show about the business behind more than half of Comcast's sales?

Comcast Lost Broadband Customers As Wireless Grew

Management said on the October 22 call that Comcast lost 144,000 broadband subscribers in fiscal Q3 2026 and added 368,000 net wireless lines. Across its home connectivity customers, what management calls convergence revenue fell 2%. Nearly 15% growth in wireless service revenue only partly offset continued pressure on broadband revenue.

Management also said an unusually high number of existing broadband customers on legacy plans moved to new prices during the quarter, increasing churn, the rate at which customers leave. Management said these pricing shifts also weighed on both broadband and wireless customer trends compared with a year earlier.

Comcast posted a slightly smaller report-day gain than its peers. Charter Communications rose 4.2% during the same session, and AT&T and Verizon Communications each gained 3.8%. Between the pre-report close on October 21 and October 28, Comcast shares lost 2.3%, while the S&P 500 was roughly flat.

Comcast's Connectivity Sales Have Slipped For Two Years

These third-quarter broadband losses follow two years of shrinking sales in Residential Connectivity & Platforms, Comcast's largest segment. Revenue for the unit slipped 0.5% in fiscal 2024 and fell by a larger 1.2% in fiscal 2025.

Two other measures showed smaller declines in fiscal Q3 2026. The year-over-year drop in broadband revenue per customer narrowed by 190 basis points from the prior quarter. Similarly, the decline in the connectivity business's EBITDA, an operating profit figure that leaves out depreciation and amortization, narrowed by 140 basis points.

Management expects a further slight improvement in those trends during the fourth quarter, even as Comcast continues moving broadband customers to its new pricing and offering free wireless lines.

What Management Said About Comcast's Broadband Prices

Management said the pressure comes from investments Comcast chose to make, including fundamental changes to its pricing, packaging and customer offerings. It called these moves necessary to position the business for a return to growth over the long term.

Comcast is making those changes as fixed wireless rivals continue to take share and fiber construction stays elevated, with pockets of irrational pricing, management said. It added on the call that some of that pricing was still out there in the fourth quarter.

Two other items matter for shareholders. Management expects a fourth-quarter charge of over $1 billion, mostly for its transformation efforts. Comcast also paused share repurchases as of July 1, a suspension it expects to last at least through the separation of NBCUniversal and Sky. Management said that separation is on track to be completed by the middle of 2027.

Comcast is paying to retain its broadband customers through new pricing and free wireless lines, and those subscriber losses had not stopped by the end of September. The number of broadband customers Comcast gained or lost in fiscal Q4 2026 is the figure to watch when the company reports in January 2027.

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