The shares Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) were trading higher after the broadcasting and cable company posted better than expected earnings for the third quarter.
The company’s stock price was $53.24 per share, up more than 3% at the time of this writing around 11:50 A.M. in New York on Thursday.
Financial results
Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) reported $0.73 in earnings per share excluding income tax adjustments and transaction related costs. Its earnings increased 12.3% from $0.65 in the same period last year.
The broadcasting and cable company said its revenue rose 4% ti $16.79 billion from $16.15 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Wall Street analysts expected Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) to report $0.71 in earnings per share on $16.82 billion in revenue, based on data compiled by Thomson Reuters.
In a statement, Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian L. Roberts said, “I am pleased to report strong revenue, operating cash flow and free cash flow growth for the third quarter of 2014. Cable results highlight the consistent strength of high-speed internet and business services, and video customer results were the best for a third quarter in seven years.
According to the company, its operating cash flow increased 7% to $5.70 billion while its operating income climbed 9.7% to $3.74 billion. Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) ended the quarter with $2.5 billion in free cash flow, an increase of 26.7%.
Revenue from cable communications
Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) said its revenue from its cable communications business increased 5.2% to $11 billion in the third quarter, which was driven by the strong sales of high-speed internet (+9.6%) and business services (+21%).
The company added 82,000 new customers during the quarter. Its total customers are now 26.9 million.
Revenue from NBC Universal
Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) generated $5.9 billion in revenue from NBC Universal. Its revenue from its cable networks segment was $2.3 billion and broadcast television segment was $1.8 billion. According to the company its revenue from filmed entertainment was $1.2 billion and theme parks $786 million.
Comcast Corporation’s merger deal with Time Warner Cable
Early this month, the shareholders of Time Warner Cable (NYSE:TWC) approved its $45 billion merger deal with Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA). The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently slowed down its review on the merger as it decides how to deal with some of the highly-confidential documents related to the agreements between Comcast and Time Warner Cable.
