Peacock Hits 24.5M Active Accounts, Lost $1.7B In 2021; Comcast Q4 Tops Forecasts As ‘Halloween Kills,’ ‘Sing 2’ Buoy Universal

Comcast said Peacock hit 24.5 monthly active accounts in the U.S. at year end, up from 20 million as of June, the last time the media giant provided a number. In an unusual peek at the numbers, it said the streaming service lost an adjusted $559 million for the quarter and $1.7 billion for full-year 2021 on revenue of, respectively, $335 million and $778 million.

That compares with $71 million of revenue and a loss of $254 million in the 2020 fourth quarter, and $118 million of revenue with a $663-million loss for the year. It launched in summer of 2020 and execs have said it would hit break even in 2024.

Comcast’s fourth-quarter was solid with key metrics topping Wall Street forecasts, led by revenue of $30.3 billion (vs $29.6B anticipated), up 9% from the 2020 period, and adjusted earnings per share of 77 cents  (vs 74 cents forecast). Adjusted figures back out nonrecurring and other items.

Net Income dipped 9.6% to $3.1 billion.

At NBCUniversal, revenue surged 25% to $9.3 billion. Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) decreased 6.8% to $1.3 billion for the quarter. For the full year, that rose 6% to $5.7 billion, including losses from Peacock investment.

Quarterly media results include $335 million of revenue and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $559 million related to Peacock, compared to $71 million of revenue and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $254 million in the prior year period. . For the full year, it recognized $778 million of revenue and
an adjusted EBITDA loss of $1.7 billion for Peacock, compared with $118 million on revenue and a loss of  $663 million in 2020.

Studios revenue jumped 36.4% to $2.4 billion on higher content licensing revenue, home entertainment, theatrical and other revenue. Theatrical revenue increased by $80 million, primarily due to releases Sing 2 and Halloween Kills,

Media revenue rose 8.4% to $5.8 billion, primarily reflecting higher distribution revenue and advertising revenue. Ad sales increased 6%, reflecting higher pricing and additional Peacock sales, partially offset by a decline in ratings and lower political advertising.

Theme Parks are recovering quickly from the ongoing negative impacts of Covid-19, benefiting from strong demand from domestic guests in the U.S. and Japan. The division celebrated the Grand Opening of Universal Beijing Resort in September. Quarterly revenue rose by $1.2 billion to $1.9 billion.

Broadband customer net additions stood at 212,000. Comcast noted the highest level of customer retention on record for a fourth quarter. Broadband revenue increased 8.5% on more residential customers and an increase in average rates. Total Cable Communications revenue rose 4.5% to $16.4 billion, boosted by broadband but partially offset by dips in advertising, video and voice revenue. The division reported total video customer net losses of 373,000, and voice customer net losses of 176,000.

Comcast boosted its share repurchase program to $10 billion as of January 1 and increased its dividend by 8% year-over-year to $1.08 per share on an annualized basis for 2022.

CEO Brian Roberts and Comcast execs will break down the numbers and look ahead on a webcast with Wall Street starting 8:30 ET. The year looks upbeat with the winter Olympics in Beijing beginning February 4, midterm elections set to boost political advertising and theme parks continuing to fire up. NBCUniversal will be back hosting its annual upfront presentation to advertisers in May.