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Bloomberg
Comcast Corp. climbed in early trading after its focus on improving its internet service paid off in the third quarter, with the largest US cable provider posting a big increase in broadband subscribers.
The company added 363,000 internet subscribers in the period, a 70 percent increase from a year earlier. Comcast has had only one previous quarter in the past six with larger broadband customer gains.
The growth should ease investor concern that broadband is slowing and shows why much of the company’s capital is going towards network upgrades. It’s now the biggest US provider of gigabit speeds. The pay-TV business remains tough, with video subscribers shrinking as more US customers go for cheaper options like AT&T’s DirecTV Now. The US video losses are a reminder why Comcast is paying $39 billion for Sky Plc — a pay-TV company in Europe, where cord-cutting isn’t so prevalent.
Comcast shares were up 4.5 percent in premarket trading. The stock had been down 15 percent this year before the results, compared with a decline of less than 1 percent for the S&P 500.