Comcast Shares Plunge 15.8% in a Year: How Should You Play the Stock?

Comcast CMCSA shares have plunged 15.8% over the past year, underperforming the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector’s appreciation of 11.2% and the Zacks Cable Television industry’s decline of 5.1%.CMCSA shares’ underperformance can be attributed to its recently reported decline in broadband subscribers, further negative impact anticipated on the subscriber base due to the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program and long-term competition from fiber and fixed wireless operators like AT&T T and Verizon Communications VZ. AT&T and Verizon are capitalizing on the 5G boom, with AT&T focusing on mobile 5G, fixed wireless, and edge computing, while Verizon is driving 5G adoption, expanding fixed wireless broadband, and accelerating its Ultra Wideband network rollout nationwide.Despite the competition and near-term challenges, Comcast keeps identifying new growth opportunities to strengthen its long-term prospects. As part of the company’s latest investment in Northeastern Pennsylvania, Comcast has expanded its network to connect more than 18,500 homes and businesses in Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Columbia Counties, providing high-speed Internet. This expansion improves digital infrastructure, fosters economic growth, and gives the residents and businesses access to Xfinity and Comcast Business services, including Internet, mobile, entertainment, and security. This expansion plan will potentially lead to an increase in Comcast’s subscriptions and drive higher revenues. It will also help strengthen the company’s market share, countering the intense competition in the market.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CMCSA’s first-quarter 2025 earnings is currently pegged at $1.01 per share, suggesting a decline by a penny over the past seven days. The estimate indicates a year-over-year decline of 2.88%. The consensus mark for revenues is pegged at $29.86 billion, indicating a year-over-year decline of 0.66%.CMCSA beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 7.47%.Comcast Corporation Price and Consensus Comcast Corporation price-consensus-chart | Comcast Corporation QuoteFind the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.CMCSA Stock: Buy, Sell or Hold?Comcast reported record revenues and adjusted EBITDA in 2024. It is also actively strengthening its long-term prospects through various expansion and acquisition strategies, such as its recently announced plans to acquire Nitel. Although its strong financial performance and strategies are noteworthy, the company is facing significant competitive pressures and challenges at the moment. It persistently suffers from video-subscriber attrition due to cord-cutting and its broadband prospects are suffering from increased competition from fixed wireless and fiber businesses. Comcast also faces competition in the streaming market from providers like Netflix NFLX and Disney+ because of their extremely cheap source of TV programming and solid content, which is Netflix’s major growth driver. Disney+ also emerged as a dominant provider in the market, primarily driven by its subscription growth because of its content portfolio.CMCSA currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), suggesting that it may be wise for investors to wait for a more favorable entry point in the stock. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Zacks Names #1 Semiconductor StockIt's only 1/9,000th the size of NVIDIA which skyrocketed more than +800% since we recommended it. NVIDIA is still strong, but our new top chip stock has much more room to boom.With strong earnings growth and an expanding customer base, it's positioned to feed the rampant demand for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things. Global semiconductor manufacturing is projected to explode from $452 billion in 2021 to $803 billion by 2028.See This Stock Now for Free >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report AT&T Inc. (T): Free Stock Analysis Report Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ): Free Stock Analysis Report Comcast Corporation (CMCSA): Free Stock Analysis Report Netflix, Inc. (NFLX): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks