The recent earnings reveal for communications giant Comcast (CMCSA) did not bring a lot of good news with it. While certainly, there were some parts to like, the conclusion at Comcast was about the same: “we’re not winning.” This proved to be the case for the CEO, who actually took a pay cut himself. That news lit a fire under Comcast shares and sent them up around 2% in Friday afternoon’s trading.
Yes, since this is CEO pay, the “drop” here will really only be noticeable in percentage terms. But it was still a pretty healthy drop; for 2024, Brian Roberts saw his pay drop to $33.86 million, which represented a 4.5% drop against the year before. More specifically, Roberts took home $2.5 million in base salary, $17.9 million in stock awards, $5.75 million in stock options, a $7.5 million cash bonus to produce the results he did, and $200,483 in “other comp,” which includes the use of Comcast’s aircraft.
And what did Comcast get for its $33.86 million? Comcast got “..invaluable long-term vision and stability,” according to a proxy statement. This included plans to spin off cable networks and “complementary digital assets in a tax-free transaction expected to be completed in 2025.”
“We Are Not Winning.”
But Comcast is getting increasingly concerned about its broadband subscription rates, reports note. Customer complaints about a lack of transparency in pricing, not to mention frequent price hikes for service that basically remains about the same, is hitting Comcast hard. With 183,000 residential broadband customers departing the company in 2025’s first quarter, and a growing number of wireless options like 4G / 5G home internet options and the rise of Starlink, it is not hard to see where Comcast is getting worried.
But Comcast may have one way to turn it around: Peacock. Peacock pared back its losses in the first quarter to $215 million as it proves a likely source of new subscribers looking for a place to stream sports. And, with subscribers now up to 41 million, reports note, that plan may pull off a win after all.
Is Comcast Stock a Good Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on CMCSA stock based on 10 Buys, eight Holds and two Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 9.54% loss in its share price over the past year, the average CMCSA price target of $41.44 per share implies 22.64% upside potential.
