Entertainment giant Comcast (CMCSA) recently suffered a data breach in its Xfinity service, and faced a class-action lawsuit as a result. But Comcast moved to settle, and the settlement was accepted, setting Comcast back a whopping nine-figure sum. Now, victims are looking to file their claims, and Comcast can move on from there. Investors were happy to see an end, and gave Comcast a fractional boost in share prices in Tuesday afternoon’s trading.
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Comcast agreed to pay $117.5 million to settle the lawsuit, which came about following the data breach in December 2023 that left millions of customers exposed. Somewhere between 31.6 million and 35 million consumers had usernames and hashed passwords, contact details, and even parts of Social Security numbers exposed in the resulting breach.
If you immediately see a problem, you are not alone. With 35 million impacted users going after a pool of $117.5 million, that does not leave a lot of room for customers to collect much. Options include a $50 cash payment or reimbursement for lost time and expenses of up to $150. But given that the fund only has enough to cover about $3.36 per customer, it is a safe bet that many will walk away empty-handed.
Jurassic Park Running Out of Steam?
The Jurassic Park series has been a winner for Comcast’s Universal arm, bringing in billions over the course of its lifespan. But with a new Jurassic World installment targeting 2028, many are starting to wonder what is actually left. One report suggests that the next film might, somehow, bring out the notion of human / dinosaur hybrid monsters, which turns the movie about an amusement park gone wrong into something much different.
Jurassic World: Rebirth did well, bringing in $869.1 million worldwide. But the series seems to be running out of steam, banking on mutant dinosaurs to carry the film. This was after two movies worth of hybrid dinosaurs, leaving some to judge that the series is “…creatively…bankrupt.” Human / dino hybrids have been teased before, and may represent one of the last Jurassic Park outings that we will get…until the nigh-inevitable reboot.
Is Comcast Stock a Good Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on CMCSA stock based on four Buys, 11 Holds and two Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After an 18.46% loss in its share price over the past year, the average CMCSA price target of $31.93 per share implies 12.99% upside potential.
