Comcast Corp.'s broadband business is booming.
The company reported 354,000 broadband subscriber additions in the June period, the best second-quarter subscriber growth on record. This came despite the bump the company saw in 2020 due to the pandemic as more people began working and learning from home.
CEO Brian Roberts referred to Comcast as a "majority broadband-centric company" and said he now expects higher growth relative to 2019 than he predicted at the beginning of 2021.
"Our broadband connect activity is healthy, and churn improved for the 14th quarter in a row. In fact, we hit the lowest second-quarter churn rate in our company's history," he said.
The steady increase of broadband additions, as well as 280,000 Xfinity Mobile wireless subscriber lines added in the second quarter, offset losses in video and voice customers, which had 399,000 and 108,000 net losses, respectively. Total customer relationships increased by 294,000 to 33.8 million in the second quarter.
Xfinity Mobile, which launched in 2017, increased revenue 70.4% year over year. The company attributes the growth to increasing customer lines and device sales.
"Xfinity Mobile is now a stand-alone profitable business. We got here on time, if not a bit earlier than expected, and we are experiencing the fastest sales momentum we've ever had," said Roberts.
Roberts said he predicts customer expectations for wireless speeds will change as the average number of Wi-Fi-connected devices in the home increases. He said Comcast is in a position to keep up a competitive edge.
"Currently, there are typically 25 connected devices in the home, with 8 active at any one time, and this increases every year," Roberts said. "That drives in-home Wi-Fi usage to 15x that of wireless. Delivering huge amounts of data at consistent speeds and reducing latency is what's powering our growth."
Comcast's revenue for the second quarter grew to $28.55 billion, up about 20.4% year over year from $23.72 billion. Net income attributable to Comcast rose to $3.74 billion, or 80 cents per share, up from $2.99 billion, or 65 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
The Capital IQ consensus EPS estimate for the quarter was 67 cents on a normalized basis and 59 cents on a GAAP basis.