Comcast Cable Communications: 8-Year High in Net Video Additions

Comcast’s (CMCSA) Cable Communications business had revenues of $12 billion in 4Q15, a growth of 5.9% over 4Q14. Revenue growth was primarily driven by an increase in two-product and three-product customers for the company’s Triple Play package, which comprises voice, video, and high-speed Internet services.

In fiscal 2015, Comcast’s Cable Communications business had revenues of $46.9 billion, an increase of 6.2% year-over-year.

Comcast’s Cable Communications customers stood at 27.7 million as of 4Q15, a vast improvement of 57.6% over 4Q14. The company had net additions of 89,000 for its video business in 4Q15, which was its best quarter in the past eight years. The company’s high-speed Internet business had net additions of 460,000, the best result in the fourth quarter in the past nine years.

The Cable Communications business had operating cash flow of $4.9 billion in 4Q15, an increase of 4.6% over 4Q14. Operating cash flow was $19.1 billion in fiscal 2015, an increase of 5.6% year-over-year.

The Cable Communications business had total revenue per customer of $145 per month in 4Q15, an increase of 3.5% year-over-year. Now let’s take a look at how the Cable Communications Triple Play businesses fared in 4Q15 and fiscal 2015.

This business had revenues of $3.2 billion in 4Q15, a growth of 9.8% over 4Q14. High-speed Internet was the largest contributor to revenue growth of the Cable Communications business. Revenue growth was primarily driven by an addition of 460,000 customers during 4Q15, with 77% of the company’s customers going for Internet speeds of 50 Mbps (megabits per second) or greater.

The Cable Communications business has added 1 million high-speed Internet customers continuously for the past ten years and foresees significant room for growth in the future.

Comcast’s revenues from its voice services decreased by 1.7% in 4Q15 to $899 million due to a lower ARPU (average revenue per user). However, this business had net customer additions of 139,000, up by 13% over 4Q14.

Comcast realized video revenues of $5.4 billion in 4Q15, as well as the addition of 89,000 video customers in 4Q15—Comcast’s best result in eight years. X1 deployment, market segmentation, and improving customer support service fueled this revenue growth.

Business Services was a major contributor to revenue growth, with revenues of $1.3 billion in 4Q15, an increase of 18.9% year-over-year. This business caters to small businesses that generate a majority of the segment’s revenue, mid-sized businesses, and enterprise businesses that target Fortune 1000 companies.

Comcast (CMCSA) accounts for 2.8% of the PowerShares QQQ Trust Series 1 ETF (QQQ). QQQ also holds 10.7% of Apple (AAPL), 8.6% of Microsoft (MSFT), and 5.2% of Alphabet (GOOG). QQQ has 4.5% exposure to the television sector.