Comcast Gears Up to Report Q4 Earnings: What's in the Cards?

Comcast CMCSA is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter 2025 results on Jan. 29.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at 75 cents per share, unchanged over the past 30 days. The figure indicates a 21.88% decrease from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.The consensus mark for revenues is pegged at $32.14 billion, indicating a 0.7% increase from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.CMCSA’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 7.24%.Comcast Corporation Price and EPS Surprise Comcast Corporation price-eps-surprise | Comcast Corporation QuoteLet us see how things are shaping up for the upcoming announcement.Factors to ConsiderComcast is expected to have entered the fourth quarter of 2025 with momentum building in Content & Experiences, though facing persistent challenges in Connectivity & Platforms as the company's strategic transformation continued. Following the third quarter's 3.7% decline in EBITDA in the connectivity business, expectations are for pressure to intensify as investments in pricing simplification and customer experience ramp up.The Connectivity segment is expected to have experienced ongoing broadband customer losses amid relentless fiber and fixed wireless competition, with ARPU growth anticipated to have decelerated further as the company aggressively migrated customers to transparent everyday pricing. Wireless momentum likely remained robust, with the free line promotion and Premium Unlimited plan driving continued strong net additions, though these promotional lines are expected to have weighed on near-term revenue growth. Business Services is expected to have faced heightened competitive pressure from fixed wireless alternatives in the small business segment.In Content & Experiences, the quarter is expected to have delivered substantial tailwinds from the NBA's return to NBC and Peacock in late October, with exclusive Monday night games and Coast 2 Coast Tuesday doubleheaders throughout the quarter drawing significant viewership. The November theatrical release of Wicked: For Good likely contributed meaningfully to Studios revenue, though higher marketing spend for the expanded film slate may have compressed margins. Theme Parks are anticipated to have maintained strong performance as Epic Universe continued scaling capacity, driving higher attendance and per-capita spending across Universal Orlando.However, the onboarding of NBA rights costs likely created meaningful headwinds in Media results, as straight-line amortization commenced in the quarter ahead of full advertising and subscriber monetization. This upfront dilution is expected to have weighed on Peacock's profitability trajectory despite the platform's August price increase for existing subscribers. Capital expenditures are expected to have remained elevated as the company invested in network infrastructure and customer premise equipment deployment to support its repositioned broadband strategy.What Our Model SaysAccording to the Zacks model, the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy), or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that is not the case here.Comcast currently has an Earnings ESP of -1.64% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.Stocks to ConsiderHere are some companies worth considering, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings in their upcoming releases:Albemarle ALB has an Earnings ESP of +51.78% and sports a Zacks Rank #1 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.Albemarle is set to report first-quarter 2026 results on Feb. 11. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Albemarle’s fourth-quarter 2025 loss is pegged at 53 cents per share, narrowing by 2cents over the past 30 days, indicating an improvement of 51.38% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure. Ametek AME has an Earnings ESP of +0.38% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present.  Ametek is set to report fourth-quarter 2025 results on Feb. 3, 2026. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ametek’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings is pegged at $1.94 per share, up by a penny over the past 60 days, indicating an increase of 3.74% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure. Woodward WWD has an Earnings ESP of +4.41% and sports a Zacks Rank #2 at present.Woodward is set to report first-quarter 2026 results on Feb. 2. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Woodward’s fiscal first-quarter earnings is pegged at $1.63 per share, up by a cent over the past 30 days, indicating an increase of 20.74% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.Just Released: Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2026Hurry – you can still get in early on our 10 top tickers for 2026. 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(WWD): 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