What Could Go Wrong At Comcast From Here?
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Comcast (CMCSA) stock trades at 7.8 times its earnings over the last twelve months, compared with 22.3 for the S&P 500. A price that low appears to assume trouble ahead. Management pointed to a potential source of that trouble during its October 22, 2026 call, saying the company has operated in an intensely competitive environment for some time. So who is coming after Comcast’s customers, and how hard are they pushing?
Fiber And Fixed Wireless Rivals Are Taking Comcast’s Customers
Management said so itself on the fiscal Q3 2026 call. It said fixed wireless remains aggressive and continues to take share, while fiber construction remains elevated, with pockets of irrational pricing.
The pressure showed in the quarter. Comcast lost 144,000 broadband subscribers in fiscal Q3 2026. Management said a higher than typical number of customers facing price changes, along with particularly aggressive fiber promotions in certain markets, contributed to higher churn.
The company also explained why it calls some of that pricing irrational. Building fiber costs $1,500 or more per home, management said, yet rivals offered $30 to $40 pricing in specific markets in the third quarter.
How Much Of Comcast’s Revenue Is Exposed?
Broadband sits in Comcast’s largest segment, Residential Connectivity & Platforms, which brought in $70.7 billion of revenue in fiscal 2025, more than any other segment. That revenue, 57.2% of Comcast’s total, fell 1.2% in fiscal 2025, more than double the 0.5% dip in fiscal 2024, so the segment’s slow decline is speeding up. That figure covers the whole segment, so it is wider than broadband revenue alone.
The share price already sits low against Comcast’s own history. The stock trades at 0.715 times its sales over the last twelve months, against a high of 2.4 times at the end of June 2021. At the end of September 2026, the multiple was 0.629 times, its lowest at any quarter end from late 2016 on. Even after a strong month, on November 10 the stock closed 20.6% below its highest close of the past year. The price appears to assume little growth from here.
How Worried Should Comcast Holders Be?
The threat looks real but slow-moving, and the low price appears to allow for much of it.
Management is responding with new pricing and packaging and with wireless, adding 368,000 net wireless lines in fiscal Q3 2026. It said those investments are creating near-term financial pressure, though declines in broadband revenue per user narrowed in the third quarter. It expects a further slight improvement in those financial trends in the fourth quarter. That is a forecast, and the competition has not let up: management said in October that pockets of irrational pricing were still out there in the fourth quarter.
Comcast is expected to report its fiscal Q4 2026 results in January 2027, and the number of broadband customers gained or lost in that quarter is the measure to watch.
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