COMCAST CORPORATION RESEARCH REPORT
FINANCIAL MODELING AND VALUATION
FAN JIANG
PROFESSOR SU HAN CHAN
F2, SPRING 2015
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Summary 1
Business description 1
Industry overview 2
Investment summary 3
Valuation 3
Financial analysis 4
Investment risks 5
SUMMARY
We recommend a buy or long position on the Comcast Corporation with a target price of $64.19. By applying the discounted cash flow method, Comcast shows prevailing real value of $62.87. With a current price of $59.64 as of April 24, 2015, the firm appears to be undervalued. BUSINESS DESCRIPTION
Comcast Corporation is one of the largest companies in the telecommunications and mass media industry in the United States. Headquartered in Philadelphia, PA, USA, Comcast strives to bring together the “best in media and technology”, and “drive innovation to create the world’s best entertainment and online experiences .”
There are four main divisions in Comcast Corporation, including Comcast Cable, which is the largest division in the company, in charge of providing cable television, Internet and home phone services under the brand named Xfinity.
Comcast Corporation acquired NBCUniversal in late 2009 and the acquisition was completed on March 2013. As a subsidiary of the Comcast Corp., NBCUniversal is the “world’s largest mass media group.” The company engages in producing and operating entertainment and news television networks, and owns motion picture companies as well as branded theme parks.
Comcast
Comcast is a global technology and media company mainly known for its two main businesses, Comcast Cable & NBCUniversal. Comcast Cable is one of the largest service providers for phone, high-speed internet, video, and television services in the nation. While Comcast Cable is a cable giant in the area of business, the company has publically struggled significantly in the area of customer service. Comcast has had a number of public customer service complaints in recent years which quickly grabbed major media attention. These customers began recording phone frustrating calls with customer service representatives and posting them online via social media. Two of these dissatisfied customers were men named Ryan Block and Aaron Spain who posted their evidence of the
For example; American Broadcasting Company a.k.a. ABC is a Nation Wide commercial broadcast television networks. The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcast television network that is owned by the Disney–ABC Television Group, a subsidiary of the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company. Categories like drama, comedies, reality shows, game shows and more are all examples of networks on ABC. There are thousands of other great programs that i so happen to come across based on the agendas and goals of my
businesses, Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the
Comcast is a Fortune 500 company that focuses in media and technology. The website for Comcast is www.comcast.com and they offer an array of services ranging from digital television, internet, and home phone to customers within their designated service areas. Comcast has achieved high levels of success by employing educated public relations specialists, focusing on positive marketing ventures, and distributing a service that people want and need. Comcast has created a variety of services and ways to order services and have named bundled services Xfinity, which is by far one of their most popular services.
My compare and contrast essay is about Comcast and DirecTV. Do they offer the same thing to their customers or is one better than the other one? For the longest time I was curious to know which company has the better deal for their customers. Not just the better price, but I would like to look at service and their reliability as well. Comcast has been around for many years.
Comcast Corporation, based in Philadelphia, PA, with its bundling services operates as a media and technology with its two primary business, Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal. Comcast sprung into life in 1963 and went public in 1973 (James, 2014) It has acquired many corporation to take a firm stand where it is at today. Comcast Cable is nation’s largest video, high-speed Internet which has continuously increased its speed 13 times in last 13 years which now offers up to 505 Mbps to residential customers and up to 10 Gbps to businesses as well as phone services under XFINITY brand (Comcast, 2014). NBCUniversal operates in media, entertainment and sports cable network, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, television production operations, television station groups, Universal Pictures and Universal Parks and Resorts (Yahoo Finance, 2015). Comcast also invests heavily in innovative businesses that represent the next generation of entertainment, communications and digital technology by partnering with entrepreneurs who have the vision, passion and tenacity to succeed (Comcast, 2015).
As of January 20, 2017 the current market quote for Comcast Corp is at 73.57 per the NASDAQ exchange. Over the past 10 years the market for Comcast Corp grew significantly. The 31st of January in 2007 the stock market value was at a low 29.57. So, what trends and or events made the stock market activity change so significantly in the last 10 years? Analysts that are researching this and keeping track of the stock market activity are stating as of January 10th of 2017 the shareholder returns and stock trends were trading at $70.92. Comcast’s stock was trading at 6.4% above its normal 20-day and 50-day moving averages of around $65. Comcast has been maintaining a steady dividend payout ratio of 30.0%-35.0%. Since 1963, Comcast has developed,
is a private broadcasting company. It operates two major television stations, and a regional cable news channel. From 2010, Cumulus made several unsuccessful attempts to buy Citadel Broadcasting after recovering from a bankruptcy. In February 2011, Cumulus offered $2.5 billion to buy Citadel and shareholders of Citadel preferred the offer and put pressure on the board. After eight months of the offer, this became a done deal. One of the largest radio networks in the United States was adopted by Cumulus. This is the biggest sized deal among the nine comps and could be very indicative of the HBO deal.
Comcast started as a regional provider and grew to the largest cable provider in the United States. Comcast focused on obtaining new customers with the latest technology. Comcast competes in the cable industry which provides some monopolistic protection by limiting direct competition. Comcast faces competition from competing technologies such as satellite providers. Comcast has diversified its portfolio by acquiring television networks, such as E! Entertainment Television. This is a small market of its profit. In addition to television networks, Comcast is offering new products, such as pay-per-view, video on demand and Internet access, some of which cannot be offered by satellite providers. Comcast is a telecommunications provider able to provide phone and Internet service also cable television. Comcast is headquartered in Philadelphia, PA. Comcast has 90,000 employees in the company. Seventy-five thousand employees are in the cable side and fifteen thousand employees in other areas of the business.
Comcast had an exceptional year in 2016. Stock prices reached an all-time high, while revenue, assets, and operating cash flow toppled analysts’ projections. The global media and technology company has two primary businesses: Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal. These two businesses make up the five reportable business segments which are: cable communications, cable networks, broadcast television, filmed entertainment, and theme parks. Below is the revenue, operating income before depreciation and amortization, and operating income of each business segment. For 2016, cable communications represent the greatest proportion of each graph. Comcast cable is one of the nation’s largest providers of video, high-speed internet and voice services to
Under Mr. Dolan's direction, Cablevision is one of the nation's largest operators of cable television systems, developing and delivering the benefits of broadband and digital communications to millions of residential and business customers across the company's New York tri-state area footprint. The company's popular telecommunications services include iO TV digital video, Optimum Voice digital voice, Optimum Online high-speed Internet and Optimum WiFi, the nation's largest and most advanced WiFi network. Cablevision meets the needs of larger companies through Optimum Light path, a leading provider of integrated business solutions.
Each one of the five divisions focus on achieving all three objectives that make up the Company’s corporate strategy, the first division, media networks, focuses on the domestic and international acquisitions and internal development of cable networks that are comprised of the ABC television network and television production. The Walt Disney Company’s highly concentrated U.S. domestic television production of its ABC television network, led to eight local television stations where six out of those eight television stations are based in the 10 biggest television markets in the U.S. The Walt Disney Company achieved this market position by acquiring the already existing business that was formerly
The cable provider would purchase 50 percent of Store Communications Inc., which increased the number of subscribers to over 2 million. At this point in time the company was recognized as one of the largest cable providers in the nation. The company would continue to add subscribers as they acquire Maclean Hunter’s U.S. cable operations, adding 550,000 customers and becoming the third largest cable operator in the United States with approximately 3.3 million customers in 1994. A year later they continued to add subscribers at an alarming rate when they announced the acquisition of E.W. Scripps cable systems, adding 800,000 subscribers and bringing Comcast’s customer total to 4.3 million. In another effort to add more subscribers in 2000 with the acquisition of Lenfest Communications, Inc., the company is able to add approximately 1.3 million cable subscribers. While adding subscribers is important to the business plan, Comcast was always looking for ways to appeal to their customers: specifically, the ones who enjoyed watching sports. So along with entrepreneur and owner
However, this is not like any other security system around. The system is completely customizable. A customer can link security cameras, thermostat, lights, and appliances that can all be controlled and monitored from an application downloaded on to their smart phones. For example, a customer leaves their home for a couple days but forgets to turn down the thermostat. They can log into their Comcast account via smart phone and actually turn down their thermostat to the desired temperature. They can also turn off a light that was left on, or check in on a child that is home from school early. Another innovative product that Comcast offers is the On-Demand feature that is tied into digital cable. On Demand is a menu that allows a customer to access hundreds of movies, TV shows, music, and local classified at the click of the button. Many of these offerings are free but some include a fee that is similar to renting a movie. This On-Demand feature is the main culprit for putting companies like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video out of business. Customers no longer have to drive to a movie store to rent a movie. They can do it all from their remote control. Comcast continues to lead the industry in innovation but the environment is getting tougher because competition is now offering the same products and services.
In response to the market trend, the company has introduced some new products. Comcast launched a constant guard, a security program designed to help protect its high-speed internet users from online threats. Comcast also launched a beta version of Fancast Xfinity TV, its online television service. The Xfinity service gives subscriber access to hours of content not previously available online. Comcast also took the opportunity of the market trend and added to its mobile content. It released Comcast Mobile app 2.0, which includes a remote DVR programming service. Also, the company launched COMCAST4U, a mobile SMS text service, which gives customers access to frequently accessed account functions. All of these new additions will allow Comcast