Comcast's Peacock: Current Opinion On The Service

7/20/20

Summary

  • Comcast has generated headlines lately about its overall strategy as it relates to its acquisition and over-the-top strategies.
  • Some have suggested that content-maker NBCUniversal and platform juggernaut Sky should be thought of as spin-off ideas.
  • I disagree, and feel that NBCUniversal and Sky will be important assets now that Peacock is in distribution.
  • Peacock is wise to be conservative on its spending, at least initially; eventually, it will find its must-watch show.

The stock is a better buy on pullbacks given the volatility of the pandemic-driven markets.

There have been some notable headlines around Comcast (CMCSA) recently. They include the idea of a spin-off of the NBCUniversal and Sky assets, as well as a challenge to what exactly defines the Peacock streaming-service strategy. One analyst has no idea what Sky is all about - or, rather, what the cable company intends Sky to be about. Then there is Peacock, and whether or not it will gain traction in a crowded direct-to-consumer-via-broadband marketplace.

Through it all, there's Comcast the stock. I will look at the shares and its price action, and offer my current thinking on the strategy management is assembling to survive the shock waves still being felt post Netflix's (NFLX) entry into the original-content arena. I want to explain why I am bullish on Comcast's NBCUni-Peacock-etc. strategy by examining the various nuances of the media conglomerate's recent moves.

Comcast Shares

First, let's just get a sense of where the price action is for the stock.

ChartData by YCharts

To be kind, there's a lot of opportunity here for the company and its shares. The long-term range is tight, and you would be forgiven to think of the company more as a utility-or-bond-type instrument as opposed to a high-growth maverick. In many respects, as a supplier of cable services, it is.

This may suggest parts of the company are undervalued, such as the NBCUniversal asset, which creates content and runs theme parks. Covid-19 may be ruining the fun there, but the hope is that the biotech businesses will bail us all out of that risk in time.

Where is the growth going to come from? It hopefully will be a combination of platform and original content, thus making a study of current strategy warranted.

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