Comcast’s high speed earnings

Comcast beat Wall Street profit and revenue estimates as the company added high-speed internet customers but lost more video subscribers than expected.

The company’s third quarter showed that its focus on the higher-margin broadband business necessary to stream content is helping to offset a decline in cable subscribers.

CEO Brian Roberts cited a few trends behind the solid quarter: strength in broadband, the “enduring popularity” of Comcast’s premium content, and the company’s strong global footing a year after the acquisition of British pay-TV group Sky. All these give Comcast a competitive edge, “including in the streaming market,” he said.

NBCUniversal plans to launch its new streaming service, Peacock, in April.

Comcast shares rose 2.3 percent in premarket trading on the news and closed up 1.9 percent, at $44.84

Revenue from the highspeed internet business surged 9.3 percent, to $4.7 billion, with a gain of 379,000 subscribers, beating analysts’ average estimate of 344,000 net adds, according to research firm FactSet.

The results also reflected the widespread cord-cutting across the cable business. Comcast lost 238,000 video customers in the three months ended Sept. 30, higher than both the 224,000 lost in the previous quarter and the 203,000 loss that had been anticipated by research firm FactSet.

Last month, Comcast announced it would offer Xfinity Flex, its streaming media set-top box, and a voice remote for free to US internet-only customers. It previously charged $5 a month for the service and remote. The product is meant to help subscribers of multiple streaming services find shows

Revenue at NBCUniversal, including NBC Entertainment and Universal Pictures, dipped 3.5 percent, to $8.3 billion.