The company exceeded earnings expectations due to the Olympics.

• Comcast reported third-quarter earnings before the bell.
• As the Summer Olympics in Paris helped boost NBCUniversal's revenue and Peacock's subscriber count, the company exceeded expectations.
• Domestic broadband revenue grew despite continued slowing customer growth in the segment.

On Thursday, NBCUniversal's revenue and Peacock's subscriber count exceeded third-quarter earning expectations, thanks to the Summer Olympics in Paris.

Shares of Comcast gained 6% in premarket trading Thursday.

LSEG surveyed analysts and compared Comcast's performance with their estimates.

• Earnings per share: $1.12 adjusted vs. $1.06 expected
• Revenue: $32.07 billion vs. $31.66 billion expected

In the quarter ending September 30, Comcast's net income decreased by 10% to $3.63 billion, or 94 cents per share, compared to $4.05 billion, or 98 cents per share, in the previous year. The company's adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) also decreased by 2% to approximately $9.74 billion. After adjusting for one-time items, Comcast reported earnings per share of $1.12 for the quarter.

The company's revenue increased by 6.5% to $32.07 billion compared to the previous year. The Summer Olympics in Paris, which NBCUniversal exclusively broadcast in the U.S., and domestic broadband revenue contributed to the overall revenue growth, despite a slowing customer growth rate.

The media segment, primarily NBCUniversal, experienced a 36.9% increase in revenue to $8.23 billion, mainly due to the Olympics. If excluding the Summer Games, revenue rose almost 5%.

The decrease in adjusted EBITDA for the media segment was more than offset by the increase in operating expenses due to the Olympics and higher programming costs at Peacock and in other sports TV programming.

The Summer Olympics in Paris were successful for NBCUniversal, with an average daily viewership of 31 million people and a record $1.2 billion in advertising revenue, according to CNBC.

The revenue for the content and experiences segment, which includes theme parks and film studios, increased by 19.3% to approximately $12.6 billion. This growth was due in part to the $1.9 billion in incremental revenue generated from the Paris Olympics.

The Olympics helped Peacock gain 3 million subscribers, resulting in a 29% increase in paid subscribers and an 82% increase in revenue to $1.5 billion.

The adjusted EBTIDA loss for the segment decreased to $436 million during the quarter, from $565 million in the previous year.

The company's film studios, which are part of the content and experiences segment, experienced a 12.3% increase in revenue to $2.83 billion compared to the previous year. This growth was driven by the recent successful releases of "Despicable Me 4" and "Twisters."

Due to lower attendance, NBCUniversal's theme parks revenue decreased by 5.3% to approximately $2.3 billion. The recent surge in attendance following Covid lockdowns has cooled, putting a strain on the theme parks.

The broadband unit, which is the foundation of Comcast's business, remained aligned with the evolving industry trends.

The decline in cable broadband customer growth can be attributed to a decrease in home buying and selling, as well as increased competition from wireless providers such as Verizon and T-Mobile.

This quarter, Comcast experienced a mixed outcome due to the conclusion of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) discount program for low-income households.

The company estimates there was growth of 9,000 customers in total domestic broadband net losses, excluding those that resulted from the end of the ACP.

Despite a decrease in additions, the average revenue per user remained the driving force behind the growth of domestic broadband revenue, which increased by 2.7% to $6.54 billion compared to the previous year.

During the quarter, Comcast's wireless business gained 319,000 customers, while its cable TV customer base decreased by 365,000.

NBC Olympics, a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast, holds the U.S. broadcast rights to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.