Comcast and Spotify Earnings Preview: Who Wins the Fight for Your Monthly Subscription?
Comcast is bleeding subscribers while Spotify keeps adding them, but both stocks have sold off in 2026 and face pressure on earnings per share. Thursday's results will reveal which company actually commands the pricing power to hold onto your monthly…
Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA | CMCSA Price Prediction) and Spotify (NYSE:SPOT) are scheduled to post third-quarter results on Thursday, October 22. Comcast sells the internet, phone, and Peacock lines on your bill. Spotify sells your music. Which one holds subscribers and pricing power better?
Comcast releases results that morning and holds its call at 8:30 a.m. ET. Spotify reports the same day. Both stocks have lagged in 2026. Comcast is down 19.2% year to date at $22.36, and Spotify is down 8.5% at $526.08.
Wall Street Expects Comcast to Shrink and Spotify to Grow
The year-over-year changes below compare estimates with third-quarter 2025 and full-year 2025 results.
| Estimate | Comcast | Spotify |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 EPS | $0.9875 (down 11.8%) | $2.8462 (down 13.2%) |
| Q3 Revenue | $29.21 billion (down 6.4%) | $4.98 billion (up 16.5%) |
| FY2026 EPS | $3.4824 (down 19.2%) | $12.2233 (up 16.3%) |
| FY2026 Revenue | $119.80 billion (down 3.2%) | $19.52 billion (up 13.6%) |
Comcast’s Cable Squeeze Versus Its Content Upside
Consumer advocate Clark Howard pointed out on October 9 that Comcast and Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) “are seeing enormous loss of customers now that they face more and more competition” and “are not standing up to the competition test.” Barron’s Streetwise noted the same day that Comcast was down 60% over five years and traded at six times forward earnings (share price divided by next year’s expected profit), among the lowest P/Es in the S&P 500.
Zacks Investment Research flagged that domestic broadband revenue fell 5.5% in the prior quarter and cited Peacock’s first quarterly profit of $189 million, helped by the FIFA World Cup, plus August price increases of $1 to $3 per month. Zacks added that Universal became the first studio to cross $4 billion in 2026 global box office, while theme parks stayed soft. Comcast has paused buybacks ahead of a tax-free spin-off of NBCUniversal and Sky.
Sports content is Peacock’s competitive weapon. Gene Sykes, the co-head of global M&A at Goldman Sachs and chair of the board of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said on Bloomberg’s Odd Lots podcast on September 19 that NBC holds U.S. Olympics rights through 2036 at “a billion and a half dollars or more per Games.” After a record 448,000 wireless line additions, management promised “modest improvements starting in the third quarter” as free wireless lines convert to paid ones.
Spotify Faces a Pure Subscription Test
Spotify crossed 300 million Premium subscribers in the second quarter, up 9%, with 777 million monthly users. Bloomberg reported on August 4 that users rose 12% following major product announcements. Price increases raised Premium average revenue per user (monthly revenue per subscriber) 7% to €4.89.
For the third quarter, management guided to 305 million subscribers, 788 million monthly users, and a 32.9% gross margin (revenue left after royalty and delivery costs). Audiobooks+ passed $100 million in annual recurring revenue, an add-on that raises revenue per user without a headline price rise.
Co-founder Daniel Ek has offered a longer view, famously saying, “We really want to soundtrack every moment of your life,” and citing artificial intelligence as a tool to create an adaptive, real-time soundtrack tailored to what a listener is doing, feeling, or experiencing.
What Each Company Must Prove on Thursday
Comcast must show broadband customer losses narrowing as free wireless lines become paying accounts. Spotify must reach 305 million subscribers while protecting its 32.9% gross margin target. Whichever company delivers on that test will have the stronger claim on your monthly budget.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.
Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community.
Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.
Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions.
