Comcast on Wednesday reported healthy fourth quarter earnings and sales that topped expectations.
The cable giant reported earnings of $1.02 billion, or 36 cents a share, on revenue of $9.7 billion, up 7 percent from a year ago. Wall Street was expecting earnings of 32 cents a share on revenue of $9.58 billion. For 2010, Comcast reported net income of $3.63 billion, or $1.29 a share, on revenue of $37.9 billion. Meanwhile, Comcast raised its dividend by 19 percent and said it will step up its stock buyback plans.
Comcast's quarterly results didn't include NBCUniversal, which will be consolidated in the cable company's financial reports in the first quarter. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said the company saw accelerating growth through the year, a "robust advertising market" and good results in its residential, commercial and programming units.
By the numbers: