Comcast tops Q4 estimates with steady growth in business, broadband services
![natalie-gagliordi-author.jpg](https://www.zdnet.com/a/img/resize/683cf193d63ac9f8971ad54ca45bc6311e987809/2014/04/25/77b24d5e-1175-11e4-9732-00505685119a/natalie-gagliordi-author.jpg?auto=webp&fit=crop&frame=1&height=192&width=192)
Cable giant Comcast topped fourth quarter estimates and showed strong growth across several lines of business.
In the fourth quarter, Comcast reported net income of $3.4 billion, or 73 cents a share, on revenue of $27.7 billion, up 2.4% from a year ago. Excluding items, Comcast reported earnings of 56 cents a share in the fourth quarter.
Wall Street was expecting Comcast to report fourth quarter earnings of 48 cents a share on revenue of $26.7 billion.
Comcast consists of several properties, but Comcast Business is among its fastest-growing segments. Comcast Business delivered revenue of $2.1 billion, up 4.8% from a year ago. Comcast's high-speed Internet revenue was up 12.7% to $5.4 billion while video and voice sales fell. The company's wireless business grew 35.8% to $505 million, and advertising revenue climbed 33.8%.
Here's a look at how the company's customer base shakes out:
![screen-shot-2021-01-28-at-9-10-54-am.png](https://www.zdnet.com/a/img/resize/6548c68d4ed2a1da30abbaa3830a156ae44ec9cf/2021/01/28/a83d672f-7af9-4d3f-8362-ddf759417765/screen-shot-2021-01-28-at-9-10-54-am.png?auto=webp&width=1280)
Overall, the strength in Comcast's business comes from the cable unit. For 2020, Comcast added 1.6 million cable customer relationships and 2 million high-speed internet net additions -- the highest annual gains in these categories, ever.