Epic Universe powers Universal boom as Comcast eyes global expansion
Comcast’s latest earnings call showed Universal Parks surging on Epic Universe momentum, while improving broadband trends and Peacock’s path to profitability helped offset growing questions about international park softness and second-half travel demand.
Universal’s Q1 theme park revenue is up 24%, Comcast Corporation (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) reported Thursday during the Q1 earnings call. Broadband losses improved sharply, and Peacock will approach profitability next quarter.
However, the call also noted some early softness in Osaka and Beijing, while Co-CEO Mike Cavanagh said it remains too soon to know whether higher oil prices and airline costs could create pressure on the Parks business in Q2 and Q3.
Universal gains momentum
Universal had plenty to celebrate during Comcast’s latest earnings call, with strong theme park growth, expanding projects, and encouraging momentum across the company. At the same time, executives acknowledged a few watch areas overseas and kept a close eye on what the busy summer travel season could bring.
Epic performance
Theme Parks revenue reached $2.3 billion in the quarter, up 24.2% year over year, and Adjusted EBITDA grew 33.3% to $551 million. CFO Jason Armstrong said that, adjusting for roughly $100 million in pre-opening costs at Epic Universe (Orlando, Florida) in the prior-year quarter, Parks’ EBITDA grew over 7% on an underlying basis.
“Lastly, at Parks, Orlando continues to perform extremely well with Epic driving strong resort attendance and higher per cap spending,” Cavanagh said.
Armstrong added: “Under the hood, we had very strong growth in Orlando, where Epic continues to drive higher per cap spending in attendance across the entirety of the resort. We are really pleased with Epic’s performance since its launch. It’s expanding the overall guest experience and helping to position Universal Orlando as a true week-long destination.”
Courtesy of Universal
In other words, Epic Universe is increasing attendance and guest spending across all of Universal Orlando, while helping turn the resort into a full vacation destination where guests stay longer.
The growth continues the pattern from Q4 2025, when the Parks segment first crossed $1 billion in quarterly EBITDA, and Universal reported hotel average daily rates up 20% after adding 2,000 rooms in Orlando.
Cavanagh used the call to update investors on the broader pipeline. “We’re continuing to invest behind a pipeline of growth. This year, we opened Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift in Universal Hollywood and our first-ever kids park in Frisco, Texas this summer. Internationally, our UK park is progressing through final planning approvals as site stabilization begins, and we’re building on our strength in Japan with immersive Pokémon experiences.”
Courtesy of Universal
Softening in Beijing and Osaka
The sole cloud over the theme parks segment came from Universal’s Asian parks. “Partially offsetting strong growth in Orlando is some pressure at our other parks,” Armstrong said. “Specifically, in Osaka, we’re seeing some impact from China-related inbound travel trends, which is putting pressure on attendance. And in Beijing, we’re navigating a more challenging macroeconomic environment.”
No Pullback on Travel, Yet
The first quarter ended March 31, and the Iran conflict began in late February, giving the quarter almost no direct exposure to the oil price and airline cost spikes that followed. Cavanagh addressed the macro question directly when JPMorgan analyst Sebastiano Petti asked whether consumer sentiment at all-time lows was translating into park attendance.
“Inbound international travel to the US parks is something that has not ever gotten back to the level we saw pre-COVID… Inside the US, domestic to domestic, we haven’t yet seen any significant impact in the parks business caused by higher oil, but I think that does not mean that it may not happen depending on the duration of the effect on price of gas, airline tickets, and so forth. So more to come, but thus far, not seeing a pullback of any level that’s concerning in the current results. But like I said, we’ll see what the coming quarters look like and pretty much the same on the advertising side.”
In other words, international travel to Universal’s U.S. parks still hasn’t fully recovered to pre-2020 levels, but domestic demand remains steady for now. Executives said they have not seen a meaningful slowdown tied to higher gas or airfare costs yet, though they’re watching closely to see whether that changes in the next few quarters.
Chairman and Co-CEO Brian Roberts followed up by pointing to the upcoming Olympics as a potential offset. “I just want to comment that the compelling nature of the Olympics pulls forward our relationship with advertisers, obviously, the same for NFL Sunday and the Super Bowl. So, as we look forward to LA, we’ve got tremendous enthusiasm and excitement for how that could also keep the ecosystem very robust. We have a good road map ahead of us.”
Will Universal Expand The Parks?
Bank of America analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich asked Cavanagh how the company was thinking about capital allocation across NBCUniversal’s three growth assets — Universal Studios, Peacock, and Theme Parks.
“You look at parks, and we’re really pleased with the big initiative last year was Epic,” Cavanagh said. “And ahead of us is a UK park and the expansions of the kids parks in the US and more to come. So I think the creative plans inside our Parks business to keep driving growth, and that’s one of our six important growth drivers is a good one, and we love that business, and we’ll allocate — recycle the capital that they create back into the business over time to keep growing that business and creating value above our cost of capital.”
Cavanagh also described Parks as “a part of the flywheel of creating franchises and feeding parks” that “fits right into what makes a media company great alongside parks.”
Comcast ended the quarter at 2.3x net leverage, generated $3.9 billion in free cash flow, and returned $2.5 billion to shareholders through $1.25 billion in share repurchases and $1.2 billion in dividends. Armstrong said the capital allocation framework “has been and will continue to be balanced and consistent,” with priorities that “continue to start with investing organically behind our growth drivers.”
For context, Six Flags Entertainment Corporation reported 2025 net debt of $5.11 billion and a leverage ratio above 6x, and is currently divesting seven parks to pay down debt.
The Bigger Corporate Picture
Universal’s parks brought in $2.3 billion during the quarter, but Comcast’s larger story was strength across the rest of the company as well. Broadband losses improved sharply, wireless had its best quarter ever, and Peacock added 2 million subscribers to reach 46 million users.
Peacock also topped $2 billion in revenue for the first time, with executives saying the streaming service is expected to approach profitability next quarter. In short, Comcast said momentum is building across several businesses — not just theme parks.
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