Comcast co-CEO Michael Cavanagh on Versant spinoff, business growth strategy

Watch on YouTube ↗  |  January 07, 2026 at 13:46  |  8:11  |  CNBC
Speakers
Michael Cavanagh — Co-CEO, Comcast
Andrew Ross Sorkin — Co-Anchor, Squawk Box
Joe Kernen — Co-Anchor, Squawk Box

Summary

Comcast co-CEO Michael Cavanagh discusses the completed Versant spinoff, Comcast's growth strategy, and the media landscape. He is optimistic on Comcast's long-term value, citing connectivity/broadband/wireless, pricing changes, Peacock profitability, and sold-out sports ad inventory. He also expects Versant to create value as a standalone company, while early share weakness is technical from index repositioning.

  • Comcast completed the spinoff of CNBC parent Versant.
  • Cavanagh became Comcast co-CEO this week.
  • Comcast's focus is connectivity, broadband and wireless, with a capital-efficient network roadmap.
  • Comcast has overhauled pricing and packaging to reduce churn and stabilize revenue.
  • Media is now focused on Peacock profitability and live events.
  • Olympic, Super Bowl, and NBA All-Star ad inventory is sold out.
  • Cavanagh is optimistic on Versant as a standalone company.
  • Early Versant stock weakness is attributed to technical index and forced selling.
Ideas
Michael Cavanagh Co-CEO, Comcast 3:29
Standalone Versant should unlock more value.
Versant should create more value as a standalone company than it did inside Comcast. Cavanagh is optimistic about the spinoff because the company has strong verticals including CNBC, MSNBC, and Golf Channel, and is led by Mark Lazarus and Kenny. He says the business could trade at 4-to-5-times multiples as its standalone strategy becomes evident to investors.
Versant HIGH
Michael Cavanagh Co-CEO, Comcast 4:44
Long-term value with multiple growth opportunities.
Comcast offers long-term value and multiple growth opportunities. Cavanagh says his greatest focus is connectivity—broadband and wireless—where competition has intensified but Comcast is well positioned for the endgame: it already delivers gig speeds across 65 million homes, has a capital-efficient roadmap to invest about $10 billion annually to upgrade to multi-gig symmetrical service, has best-in-class wireless through its MVNO, and can offer converged service. Management has also executed the biggest go-to-market change in its history, eliminating promo pricing in favor of simple tiers, included equipment, and multi-year price locks, which should reduce churn and create a more stable revenue base by 2027. On media, after the Versant spinoff, Comcast is focused on bringing Peacock to profitability alongside NBC broadcast and live events; Olympic, Super Bowl, and NBA All-Star ad inventory is already sold out.
CMCSA HIGH
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This CNBC video, published January 07, 2026, features Michael Cavanagh discussing Versant, CMCSA. 2 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Michael Cavanagh  · Tickers: Versant, CMCSA