Stock Analysis on Net

Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Financial Reporting Quality: Aggregate Accruals 

Microsoft Excel

Earnings can be decomposed into cash and accrual components. The accrual component (aggregate accruals) has been found to have less persistence than the cash component, and therefore (1) earnings with higher accrual component are less persistent than earnings with smaller accrual component, all else equal; and (2) the cash component of earnings should receive a higher weighting evaluating company performance.


Balance-Sheet-Based Accruals Ratio

Comcast Corp., balance sheet computation of aggregate accruals

US$ in millions

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Dec 31, 2023 Dec 31, 2022 Dec 31, 2021 Dec 31, 2020 Dec 31, 2019
Operating Assets
Total assets 264,811 257,275 275,905 273,869 263,414
Less: Cash and cash equivalents 6,215 4,749 8,711 11,740 5,500
Operating assets 258,596 252,526 267,194 262,129 257,914
Operating Liabilities
Total liabilities 181,344 175,236 177,896 180,851 178,168
Less: Current portion of long-term debt 2,069 1,743 2,132 3,146 4,452
Less: Long-term debt, less current portion 95,021 93,068 92,718 100,614 97,765
Operating liabilities 84,254 80,425 83,046 77,091 75,951
 
Net operating assets1 174,342 172,101 184,148 185,038 181,963
Balance-sheet-based aggregate accruals2 2,241 (12,047) (890) 3,075
Financial Ratio
Balance-sheet-based accruals ratio3 1.29% -6.76% -0.48% 1.68%
Benchmarks
Balance-Sheet-Based Accruals Ratio, Competitors4
Alphabet Inc. 17.24% 21.43% 22.86% 15.42%
Meta Platforms Inc. 11.12% 20.95% 14.69% 35.56%
Netflix Inc. -3.78% 14.21% 27.24% 10.12%
Walt Disney Co. 0.08% 3.09% 1.73% -4.26%
Balance-Sheet-Based Accruals Ratio, Sector
Media & Entertainment 6.80% 7.77% 8.30% 6.79%
Balance-Sheet-Based Accruals Ratio, Industry
Communication Services 4.26% -3.77% 10.23% 7.81%

Based on: 10-K (reporting date: 2023-12-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2022-12-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2021-12-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2020-12-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2019-12-31).

1 2023 Calculation
Net operating assets = Operating assets – Operating liabilities
= 258,59684,254 = 174,342

2 2023 Calculation
Balance-sheet-based aggregate accruals = Net operating assets2023 – Net operating assets2022
= 174,342172,101 = 2,241

3 2023 Calculation
Balance-sheet-based accruals ratio = 100 × Balance-sheet-based aggregate accruals ÷ Avg. net operating assets
= 100 × 2,241 ÷ [(174,342 + 172,101) ÷ 2] = 1.29%

4 Click competitor name to see calculations.

Financial ratio Description The company
Balance-sheet-based accruals ratio Ratio is found by dividing balance-sheet-based aggregate accruals by average net operating assets. Using the balance-sheet-based accruals ratio, Comcast Corp. improved earnings quality from 2022 to 2023.

Cash-Flow-Statement-Based Accruals Ratio

Comcast Corp., cash flow statement computation of aggregate accruals

US$ in millions

Microsoft Excel
Dec 31, 2023 Dec 31, 2022 Dec 31, 2021 Dec 31, 2020 Dec 31, 2019
Net income attributable to Comcast Corporation 15,388 5,370 14,159 10,534 13,057
Less: Net cash provided by operating activities 28,501 26,413 29,146 24,737 25,697
Less: Net cash used in investing activities (7,161) (14,140) (13,446) (12,047) (14,841)
Cash-flow-statement-based aggregate accruals (5,952) (6,903) (1,541) (2,156) 2,201
Financial Ratio
Cash-flow-statement-based accruals ratio1 -3.44% -3.88% -0.83% -1.17%
Benchmarks
Cash-Flow-Statement-Based Accruals Ratio, Competitors2
Alphabet Inc. -0.52% -7.90% 17.48% 8.45%
Meta Platforms Inc. -7.43% 1.96% -14.89% 36.04%
Netflix Inc. -8.44% 16.73% 27.32% 4.60%
Walt Disney Co. -1.97% 1.50% -0.29% -4.68%
Cash-Flow-Statement-Based Accruals Ratio, Sector
Media & Entertainment -3.16% -1.69% 2.49% 4.14%
Cash-Flow-Statement-Based Accruals Ratio, Industry
Communication Services -2.47% -1.31% 6.79% -0.70%

Based on: 10-K (reporting date: 2023-12-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2022-12-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2021-12-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2020-12-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2019-12-31).

1 2023 Calculation
Cash-flow-statement-based accruals ratio = 100 × Cash-flow-statement-based aggregate accruals ÷ Avg. net operating assets
= 100 × -5,952 ÷ [(174,342 + 172,101) ÷ 2] = -3.44%

2 Click competitor name to see calculations.

Financial ratio Description The company
Cash-flow-statement-based accruals ratio Ratio is found by dividing cash-flow-statement-based aggregate accruals by average net operating assets. Using the cash-flow-statement-based accruals ratio, Comcast Corp. improved earnings quality from 2022 to 2023.