Comcast has sparked a plan to transform its cost structure and the overall business in a way that will save billions of dollars and enable Comcast to redirect those funds toward growth initiatives, CFO Jason Armstrong revealed today at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference.
“We embarked earlier this month on the largest cost transformation in the company’s history. This will be billions of dollars in costs,” he said. “I frame it [as] more of a transformation. It’s not a budget exercise. It is: How do we rewrite the rules of how we do business on the connectivity and technology side?”
Armstrong didn’t share many details about how the transformation will take shape, noting that Comcast will have more to say about it on its Q3 earnings call at the end of October, and that there could be “some noise” about it in the coming weeks. Notably, the transformation he discussed is largely focused on Comcast’s connectivity and platforms business rather than NBCUniversal (NBCU) and UK-based Sky, which are being spun out.
Boiled down, Comcast feels that it needs to reorganize and redesign the organization to become more agile, modernize its technology, prioritize improvements in the customer experience, and invest more in the business, including in areas such as AI.
But Armstrong did point to a few “parts” of the company’s plan, noting that it aims to “eliminate layers to get to much faster decision-making” and that this will involve new internal and external processes.
Fuel for growth
Revamping processes will help Comcast free up capacity to support growth initiatives. Again, details were in short supply, but Armstrong noted that wireless is one area that will require more investment.
He said Comcast will also look for ways to better monetize the data in its ecosystem, referencing interest in edge computing. The operator is already pursuing such a strategy with the recent introduction of an AI edge platform that will be powered in part by Nvidia chips.
“We’ve got a lot of ways to free up capacity in the organization to repoint towards growth,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong did not mention whether layoffs will play a role in the plan. However, some could happen if the plan results in redundancies in the business.
Word of the cost transformation plan comes about a year after Comcast moved ahead with its plan to “retire” its division-based structure and shift to a more centralized operation. It is also happening as Comcast looks for ways to return its core connectivity business to growth amid the coming spin off of NBCU and Sky.
Meanwhile, Comcast is trying to boost its broadband business with relatively new national pricing plans and packages that include multi-year price locks and an offer of free mobile lines for a year. Comcast has also been launching new products such as “Xfinity Shield,” which includes a Wi-Fi-based motion detection capability that customers can opt-in for.
‘Irrational’ pricing from fiber competitors
Armstrong reiterated that Comcast’s goal for full-year 2026 is to improve broadband subscriber losses versus 2025. However, he said Comcast doesn’t expect that number to improve in Q3 (Comcast shed 91,000 residential broadband subscribers in Q3 2025, and lost 654,000 residential broadband subs for full-year 2025).
Armstrong noted that Comcast saw “irrational” pricing from some fiber service providers in the second quarter, which has continued throughout the third quarter of the year.
“When we see fiber pricing, standalone fiber pricing, in the $30 to $40 range for a Gig … that’s what we mean by irrational. That to us is not a rational price point,” he said.
Armstrong also reiterated that Comcast does expect to see some “modest improvements” in areas such as EBITDA, broadband average revenue per unit (ARPU) and convergence average revenue per account (ARPA) starting in Q3.
