Comcast earnings fail to wow investors

Wall Street was less than enamored with Comcast's (NASDAQ:CMCSA) earnings. Basic cable subscribers dropped slightly, by 95,000. But, selling basic cable is not the main event at the firm.

Comcast's shares dropped about 5% this morning, but the company said net profit rose to $588 million, or $0.19 a share, in the second quarter, up from $460 million, or $0.15 a share, in the same quarter a year ago. Revenue rose 31% to $7.712 billion with strong increases in digital television and phone subscribers.

According to MarketWatch: "Digital-cable customers grew by 823,000 to 14 million, as video-on-demand, digital-video recorder technology and high-definition programming helped fuel the increase."

That digital cable number and new sign-ups for VoIP services are the future of the company. Comcast added 671,000 digital-telephone subscribers during the second quarter, driving revenue 98% higher to $420 million. Comcast ended the three months with more than 3 million phone customers.

That is hard news for Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T (NYSE: T) who are trying to hold on to their landline customers and build video-to-the-home platforms using fiber. Comcast may be the largest cable company, but its peers are also signing VoIP customers at a rapid pace and adding broadband and digital TV subscribers.

Comcast's shares may be down today, but the telephone company shares will be the ones to watch over the next year or two.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.