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Value-Investing Checklist · 6-gate screen
Compiled 29 June 2026

CMCSA · 6-gate checklist · Two spins in one year

Comcast Corporation (CMCSA)

Cable, broadband, wireless, streaming, film, theme parks — a conglomerate mid-way through disassembling itself.

At a glance — gate scorecard

Each block is one gate (G1–G6), five pips strongest. The highlighted gate is the one that decides the verdict that year.

The numbers

Gate by gate

Gate	2022 — Then	2026 — Today
G1 Circle of competence	Cable + broadband + broadcast + streaming + studios + theme parks + Sky — sprawling	Still sprawling; simplifies materially post NBCU/Sky spin (~2027)
G2 Good business	Broadband still net-adding; Peacock burning ~$2.5B; cable nets structural decline	Residential broadband losing subs to FWA; wireless / business svcs / Peacock improving
G3 Moat	Broadband duopoly moat + theme-park IP; cable networks eroding	Broadband moat fading vs FWA/fiber; theme parks + Universal IP still strong
G4 Management	Roberts era; Sky $40B acquisition value-destructive; Peacock strategy unclear	Roberts + Cavanagh co-CEO; two spins in one year shows willingness to unwind
G5 Margin of safety	~8x EV/EBITDA, 3% yield — fair, not cheap; heavy debt limits flexibility	~4.3x EV/EBITDA, 5.8% yield; ~$19B FCF; consensus PT ~$43 vs $24.54
G6 Decision discipline	Complex, fairly priced, no clear catalyst — passable but uninspiring	Sum-of-parts thesis with mechanical catalyst; base rate for breakups is mixed

What changed — Two spins in one year

In 2022 the filter gray-zoned it at Gate 5 — a sprawling conglomerate at fair price with Peacock burning cash and no visible unlock. Four years later the sprawl is finally coming apart: Versant (the legacy cable networks — CNBC, MSNBC, USA, Golf, Oxygen, E!, Syfy) was spun off cleanly on 2 Jan 2026, and on 29 Jun 2026 management announced the tax-free spin of NBCUniversal and Sky into a separate public company within ~12 months, with Comcast retaining up to 19.9% for later monetization. What remains at "Comcast" post-spins is a pure-play connectivity company — Xfinity broadband (~65M subs), wireless (9.7M lines, growing fast), and business services — at ~4.3x EV/EBITDA with a 5.8% dividend yield and $19B of annual FCF. The verdict flips from Gate 5 to Gate 2: no longer expensive, but the remaining stub is where residential broadband is losing subs to fixed-wireless. Cheap and simple, but competitively exposed.