Raphael Stevens

Merck reported second-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings that topped estimates as it saw strong sales from its blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda as well as other treatments in its oncology and vaccines portfolios and a new cardiovascular drug. 
The pharmaceutical giant also raised its full-year sales forecast to a range of $63.4 billion to $64.4 billion, however it lowered its adjusted profit guidance to between $7.94 and $8.04 per share.
The results come as Merck prepares to offset losses from Keytruda’s patent expiration in 2028 with a handful of new deals under its belt and key drug launches. 

The exterior view of the entrance to Merck headquarters in Rahway, New Jersey, on Feb. 5, 2024.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images

Merck on Tuesday reported second-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings that topped Wall Street’s expectations as it saw strong sales from its blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda as well as other treatments in its oncology and vaccines portfolios and a newly launched cardiovascular drug. 
The pharmaceutical giant also raised its full-year sales forecast to a range of $63.4 billion to $64.4 billion on increased demand for key products, particularly its oncology treatments. That’s only slightly higher than the $63.1 billion to $64.3 billion guidance the company provided in April. 

Merck lowered its adjusted profit guidance to a range of $7.94 and $8.04 per share, from a previous forecast of $8.53 to 8.65 per share. That updated outlook reflects one-time charges of 26 cents and 51 cents per share for the company’s acquisitions of Harpoon Therapeutics and EyeBio, respectively, Merck said.
Shares of the company were down nearly 2.8% in premarket trading.
Here’s what Merck reported for the second quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG: 

Earnings per share: $2.28 adjusted vs. $2.15 expected
Revenue: $16.11 billion vs. $15.84 billion expected

The drugmaker posted net income of $5.46 billion, or $2.14 per share, for the second quarter. That compares with a net loss of $5.98 billion, or $2.35 per share, during the year-earlier period, which included a charge related to its acquisition of Prometheus Biosciences.
Excluding acquisition and restructuring costs, the company earned $2.28 per share for the three-month period.

Merck reported $16.11 billion in revenue for the quarter, up 7% from the same period a year ago. 

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The results come as Merck prepares to offset losses from Keytruda’s patent expiration in 2028 with a handful of new deals under its belt and key drug launches. 
That includes Winrevair, a medication approved in the U.S. in March to treat a progressive and life-threatening lung condition. Some analysts expect that worldwide sales of Winrevair could reach $5 billion by 2030. 
It also includes Capvaxive, a vaccine designed to protect adults from a bacteria known as pneumococcus that can cause serious illnesses and lung infection. The shot was approved in the U.S. last month. 

Pharmaceutical unit sales top estimates

Merck’s pharmaceutical division booked $14.41 billion in revenue during the second quarter, up 7% from the same period a year ago. The unit develops a wide range of drugs for a variety of disease areas. 
The company’s immunotherapy Keytruda recorded $7.27 billion in revenue during the quarter, up 16% from the year-earlier period. Analysts had been expecting $7.12 billion in Keytruda sales, according to estimates from StreetAccount. 
Sales of Gardasil, a vaccine that prevents cancer from HPV, the most common sexually transmitted infection in the U.S., were nearly flat. 
Gardasil brought in $2.48 billion in sales, up just 1% from the second quarter of 2023. Merck said that growth was driven by higher prices in the U.S. but hampered by lower sales in China due to shipment timing. 
The segment results were slightly below the $2.51 billion that analysts expected, according to StreetAccount. 

Source: Merck

Winrevair posted $70 million in revenue for the second quarter following its approval in March. Analysts had expected the treatment to book $59.4 million in sales. 
Meanwhile, the company’s Type 2 diabetes treatment, Januvia, saw $629 million in sales, down 27% from the same period a year ago. Merck said the decline was primarily due to lower demand and prices of the drug, along with generic competition in several countries. 
Januvia is one of 10 drugs targeted in ongoing Medicare drug price negotiations, a policy that aims to make costly medications more affordable for seniors. Those price talks, a key provision of President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, will end at the beginning of August.
Sales of Merck’s Covid antiviral pill, Lagevrio, also fell, down 46% to $110 million during the quarter. Still, that topped analysts’ expectations of $81.5 million in sales, according to StreetAccount.  
Merck’s animal health division, which develops vaccines and medicines for dogs, cats and cattle, posted $1.48 billion in sales for the second quarter. That is up 2% from the year-earlier period and slightly below what analysts surveyed by StreetAccount were expecting.

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Both Boeing and Airbus have faced production snarls of key aircraft parts and a shortage of skilled workers coming out of the pandemic.
Boeing’s problems after the pandemic have been compounded by its safety crisis that forced it to slow production to stamp out defects.
A roadmap of the next few months of production will come this week, when Airbus reports quarterly results on Tuesday, followed by Boeing on Wednesday.

An Airbus A321 flies at the Farnborough International Airshow, in Farnborough, Britain, July 22, 2024.
Toby Melville | Reuters

FARNBOROUGH, England — Massive airplane orders, hundreds deep in recent years, were absent from this year’s biggest air show. The focus instead was on struggles at Boeing and Airbus to ramp up airplane production while battling a hangover from the pandemic that was marked by seesawing output.
Many of the issues, particularly training new workers, will take years to fix, analysts say, meaning lingering headaches for airlines, suppliers and the manufacturers themselves — and a shortage of new, more fuel-efficient planes.

“It’s a fair sentiment on the part of the supply base and the airlines to say that we failed our commitments to them in terms of being timely, in terms of predictability,” said Ihssane Mounir, Boeing’s senior vice president of global supply chain and fabrication, during a panel at the Farnborough Airshow outside of London last week. “So obviously, people start doing their own planning and their own second-guessing.”
A roadmap of the next few months of production will come this week, when Airbus reports quarterly results on Tuesday, followed by Boeing on Wednesday. Wall Street analysts expect Boeing will post another loss for the second quarter and possibly the next. Airbus has cut its delivery targets for the year.

Modest orders

At the show, which concluded Friday, Boeing racked up 96 orders and commitments, including previously made sales that were firmed up, while Airbus had 266, far shy of the 826 orders during the Paris Air Show a year ago, according to a tally from consulting firm Ishka. Paris and Farnborough alternate hosting the expo each year.
One standout was Air Korea’s order for up to 50 Boeing wide-body planes, including the 777X, which Boeing is working toward getting certified by regulators. The carrier also has Airbus A350-1000 jets on order. As both manufacturers grapple with production strains, Air Korea CEO Walter Cho quipped during the Boeing order signing: “Whichever comes first will become our flagship, whoever’s on time.”

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The muted order tally during the show came as both manufacturers are largely sold out of narrow-body jets like the Boeing 737 Max and Airbus A321neo through much of this decade, if not longer. Boeing has an overall backlog of close to 5,500 planes, while Airbus has more than 8,000 on order. Many airlines from United Airlines to Air India have also stocked up on new jet orders as travel rebounded in the pandemic.

Boeing’s presence at the air show was notably modest — it didn’t bring any of its commercial aircraft for flight demonstrations while it focused on its safety crisis and manufacturing issues. Arlington, Virginia-based Boeing is trying to ramp up production of its bread-and-butter Max planes to about 38 a month, and investors will be looking for clues this week on when those targets could be reached.
Airbus showed off its new extra-long-range, narrow-body plane, the Airbus A321XLR, which was certified by European regulators days before the show started.

Parts shortages

Visitors to the air show usually get a glimpse of fleets that will fly for decades, but most of the industry this year was focused on output over the next few months.
Parts shortages from landing gear to engine components like high-pressure blades to ever-more-complex cabin interiors, like those with premium seating, are also in short supply. That has slowed down production, depriving airlines of more fuel-efficient planes and angering some executives along the way.

Ihssane Mounir, Senior Vice President Commercial Sales & Marketing at The Boeing Company with Peter Anderson, Chief Commercial Officer at AerCap attend the news conference at the Farnborough International Airshow, in Farnborough, Britain, July 19, 2022. 
Matthew Childs | Reuters

Airbus is taking a more hands-on approach “than we’ve ever done before,” deploying more than 200 supply chain engineers among suppliers, said Christian Scherer, chief executive of the European manufacturer’s commercial airplane business.
“What we don’t want to be seeing again in the future, whether we’re in an uplift or in a slowdown of this industry, is a situation where the supply chain does not believe what we’re telling them,” Scherer told reporters ahead of the show.
Airbus last month said it would cut its airplane delivery target for the year and said it would slow planned production increase, citing “persistent specific supply chain issues mainly in engines, aerostructures and cabin equipment.”
Boeing, meanwhile, in addition to supply chain issues, is trying to dig its way out of a safety crisis stemming from a door plug blowout in January, and a series of manufacturing defects that have slowed output.

New workers, low wages in focus

A loss of skilled workers who were either let go or opted for early retirement during Covid-19’s plunge in air travel has hampered output of new jets. The manufacturers are now left to train new workers — a major challenge.
“I think it’s a three-to-five year issue,” said Kevin Michaels of AeroDynamic Advisory, an industry consulting firm. “Wages have to be reset to make the industry more attractive” for workers.
Boeing’s Mounir acknowledged that lower wages are a problem further down the supply chain and said that Boeing itself should invest in their training.
“There’s no question about it,” he said. “I don’t expect these smaller suppliers who are essential to the ecosystem to be able to shoulder that burden. We have to do it ourselves at the higher level, again, leveraging our balance sheet. It will pay off.”
It takes more time to train workers like “bakers, butchers, people working in a very different business area” who are new to the aerospace field, said Airbus’s Delphine Bazaud, head of industrial supply chain and digital operations.
Michaels, of AeroDynamic Advisory, predicted that in the case of the U.S., more aerospace work will eventually move abroad, “to places where labor is available.” More

Pfizer reported second-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings that blew past expectations and raised its full-year outlook as the drugmaker works to slash costs.
The results come as Pfizer scrambles to stabilize its business and win back Wall Street’s favor following the rapid decline in demand for its Covid products.
The company pointed to growth from acquired drugs, recently launched treatments and other key products, which helped offset the drop in sales from its Covid business.

Kena Betancur | Corbis News | Getty Images

Pfizer on Tuesday reported second-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings that blew past expectations and raised its full-year outlook, benefiting from its broad cost-cutting program, better-than-expected sales of its Covid antiviral pill, Paxlovid, and strong non-Covid product sales.
The company now expects to book adjusted earnings of $2.45 to $2.65 per share for the fiscal year, up from its previous guidance of $2.15 to $2.35 per share. 

Pfizer also hiked its revenue outlook to a range of $59.5 billion to $62.5 billion, up from a previous revenue forecast of between $58.5 billion and $61.5 billion. That includes roughly $5 billion in expected revenue from its Covid vaccine and $3.5 billion from Paxlovid.
The pharmaceutical giant said its higher outlook reflects its strong performance in the first half of the year and its confidence in the “underlying strength” of its business. Notably, Pfizer on Tuesday posted its first quarter of topline revenue growth since the fourth quarter of 2022, when its Covid revenues peaked.
The results come as Pfizer scrambles to stabilize its business and win back Wall Street’s favor following the rapid decline in demand for its Covid products. Demand for its vaccine and Paxlovid plunged and transitioned to the commercial market in the U.S. last year as the world emerged from the pandemic. 
As revenue dried up, Pfizer in October launched a broad cost-cutting push that aims to deliver at least $4 billion in savings by the end of 2024. The company has since announced a separate multiyear plan to slash costs, with the first phase of the effort slated to deliver $1.5 billion in savings by 2027. 
Pfizer is also zeroing in on treating cancer after its whopping $43 billion acquisition of Seagen last year. 

Here’s what the company reported for the second quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG: 

Earnings per share: 60 cents adjusted vs. 46 cents expected.
Revenue: $13.28 billion vs. $12.96 billion expected.

The company booked second-quarter net income of $41 million, or 1 cent per share. That compares with net income of $2.33 billion, or 41 cents per share, during the same period a year ago. Excluding certain items, the company posted earnings per share of 60 cents for the quarter.
Pfizer recorded revenue of $13.28 billion for the second quarter. That is up 2% from the same period a year ago.
The company pointed to growth from acquired drugs, recently launched treatments and other key products, which helped offset the drop in sales from its Covid business.
Paxlovid brought in $251 million in sales for the quarter, up 76% from the year-earlier period. That growth is mainly because of increased infection rates and demand in certain international markets during the quarter and due to favorable comparisons from the year-earlier period when Paxlovid recorded no U.S. sales ahead of its transition to the commercial market.
The segment results were higher than the $206.1 million in sales that analysts were expecting, according to estimates compiled by StreetAccount.
The company’s Covid shot booked $195 million in revenue, down 87% from the same period a year ago.
That drop was driven by lower contract deliveries and demand in international markets, and reflects the seasonality of demand for vaccinations.
Analysts expected $195 million in sales for the drug, according to StreetAccount.

Non-Covid product growth

Excluding Covid products, Pfizer said revenue for the second quarter rose 14% on an operational basis.
The company said that growth was partly fueled by Seagen’s approved cancer products, which brought in $845 million in revenue for the quarter. That includes $394 million from a targeted treatment for bladder cancer called Padcev and $279 million from Adectris, another drug that targets certain lymphomas. 
Pfizer completed its acquisition of Seagen in December. 
Revenue also got a boost from strong sales of Pfizer’s Vyndaqel drugs, which are used to treat a certain type of cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle. Those drugs booked $1.32 billion in sales, up 69% from the second quarter of 2023.
Analysts had expected that group of drugs to rake in $1.10 billion for the quarter, according to estimates from StreetAccount.  

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Pfizer said its blood thinner Eliquis, which is co-marketed by Bristol Myers Squibb, also helped drive revenue growth during the period. The drug posted $1.88 billion in revenue for the quarter, up 7% from the year-earlier period. 
That is in line with analysts expectations, according to StreetAccount. 
Sales of Eliquis could take a hit in 2026, however, when a new price for the drug goes into effect for certain Medicare patients following negotiations with the federal government. Those price talks, a key provision of President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, will end at the beginning of August.
Meanwhile, Pfizer’s vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, saw $56 million in revenue. The shot, known as Abrysvo, entered the market during the third quarter of 2023 for seniors and expectant mothers who can pass on protection to their fetuses. 
The shot fell short of analysts’ estimates of $89 million in revenue for the second quarter, according to StreetAccount.

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Procter & Gamble reported better-than-expected earnings, but its quarterly revenue fell short of Wall Street’s estimates.
The company’s volume increased for the first time in more than two years.

Procter & Gamble on Tuesday reported mixed quarterly results, but the company’s volume increased for the first time in more than two years.
Volume excludes pricing, making the metric a more accurate reflection of demand than sales. Over the last several years, P&G’s price hikes across its portfolio, from diapers to detergent, fueled its sales growth, but volume flattened or even declined as consumers bought less of its products.

Shares of the company fell 4.6% in premarket trading.
Here’s what the company reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Earnings per share: $1.40 adjusted vs. $1.37 expected
Revenue: $20.53 billion vs. $20.74 billion expected

P&G reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income attributable to the company of $3.14 billion, or $1.27 per share, down from $3.38 billion, or $1.37 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, the company earned $1.40 per share.
Net sales of $20.53 billion were essentially flat compared with the year-ago period. P&G’s organic revenue, which excludes foreign currency, acquisitions and divestitures, increased 2% in the quarter.

P&G’s volume rose 1%, thanks to stronger demand for its grooming, health care, and fabric and home-care products. All three of those segments reported 2% volume growth for the quarter.
But the company’s beauty and baby, feminine and family care divisions continued to struggle. Both units saw volume fall 1%, hurt by lower demand for its pricey SK-II skin-care brand and diapers, respectively.
For fiscal 2025, P&G anticipates core net earnings per share in a range of $6.91 to $7.05. The company reiterated its revenue outlook of 2% to 4% growth.

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An older, once-daily drug for diabetes and obesity from Novo Nordisk called liraglutide may slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease by protecting patients’ brains, according to data from a mid-stage trial.
Novo Nordisk sells liraglutide under the brand names Saxenda and Victoza, which are seeing sales decline as demand for the company’s weekly diabetes injection Ozempic and weight loss shot Wegovy skyrockets.
The results add to growing evidence that the highly popular class of obesity and diabetes medications called GLP-1s may have significant health benefits beyond weight loss and regulating blood sugar.

A box of the drug Victoza, made by Novo Nordisk Pharmaceutical, sits on a counter at a pharmacy in Provo, Utah, January 9, 2020.
George Frey | Reuters

An older, once-daily drug for diabetes and obesity from Novo Nordisk called liraglutide may slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease by protecting patients’ brains, according to data from a mid-stage trial released on Tuesday. 
Novo Nordisk sells liraglutide as a diabetes and obesity drug under the brand names Victoza and Saxenda, respectively. Quarterly sales of those daily injections have been declining as patients shift toward the Danish drugmaker’s blockbuster weekly injections, Ozempic for diabetes and Wegovy for weight loss.

The results add to growing evidence that the highly popular class of obesity and diabetes medications called GLP-1s may have significant health benefits beyond promoting weight loss and regulating blood sugar. As GLP-1 demand skyrocketed over the last two years, Novo Nordisk and rival Eli Lilly have been studying their drugs’ potential in patients with chronic conditions ranging from fatty liver disease to sleep apnea. 
Researchers from the Imperial College London followed more than 200 patients in the U.K. with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s who were randomly assigned to receive either a daily injection of liraglutide or a placebo. The study was partly funded by Novo Nordisk. 
Patients who received liraglutide had an 18% slower decline in cognitive function after one year of treatment compared to those who received the placebo. 
The phase two trial found that liraglutide slowed the shrinking of certain parts of the brain that are critical for memory, decision-making, learning and language by nearly 50% compared to the placebo, based on MRI exams. Alzheimer’s disease often causes the brain to shrink as the illness progresses because crucial nerve cells break down and stop working properly. 
Researchers presented the results on Tuesday at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Philadelphia, the world’s largest meeting for dementia research. 

Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, a general term for loss of memory, language, and other thinking abilities
Brian B. Bettencourt | Toronto Star | Getty Images

The new data demonstrates the diversity of therapies being developed or tested for Alzheimer’s disease, which is paving the way for new and potentially more personalized approaches to treating the condition, said Dr. Heather Snyder, vice president of medical and scientific relations at the Alzheimer’s Association.
Nearly 7 million Americans have the condition, the fifth-leading cause of death for adults over 65, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. By 2050, the number of Alzheimer’s patients is projected to rise to almost 13 million in the U.S.
The Alzheimer’s treatment space reached a breakthrough over the last year, with two newly cleared drugs proven to slow disease progression by targeting a toxic protein in the brain called amyloid, a hallmark of the condition. That includes Kisunla from Eli Lilly and Leqembi from Biogen and Eisai. 
Snyder told CNBC the new data on Tuesday “opens up the door” for scientists to explore combining those amyloid-targeting drugs with GLP-1s such as liraglutide. 
Notably, existing research shows that GLP-1s do not bring the risk of brain swelling and bleeding, two side effects that have been linked to Leqembi and Kisunla. Patients who receive those amyloid-targeting treatments undergo routine MRIs to monitor for those side effects. 
In the mid-stage trial, patients who received liraglutide most commonly experienced gastrointestinal side effects associated with other GLP-1s, such as nausea. 
That may be one advantage of using GLP-1s to treat Alzheimer’s patients – only a small share of whom are currently receiving amyloid-targeting drugs. 
“Having a drug which has got a very good safety profile and could be used widely – it will change the field significantly,” Dr. Paul Edison, professor of neuroscience at the Imperial College London and the trial’s lead author, told CNBC. 
He said GLP-1s, if approved for Alzheimer’s, “could be administered pretty much anywhere in the world without a huge amount of monitoring” for side effects, which shows that there is “a great potential” for those drugs. 
But more research is needed, he noted. 
Edison is involved in Novo Nordisk’s phase three “EVOKE” and “EVOKE+” trials. The ongoing EVOKE is examining semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic, in nearly 2,000 Alzheimer’s patients. 
In a statement, Novo Nordisk said it welcomes independent research investigating its GLP-1s as treatments for other conditions, but noted that those products are not currently approved for Alzheimer’s disease.

Liraglutide trial details 

Mr. Bobby Pugh, 91, cares for his wife Bessie Pugh, 90, an Alzheimer’s patient at the Ave Maria Home, an assisted living center for seniors, in Bartlett, Tennessee, U.S., September 13, 2023. 
Karen Pulfer Focht | Reuters

Measures of cognitive function and brain volume were not the main goals of the study. 
The trial’s primary goal was measuring how much glucose the brain consumes, which is important for assessing cognitive function. As Alzheimer’s disease progresses, the so-called glucose metabolic rate in certain parts of the brain declines. 
Edison said he and his team believe they did not have enough participants in the trial to demonstrate a significant change in that rate. But he called it encouraging that liraglutide met the study’s second goal of demonstrating a benefit in cognitive function, along with another goal of a change in brain volume. 
Those findings suggest that GLP-1s such as liraglutide can protect the brain, Edison noted. 
“I think demonstrating that cognitive improvement is the key, because that is what the patients are interested in,” he told CNBC. 
He said liraglutide likely achieves that through various ways, such as reducing inflammation in the brain, improving how the brain’s nerve cells communicate and lowering insulin resistance as well as reducing two hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease: toxic proteins called amyloid plaque and tau. 
More research is needed to confirm that, Edison said.  More

Diamond Sports reached a deal to see its regional sports networks return to Comcast’s cable TV customers on Aug. 1.
Diamond’s Bally Sports networks went dark for Comcast cable customers in early May.
The deal paves the way for Diamond Sports to present a reorganization plan and potentially exit bankruptcy protection.

A Bally Sports display is shown in the eighth inning of the game between the MLB’s Houston Astros and Minnesota Twins at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on April 9, 2023.
David Berding | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

Bally Sports regional channels are returning to Comcast cable TV customers.
Diamond Sports — the owner of Bally Sports-branded regional sports networks — reached a deal with Comcast on Monday that will see its networks go live for cable customers on Aug. 1.

The networks, which air regular season local games for Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and National Hockey League teams in various markets, had gone dark for Comcast cable customers on May 1 at the start of MLB regular season. Fans of 11 MLB teams, including the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins, were affected.
The deal paves the way for Diamond Sports’ survival after filing for bankruptcy last March. It has been working on securing contracts with various pay TV providers such as Comcast.
“Entering a new carriage agreement with Comcast, our third largest distributor, is a critical step forward in our restructuring effort, and we are pleased that fans will again be able to access broadcasts of their local teams through Xfinity,” said Diamond CEO David Preschlack in a news release.
Diamond has also reached carriage deals with Charter Communications, DirecTV and Fubo.
“With certainty on our distribution, we are focused on finalizing an agreement with the NHL and resolving our ongoing negotiations with the NBA. We are mindful that time is of the essence with basketball and hockey seasons fast approaching, and once agreements with our team and league partners are complete, we intend to move expeditiously to present a plan of reorganization to the Court,” Preschlack said in the release.

The leagues have recently voiced concerns over Diamond Sports’ future in court hearings, questioning whether the company could put together a viable business plan ahead of the upcoming NBA and NHL seasons this fall.
Diamond had been scheduled to seek court approval on Monday for its reorganization plan in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, but postponed the hearing as it sought to reach an agreement with Comcast.
The company has said it intends to emerge from bankruptcy protection under the ownership of its creditors.
The negotiations between Diamond and Comcast broke down in May following a dispute over terms, namely how quickly the cable provider could shift the sports networks into a tiered model, meaning customers would have to opt into the packages that include the channels at a higher rate rather than having them included in broader cable packages.
The deal reached on Monday allows for Comcast to offer Diamond Sports networks on such tiers outside of the broader cable package, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked to remain anonymous to discuss specifics of the deal.
Pay TV companies such as Comcast have been bleeding customers in recent years as customers opt for cheaper streaming options. Comcast said last week it lost 419,000 domestic cable customers during the second quarter and now has roughly 13.2 million subscribers in total.
Once a lucrative business, regional sports networks have been particularly squeezed by customers leaving the cable bundle.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.

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Another consumer has sued AT&T, alleging that a retail store employee stole nude images off of her phone when she was upgrading her device.
The case mirrors at least six others brought against the wireless provider in the past for similar allegations.
These sorts of lawsuits typically get dismissed, but after a recent court ruling against T-Mobile, phone companies may face more liability when their employees steal sensitive customer data.

Wireless providers including T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon have faced a string of lawsuits in recent years from women who allege retail employees stole intimate images or videos from their phones while helping them with in-store data transfers.
The cases are routinely dismissed when the companies argue they weren’t aware of the staffer’s actions and aren’t liable because the employees were acting outside the scope of their duties. But that could soon change after a recent court ruling, legal experts told CNBC.

Now, the companies — not just the store workers — could face liability in future litigation, which could lead them to address the hiring, training and data safety practices that victims argue led to the violations, the experts said.
The latest lawsuit against AT&T was filed Monday in California state court. A woman identified as Jane Doe alleged that an employee at a Los Angeles store stole her nude images and distributed them in February after she upgraded her iPhone and he helped her with transferring her data.
That case, filed by attorneys from the C.A. Goldberg law firm, now has a better chance of surviving and making it to trial after an April court ruling against T-Mobile involving a similar incident in Washington that was brought by the same law firm. Judge Stanley Bastian, the judge overseeing the T-Mobile case, ruled it could move forward after the company sought to have the lawsuit dismissed. 
T-Mobile, like other phone carriers, had argued it wasn’t aware of the employee’s actions and said he was acting outside the scope of his duties. But the judge decided the company could potentially be liable and ruled the case should proceed.
The ruling, described by the law firm as a “landmark” decision, is the first of its kind against a wireless carrier accused of negligence for hiring employees alleged to have stolen sensitive customer data, the firm said. It could affect the fate of future cases, including the lawsuit filed against AT&T on Monday, legal experts said.

“That decision sets important precedent and we intend to continue to try to hold phone companies accountable for situations like this where their employees violate customer privacy during phone trade-ins or other transactions at the stores,” said Laura Hecht-Felella from C.A. Goldberg, one of the lead attorneys behind both the T-Mobile and the new AT&T case. “There’s a lot of different ways in which they can try to prevent this from happening and it’s clear whatever they’re currently doing is not adequate.”
Carrie Goldberg, the firm’s founder, added that the “hope really is not to attract more cases” but to encourage the companies to have better safeguards in place. 
“That’s what litigation does. It says you can be held responsible for your negligence,” said Goldberg. “And presumably that will induce the phone companies to innovate on their safety and privacy protections for consumers at their stores.” 
In response, an AT&T spokesperson condemned the incident.
“We were appalled to learn of the behavior allegedly exhibited by an employee of a third-party retailer,” the spokesperson told CNBC. “We hold the vendors who work on our behalf to high standards and we do not tolerate the behavior alleged here. The vendor has assured us the employee allegedly involved no longer works for them, and they were working to resolve this matter with the customer.”
T-Mobile declined to comment.

Mounting allegations

In the case against AT&T, the woman filed a police report, which remains under investigation, according to the lawsuit.
At least six other similar accusations have been levied against AT&T in the past either in civil lawsuits or police reports, according to the complaint. The dispositions of those cases are unclear. The cases mirror at least a dozen more alleged to have happened at other providers, such as T-Mobile and Verizon, according to news reports. 

Juyochi | Istock | Getty Images

Goldberg says she suspects the cases that have been made public are “just the tip of the iceberg,” and there are likely more that customers never detected. 
“We suspect that the phenomenon of theft at cellular phone stores is bigger than we can comprehend,” said Goldberg. 
“As a society, we trust these cellular providers with all of our most private information,” said Goldberg. “And really there’s no limit to what their employees can steal off of our phones and then share with the world.”
She added that her firm has received “case after case after case” where customers allege phone store employees stole their data. Goldberg said the issue cuts across companies, making it an “industry-wide” concern. 
Andrew Stengel, a New York attorney who specializes in cases involving the nonconsensual disclosure of intimate images, better known as revenge porn, reviewed the T-Mobile Washington decision for CNBC. He said future cases, such as the AT&T lawsuit, now have a better chance of surviving motions to dismiss and progressing because the attorneys will be able to point to that precedent in their arguments. 
“It should make judges think twice or three times before they dismiss a claim,” said Stengel, who has brought a similar case against T-Mobile in the past but isn’t involved in the current litigation. “It should be able to give judges not only pause, but ammunition to agree.” 
If lawsuits against wireless carriers related to the theft of intimate images are allowed to proceed, they move into discovery, which Stengel likened to the “crown jewels” of a legal case. 
During discovery, defendants are required to turn over documents that are relevant to the case, which could reveal damning and implicating information. 
“There could be information that the cellphone companies would be required to disclose that will increase liability in the future,” said Stengel. “If I were their attorney, I’d be very concerned about that.”
Stengel cautioned that while the Washington decision may be “exciting,” it’s not binding and judges in other jurisdictions can choose to ignore it. 
Still, Goldberg expects the decision to be “influential.” She said it could impel phone companies to finally make changes to prevent these sorts of abuses. 
“We think that the cellular providers are going to be a lot less arrogant about what they can get away with,” said Goldberg. “If you’re a company that is consistently hiring rando pervs that steal consumers’ most private, intimate pictures, then, it’s the company’s fault.” 

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