Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is the company that consumers love to hate because it is the largest player in the cable business, an industry which has a reputation for dismal customer service and is bleeding customers at an increasingly alarming rate. Investors who can get past the company’s considerable baggage, however, may find plenty to like about Comcast stock.

CMCSA stock trades at an attractive forward price-earnings ratio of 12, and it also recently boosted its dividend. As of this morning, Comcast stock had a dividend yield of 2.37%. 

Let me lay out my bullish case on Comcast stock.

Let Us Entertain You

The company’s NBCUniversal unit is firing on all cylinders, thanks to strong ratings at the NBC broadcast network and the MSNBC cable news network. CMCSA also is bullish about the company’s film and theme park operation, with good reason.

Additionally, the company’s newest addition, Sky, is proving to be a pleasant surprise. CMCSA also is holding its own against the rising threat of cord-cutters, as it reported better-than-expected third-quarter results. As a result of these positive trends, Comcast stock has been resilient, as it is currently slightly above the levels at which it was trading at the beginning of October.

In the fourth quarter, NBCUniversal earned adjusted EBITDA of $2.1 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of 12.3%. The division’s revenue surged 7.1% to $9.4 billion, as its advertising and retransmission fees jumped. There are no signs that the huge unit will run out of gas any time soon, so it should continue to provide a positive catalyst for Comcast stock.

Ratings Strength And Popular Movies Should Boost Comcast Stock 

NBC topped the ratings last year in terms of total viewers for the first time in 16 years, buoyed by the popularity of its hit drama “This is Us,” among other shows. MSNBC widened its viewership lead over CNN on the strength of “The Rachel Maddow Show”, which was the second-most watched show in cable news in 2018. As the political situation in Washington, D.C. continues to bubble, more viewers will continue to tune in to MSNBC and abandon CNN.

Comcast’s Universal Studios is releasing new installments of its popular “How to Train Your Dragon”,  “The Secret Life of Pets” and “Fast and Furious” movie franchises in 2019. Additionally, its theme parks will benefit from the opening of Phase 1 of the massive Endless Summer Resort in Orlando and new attractions. Finally, Universal has plans to expand Universal Studios Japan in 2020 and will open a new resort in China in 2021.

Comcast Stock Should Benefit From Sky’s Strength

CMCSA’s Sky pay-TV business, which it wrestled away from Walt Disney (DIS) last year, reported 735,000 total net additions in Q3. Sky has invested heavily in original content in recent years and holds the rights to the U.K.’s popular Premiere soccer league. The European company is a smaller version of Comcast, so the integration process should be relatively easy.

While it is certainly not good for CMCSA stock when consumers drop their pay-TV service, CMCSA has less of a problem with cord-cutting than some of its rivals. During the fourth quarter, Comcast lost 29,000 video subscribers, down from 33,000 a year earlier. These numbers, however, fluctuate wildly, so the owners of Comcast stock cannot yet breathe easily about this issue. 

But interestingly, the revenue of Comcast’s cable business jumped 5.2% in the fourth quarter to $14.1 billion because the Philadelphia-based company added 323,000 net new residential broadband customers. Cord-cutters who want to escape the clutches of Comcast often have to use the company’s broadband service because of a lack of viable competitors. Sadly for Comcast’s many haters and those who are bearish on Comcast stock, video content doesn’t stream itself. 

As of this writing, the author did not own any shares of CMCSA stock.