Comcast is the best-performing stock on the S&P 500 after it spins out CNBC

I wrote about Comcast yesterday as it was one of the top-10 picks from Barron’s for 2026. It looks like the market is taking a closer look at the cable giant and liking what it sees.

Shares are up 4.1% and it’s the best performer on the S&P 500 in an otherwise sluggish day. Some of that is due to its classic defensive characteristics. Barron’s has shares at just 6.7x next year’s earnings.

In terms of news, the Comcast spinoff Versant debuted in very thin trading today. It includes the cable networks (CNBC, MSNBC, USA, etc.), which are its lowest-multiple assets. The shift explains the hasty CNBC logo change to start the week.

What’s left? The “New Comcast” aims to be a cleaner play on:

• Residential Broadband: High margin, high barrier to entry.

• Streaming (Peacock): Finally turning the corner on profitability.

• Theme Parks: The crown jewel (Universal Studios)

The “cord-cutting 2.0” narrative has dominated the flows, and the Fixed Wireless Access competition from T-Mobile and Verizon has put a ceiling on sentiment. The Epic Universe theme park opened in May and so far the attendance numbers have been solid.

In the bigger picture, this may be indicative of a market that’s looking for a new place to happen. There are persistent worries that the AI trade is over-crowded and we saw signs today that the broader market may be overcrowded. If we see a retrenchment or a downturn in the economy, a company like Comcast is likely to outperform.

This article was written by Adam Button at investinglive.com.