A combination of cost savings and an increase in the number of subscribers and monthly bill rates pushed Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) past analysts expectations. Profits rose 22 percent to $944 million as revenue was up 3 percent to $8.8 billion, the latter just missing analysts’ estimates. Comcast didn’t have much to say on speculation about an imminent purchase of a majority stake in NBC Universal (NYSE: GE), but that’s likely to come up during the earnings call. It wasn’t all good news for Comcast, as ad revenue fell 16 percent, though that’s an improvement over the 20 percent drop in marketers’ dollars in Q2, the the WSJ noted.

Earnings release | Webcast (8:30 AM EDT)