By Helen Coster and Samrhitha A

Comcast has moved up the date for the sale or purchase of its remaining stake in Hulu to Disney to Sept. 30 this year, CEO Brian Roberts said on Wednesday.

Shares of Comcast extended gains and were trading 1.7% higher, defying weakness in the broader market. The comments were made at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference.

Disney owns two-thirds of Hulu, while Comcast owns the rest. Under a 2019 agreement, either company can trigger a sale or purchase of Comcast's 33% stake to Disney as early as January 2024. The agreement ascribes a minimum equity value to Hulu of $27.5 billion.

Hulu had 48.3 million subscribers at the end of the most recent quarter, compared with 24 million paid subscribers for Comcast's Peacock streaming service and 105.7 million global subscribers for Disney+.

(This story has been corrected to change the date for the deal from Sept. 30, 2024 to Sept. 30, 2023 in the headline and paragraph 1)

(Reporting by Samrhitha Arunasalam in Bengaluru and Helen Coster in New York; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Anil D'Silva)