comcast corp shares were headed for their best daily performance in more than 20 months thursday after an analyst said he saw a “silver lining” for maligned cable stocks shares of comcast cmcsa have dropped 40 this year and the stock saw its largest quarterly decline in 20 years during the third quarter the declines reflect broader pressure on the cable category as broadband growth has slowed to a halt following a covidera boom citi research analyst michael rollins isn’t denying the hard times in broadband and he even expects that upcoming quarterly results within the sector could “reinforce this new reality” but he also thinks that a “tough” quarter for the industry could “be helpful as a meaningful step forward to eventually stabilize exgrowth expectations for cable revenue” and get investors to think more deeply about ways that cable companies could improve their profitability as broadband rises as a portion of the business mix what’s more rollins sees a “silver lining” in the cash flow generated by comcast altice usa inc atus  and charter communications inc chtr “we also believe cable cash flow offers a relatively defensive alternative within the market during a recession scenario that could catalyze value investors to revisit the category” rollins wrote he upgraded shares of comcast and altice to buy from neutral late wednesday while keeping a neutral rating on shares of charter in comcast he sees “opportunities to sustain favorable cashflow generation monetize noncore investments and reinvest to accelerate strategic ambitions given its financial flexibility” in altice he thinks the company has “internal opportunities to improve performance with elevated fiber investments” he further notes that altice “may be ripe to be a private company” charter’s stock didn’t get the bump up to buy as rollins worries about the company’s “elevated valuation and financial leverage” comcast shares are up 62 in thursday afternoon trading and on pace to log their largest singleday percentage gain since jan 28 2021 when they advanced 66 according to dow jones market data charter’s stock is up 62 as well despite not getting a citi upgrade while altice’s is up 34