New York Times (NYSE:NYT) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.03 EPS

New York Times (NYSE:NYT) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.03, FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $768.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.21 million. New York Times had a return on equity of 22.64% and a net margin of 13.19%. The company’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share.

Here are the key takeaways from New York Times’ conference call:

• Digital subscriptions remained a major growth engine: the company added 420,000 net digital subscribers, reaching 13.8 million, while digital-only subscription revenue rose 14.6%. Average digital-only ARPU increased 1.4%, supported by pricing step-ups and price increases.
• Q3 revenue increased 10% to $769 million, adjusted operating profit rose 14% to about $150 million, and adjusted diluted EPS grew to $0.68. Year-to-date free cash flow was approximately $436 million, and the company returned $276 million to shareholders.
• Advertising revenue grew 7.8%, with digital advertising up 12%, though digital ads came in slightly below guidance. For Q4, the company expects total advertising growth in the mid-single digits and digital advertising growth in the high-single to low-double digits.
• Q4 guidance calls for digital-only subscription revenue growth of 12%–15% and total subscription revenue growth of 9%–11%; adjusted operating cost growth is expected to moderate to 6%–8%. Management said it will continue investing in journalism and products, particularly video, while emphasizing cost discipline.
• Management said big tech changes are driving less traffic to publishers and that The Times is not immune, although it has not seen a measurable impact from AI agents on churn or cancellations so far. Executives described the effects of agents and evolving consumer behavior as uncertain and said they are monitoring them.

New York Times Price Performance

Shares of NYT stock traded down $0.91 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $65.59. The stock had a trading volume of 2,355,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,257,882. New York Times has a fifty-two week low of $57.97 and a fifty-two week high of $87.10. The firm has a market cap of $10.58 billion, a PE ratio of 27.33, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.29.

New York Times Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 7th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 7th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. New York Times’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on NYT shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of New York Times from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of New York Times from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. New Street Research set a $82.00 target price on shares of New York Times in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on New York Times from $90.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Sunday, October 11th. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded New York Times from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $70.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.80.

New York Times News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting New York Times this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 adjusted earnings of $0.68 per share beat the $0.65 consensus, and revenue of $768.54 million slightly exceeded estimates and rose 9.7% year over year. Digital subscriber gains, higher subscription revenue and stronger advertising helped drive growth and margin expansion. The New York Times Q3 Earnings Beat on Digital Subscription Growth
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays raised its price target from $63 to $64 but kept an “equal weight” rating; the new target remains below the roughly $65.25 share price cited in the report, implying limited near-term upside by the firm’s view. Barclays price-target update

About New York Times

The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) is a media and technology company best known for publishing The New York Times, a daily newspaper founded in 1851 by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones. The company produces journalism across national and international news, business, politics, culture, science, sports and other topics through print and digital platforms.

In addition to its core news operation, the company offers a range of subscription products and digital services, including NYT Cooking, Games, Audio and The Athletic, a subscription-based sports media platform.