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

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

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 New York Times stock traded down $1.48 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $65.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,457,243 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,243,137. New York Times has a 12 month low of $57.53 and a 12 month high of $87.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $67.37 and a 200 day moving average of $73.31. The company has a market capitalization of $10.59 billion, a PE ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.89.

New York Times Dividend Announcement

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

New York Times News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 earnings were $0.68 per share, above the $0.65 consensus estimate and up from $0.59 a year earlier. Revenue of $768.54 million also topped estimates and increased 9.7% year over year. New York Times Q3 Earnings and Revenues Surpass Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Digital subscribers grew at a faster pace, helping lift quarterly revenue—a positive sign for the company’s ongoing shift toward digital. New York Times Revenue Rises on Digital Subscriber Gains
• Neutral Sentiment: Despite the earnings and revenue beats, NYT traded lower. The articles supplied do not identify a specific reason for the decline, so the move may reflect factors beyond the reported headline results.
• Negative Sentiment: Before the results, analysts highlighted rising costs and weakness in print as potential offsets to digital subscription and advertising growth. These remain risks, though the provided Q3 coverage does not quantify their impact. Assessing The New York Times Company Ahead of Q3 Earnings Release

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NYT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. New Street Research set a $82.00 price target on New York Times in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of New York Times from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of New York Times from $66.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research lowered shares of New York Times from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group set a $82.00 price target on shares of New York Times in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.70.

New York Times Company Profile

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.