NYT added 210K digital subscribers in Q3, above the 190K consensus. Print ad revenue fell 14% and digital ads were flat. The stock dropped 3.8%. Analysts called the ad drag structural, not cyclical.
New York Times Co. added 210,000 net digital subscribers in the third quarter, topping the 190,000 analysts expected. The publisher's total digital revenue climbed 9% to $277 million. None of that stopped the stock from sliding 3.8% to $52.40 in afternoon trading Thursday.
The culprit was advertising. Combined print and digital ad revenue fell 2.1% to $101.5 million, a miss that reminded the market the Times has not escaped the broader advertising slump hitting legacy media. Print ad revenue dropped 14%. Digital ads were flat.
"The ad market remains soft, particularly in print," Chief Executive Meredith Kopit Levien said on the earnings call. "We are not seeing a recovery yet."
The company's digital bundle – news, cooking, games and the product review site Wirecutter – now has 9.7 million subscribers. Management stuck to its target of 15 million by 2027. MoffettNathanson analysts called the goal achievable if the current growth rate holds. They also called the ad drag a structural problem, not a cyclical one.
Print still accounts for roughly a quarter of total revenue. The Times has been pulling resources away from the physical newspaper for years. Closing that gap will require faster digital subscriber growth or a turn in the ad cycle. Neither is guaranteed.
Operating profit came in at $72 million, down from $78 million a year earlier. Costs rose for newsroom headcount and technology infrastructure. The company has been investing in AI tools for content recommendation and audio products, including a daily news briefing that has gained traction with younger listeners.
NYT carries an Alpha Score of 54 out of 100, labeled Mixed. The reading reflects the tension between a strong subscription franchise and a legacy ad business that has not bottomed out.
The company did not provide formal fourth-quarter guidance. Analysts expect full-year revenue of about $2.5 billion, up 6% from 2023.
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