New York Times' stock slides 4% after revenue falls short of estimates to offset profit beat

By Ciara Linnane

Newspaper group added 300,000 net digital-only subscribers in the fourth quarter

New York Times Co.'s stock fell 4% early Wednesday, after the newspaper group beat profit estimates for the fourth quarter but revenue fell slightly short, with five fewer days in the period than in the year-earlier one.

The company (NYT) posted net income of $109.9 million, or 66 cents a share, for the quarter, up from $70.8 million, or 43 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 70 cents, ahead of the 61-cent FactSet consensus.

Revenue rose to $676.2 million from $667.5 million a year ago but was just below the FactSet consensus of $680.0 million.

The company added about 300,000 net digital-only subscribers in the period compared with the prior quarter, while digital-only average revenue per user rose 3.5% to $9.24.

Total subscription revenue rose 3.9% to $430.4 million.

Total ad revenue fell 8.4% to $164.1 million, while digital ad revenue fell 3.7%. Other revenue rose 10%, boosted by strength in licensing and referral revenues from Wirecutter, the company's product review website.

Operating costs fell 4.8%, as a lower cost of revenue was partially offset by higher sales and marketing and product development costs.

Read also: New York Times's stock rises as company files copyright-infringement suit against Microsoft and OpenAI

Operating profit margin was 19.1% and its adjusted operating profit margin was 22.8%, up about 160 basis points from a year ago.

The company had total subscribers of 10.4 million at quarter-end, up from 10.1 million in the third quarter. It had 9.7 million digital-only subscribers, up from 9.4 million at the end of the third quarter.

Revenue at The Athletic, the sports site the company acquired in January 2022, grew 31.3% to $38.5 million. Subscription revenue rose 14.3% to $26.9 million, while ad revenues rose to $9.9 million from $5.3 million a year ago.

The company is now expecting total subscription revenue to rise 7% to 9% in 2024, and for digital-only subscription revenue to increase 11% to 14%.

The company raised its quarterly dividend by 2 cents to 13 cents a share, with the new payment to be made April 18 to shareholders of record as of April 2. The stock has gained 32% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 19%.

-Ciara Linnane

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02-07-24 0805ET

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