Top Performer for Wed: New York Times Co. (NYT)

Companies from the publishing-newspapers industry don't often move toward the front of the Zacks #1 Rank Top Performers List, but The New York Times Company (NYT - Analyst Report) is interrupting that trend today.

Bolstered by an upgrade for the entire newspaper sector, shares of this media company were up nearly 10% Wednesday.

According to the analyst, the newspaper ad market, which has been seriously slumping for years, appears to be improving quicker than expected.

Volume today was up to 4.6 million shares, which is well above the daily average of around 2.07 million shares.

The New York Times Company is a diversified media company including newspapers, television and radio stations, magazines, electronic information and publishing, Internet businesses and forest products investments. The company includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 15 other daily newspapers and more than 50 websites. Unsurprisingly, it is the sole company from the publishing-newspapers industry on today's Zacks #1 Rank List.

Update

Earlier this month, The New York Times Company updated its expectations for 2009, stating that print advertising revenues should decrease about 25% in the fourth quarter. However, trends had modestly improved as the quarter progressed.

Furthermore, the company said digital advertising has been strengthening and it expects total online advertising revenues to advance about 10% in the quarter.

In addition, total debt is expected to be about $800 million at the end of the year, compared to $1.1 billion at the end of 2008.

Earnings Estimates for The New York Times Company

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for this year is currently at 21 cents per share, which is a reversal from a loss estimate 3 months ago and up 23.5% in the past 30 days. Both of the covering analysts for this year contributed to advance in the past month.

For next year, the Zacks Consensus Estimate is at 46 cents, or 119% better than this year. With participation from 2 of 3 covering analysts, this guidance has advanced by 9.5% in the past month.

Big Beat in Third Quarter

In its third-quarter report from late October, The New York Times Company announced earnings per share of 16 cents, excluding items. That result marked a 700% surprise over the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 2 cents. This was the company's second straight quarterly surprise in the triple digits.

EPS also easily improved on a year-over-year basis. However, revenue was down 17% to $570.6 million, due to lower print advertising.

"Looking ahead, visibility remains limited for advertising in the fourth quarter," said The New York Times Company President/CEO Janet Robinson. "But as is the case across the media sector, we have seen encouraging signs of improvement in the overall economy and in discussions with our advertisers."

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