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Subscription Revenues Aid The New York Times' (NYT) Growth

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The New York Times Company (NYT - Free Report) has been successfully navigating the tough operating environment and continues to register subscriber growth. It has been diversifying the business, adding revenue streams, realigning the cost structure and streamlining operations to increase efficiency. The company is promoting a more strategic bundled subscription offering to boost revenues.

This New York-based company has been keeping pace with changing times by utilizing technological advancements to reach the target audience more effectively. Its acquisition of the product review website, Wirecutter, and the digital subscription-based sports media business, The Athletic, have helped expand the addressable market.

The New York Times Company’s business model, with a greater emphasis on subscription revenues, bodes well for 2023.

Subscription Revenues – the Key Catalyst

The New York Times Company ended the fourth quarter of 2022 with roughly 9.55 million paid subscribers, with about 10.98 million paid subscriptions across its print and digital products. Of the 9.55 million subscribers, approximately 8.83 million were paid digital-only subscribers, with roughly 10.26 million paid digital-only subscriptions. There was a net increase of 240,000 digital-only subscribers and 240,000 digital-only subscriptions compared with the preceding quarter.

Net increases of 1,010,000 and 1,100,000 were registered in digital-only subscribers and digital-only subscriptions, respectively, compared with the end of the fourth quarter of 2021. These exclude about 1,029,000 subscribers and 1,161,000 subscriptions, which were added as a result of the buyout of The Athletic in the first quarter of 2022.

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In the fourth quarter of 2022, subscription revenues grew 17.9% year over year to $414.1 million. The upside was primarily due to an increase in the number of subscribers to the company’s digital-only products, the benefits of subscriptions graduating to higher prices from introductory promotional pricing, the inclusion of subscription revenues from The Athletic and the impact of additional six days in the quarter. Subscription revenues from digital-only products jumped 31% to $269.2 million.

Management envisions first-quarter 2023 subscription revenues to increase about 6-9%, with digital-only subscription revenues anticipated to rise approximately 13-16%.

Wrapping Up

With rapid digitization in the core areas of advertising and the growing inclination of readers toward the Internet, newspaper companies have been diverting resources toward online publications. The New York Times Company has been making consistent efforts to rapidly adjust to the changing face of the multiplatform media universe. The company has been enhancing its reach through strategic buyouts and investments in games, sports and lifestyle. It is aiming for 15 million subscribers by 2027.

Shares of this Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company have advanced 28.3% in the past six months compared with the industry’s growth of 25.5%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

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