Back to top

Image: Bigstock

NYT Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates, Subscription Revenues Climb Y/Y

Read MoreHide Full Article

The New York Times Company (NYT - Free Report) continued its decent performance in the third quarter of 2024. The company's adjusted earnings per share were 45 cents, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 42 cents. The figure marked an increase from the year-ago adjusted earnings of 37 cents. Total revenues of $640.2 million were in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $640 million and increased 7% year over year. 

See the Zacks Earnings Calendar to stay ahead of market-making news.

NYT added approximately 260,000 net digital-only subscribers in the quarter under review compared with the end of the preceding quarter, propelled by multiple products across its portfolio.

The New York Times Company consistently grew its digital-only average revenue per user (ARPU). ARPU increased to an impressive $9.45 in the third quarter from $9.28 in the year-ago period. This rise in ARPU can be attributed to subscribers transitioning from promotional pricing to higher rate plans and price hikes for tenured non-bundle subscribers.

NYT Subscription Revenues Show Strong Y/Y Growth

Subscription revenues of $453.3 million grew 8.3% year over year. Subscription revenues from digital-only products jumped 14.2% to $322.2 million. This reflects an increase in bundle and multi-product revenues and a rise in other single-product subscription revenues, partly offset by a decline in news-only subscription revenues. Print subscription revenues dropped 3.8% to $131.1 million due to decreased domestic home-delivery revenues.

The company ended the quarter with 11.09 million subscribers across its print and digital products, including 10.47 million digital-only subscribers. Of the 10.47 million subscribers, 5.12 million were bundle and multi-product subscribers. 

Management envisions fourth-quarter 2024 total subscription revenues growth of 7-9%, with digital-only subscription revenues anticipated to rise 14-17%.

The New York Times Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

The New York Times Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

The New York Times Company price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | The New York Times Company Quote

A Look at The New York Times Company Advertising Revenues

Total advertising revenues of $118.4 million rose 1.1% from the prior-year period. Digital advertising revenues increased 8.8% to $81.6 million due to higher revenues from open-market programmatic advertising.

Meanwhile, print advertising revenues fell 12.6% to $36.8 million in the quarter under review. The metric decreased mainly in the finance and classifieds categories.

For the final quarter of 2024, the company foresees a low-single-digit increase in total advertising revenues and a high-single-digit to low-double-digit jump in digital advertising revenues.

Other Key Highlights From NYT’s Q3 Results

Other revenues jumped 9.3% year over year to $68.5 million in the quarter under review due to higher licensing and Wirecutter affiliate referral revenues. NYT foresees an 11-13% increase in other revenues in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Adjusted operating costs rose 5.4% to $536 million in the quarter. Management anticipates adjusted operating costs to increase 5-6% in the fourth quarter of 2024.

The total adjusted operating profit grew 16.1% to $104.2 million in the quarter under review, whereas the adjusted operating margin expanded 130 basis points to 16.3%.

NYT’s Segment Performances

The New York Times Group’s revenues increased 5.7% year over year to $596 million. Subscription revenues rose 7.4% to $422.2 million due to growth in subscription revenues from digital-only products, partly offset by a decline in print subscription revenues. Advertising revenues inched up 0.6% to $109.3 million due to higher digital advertising revenues, partly offset by the decline in print advertising revenues.

Revenues totaled $44.7 million in The Athletic segment, up 29.8% year over year. Subscription revenues rose to $31.1 million from $25.6 million in the third quarter of 2023 due to increased subscribers with The Athletic. Advertising revenues jumped to $9 million from $8.4 million in the third quarter of 2023 due to higher revenues from direct-sold display advertising.

Sneak Peek Into NYT’s Financial Health

The New York Times Company ended the quarter with cash and marketable securities of $820.4 million, reflecting an increase of $111.2 million from $709.2 million as of Dec. 31, 2023.

The company incurred capital expenditures of about $6 million in the quarter. Management envisions capital expenditures of $35 million for 2024.

In the quarter, the company repurchased 341,456 shares of its Class A common stock for an aggregate amount of $18.3 million. As of Nov. 1, 2024, about $183 million remained available and authorized for further repurchases.

We note that shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have risen 26.6% in the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 39.3%.

Stocks Worth Looking

Some better-ranked stocks are DocuSign, Inc. (DOCU - Free Report) , PayPal Holdings (PYPL - Free Report) and Meta Platforms, Inc. (META - Free Report) .

DocuSign, which provides electronic signature solutions in the United States and internationally, sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. DOCU has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 18.3%, on average. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for DocuSign’s current financial-year revenues and earnings per share (EPS) calls for growth of 6.5% and 15.8%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s reported numbers.

PayPal Holdings, a global digital payments platform, currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). PYPL has a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 15.1%. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PayPal Holdings’ current financial-year sales suggests growth of 6.4% from the year-ago reported numbers.

Meta Platforms builds technologies that help people connect, find communities and grow businesses. The company presently carries a Zacks Rank #2. META has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 11.3%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Meta Platforms’ current financial-year sales and EPS implies growth of 20.8% and 51.5%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s actuals.

Published in