New York Times Stock Soars: Q2 Subscriber Growth, Strong Outlook and More

New York Times Co NYT reported second-quarter FY23 sales growth of 6.3% year-on-year to $590.9 million, beating the consensus of $578.1 million.

The mass media company and newspaper publisher reported adjusted EPS of $0.38 (+35.7% Y/Y), beating the analyst consensus of $0.21.

Growth in the number of subscribers resulted in street-beating earnings performance in Q2. The total number of subscribers grew by 7.7% to $9.88 million.

Revenue from Subscriptions rose 6.8%, and Advertising grew 0.3%.

The adjusted operating margin expanded 190 bps to 15.6%, while the adjusted operating profit increased 21% to $92.2 million.

As of June 30, 2023, the company had cash and marketable securities of $510.4 million.

Meredith Kopit Levien, president and chief executive officer of The New York Times, said, “We added 180,000 net new digital subscribers, with more than half of our digital starts taking the bundle for the second quarter in a row. More than a third of our nearly 10 million subscribers are now bundle or multiproduct subscribers. “Digital subscription revenue grew thanks to gains in both subscriber volume and ARPU, with the latter up year-on-year for the first time since our acquisition of The Athletic. Subscriber engagement remains high, helping to power our multi-revenue stream model, including digital advertising, which exceeded expectations with a 6.5 percent revenue increase. 

Q3 Outlook: New York Times forecasts total subscription revenue growth of 8% - 10%. The company expects Digital-Only subscription revenue growth of 14% - 17%.

The Q3 consensus revenue is $581.43 million, adjusted EPS of $0.25.

Price Action: NYT shares are trading higher by 8.06% at $44.11 on the last check Tuesday.

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