New York Times Q4 Earnings: 12% Sales Growth, Subscriber Additions, 22% Dividend Boost And $250M Buyback

New York Times Co NYT reported fourth-quarter FY22 sales growth of 12.3% year-on-year, to $667.54 million, beating the consensus of $646.44 million.
Revenue from Subscriptions rose 17.9%, and Advertising grew 1.4%.
Digital-only subscription revenue increased 31% Y/Y to $269.2 million. Digital advertising revenue rose 0.6% to $111.9 million.
Total operating cost increased by 9.6% to $548.3 million.
The adjusted operating margin expanded 280 bps to 21.2%.
Total paid subscribers in the quarter were 9.55 million versus 7.58 million last year.
Adjusted EPS of $0.59 beat the analyst consensus of $0.43.
Dividend: The board approved a dividend per share of $0.11, up 22.2% Y/Y.
Buyback: The board approved a buyback of up to $250 million.
NYT proposed to return at least 50% of free cash flow to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases over the next three to five years.
Q1 Outlook: New York Times sees total subscription revenues to grow 6% - 9%.
The company expects Digital-Only subscription revenue growth of 13% - 16%.
Price Action: NYT shares are trading higher by 13.5% at $41.68 on the last check Wednesday.