NEW York Times reported third-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ expectations, as the company saw an increase in its subscriber count in the months leading up to the 2024 Presidential Election.
The newspaper publisher reported earnings of 45 cents a share on Monday (Nov 4), excluding some items. The results exceeded Wall Street estimates of 41 cents a share. Revenue totalled US$640.2 million compared with expectations of US$640.9 million.
The Times added 260,000 digital subscribers, compared with 300,000 in the second quarter. The company now has a total of 11.1 million subscribers, including print and digital, meeting forecasts.
Times shares were down 2.8 per cent to US$55.25 at 9.32 am in New York.
“Subscriber engagement, as measured by the share of subscribers visiting the Times each week, reached its highest point since 2020,” chief executive officer Meredith Kopit Levien said during the company’s earnings call with analysts.
She pointed to the strength of the company’s games offerings, which include popular options like Wordle and Connections, noting that they “played a big role in getting millions of people to create direct, daily relationships with the Times” and “propelled growth in both subscriptions and advertising.”
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Ad revenue reached US$118.4 million, versus estimates of US$118.7 million.
On Monday, the Times Tech Guild, representing software engineers and product managers, went on strike amid ongoing negotiations over a range of issues, including pay increases and return-to-office policies.
Times chief financial officer William Bardeen said on the call on Monday that the company has “a track record of working effectively with unions” and is aiming to reach a new, fair contract. “We’ve known this was a possibility, and have prepared for a range of scenarios,” he said of the labour disruption which in unfolding during a crucial moment of news coverage for the publisher.
When asked by an analyst whether “chaos” at the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times – which saw editorial departures and subscription cancellations following the papers’ decisions not to endorse a 2024 presidential candidate – would benefit the Times, Kopit Levien said that they “take no joy in watching any other quality independent journalism institution go through anything difficult” and that the Times was focused on its own strategy.
The Athletic, which was bought by the Times in 2022, posted an adjusted operating profit of US$2.6 million versus a loss of US$7.9 million in the same quarter a year earlier.
The Times forecast subscription revenues to increase by 7 to 9 per cent in the fourth quarter. BLOOMBERG
