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The New York Times Q2 Earnings Top, Subscription Revenues Up 9.6% Y/Y

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Key Takeaways

  • {\"0\":\"NYT posted Q2 adjusted EPS of 58 cents and revenues of $685.9M, topping consensus estimates.\",\"1\":\"Digital-only subscriptions rose by 230K, pushing total subs to 11.88M and ARPU to $9.64.\",\"2\":\"Advertising revenues climbed 12.4% Y/Y to $134M, led by an 18.7% surge in digital advertising.\"}

The New York Times Company (NYT - Free Report) continued its decent performance in the second quarter of 2025. The company's adjusted earnings per share were 58 cents, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 50 cents. The figure marked an increase from the year-ago adjusted earnings of 45 cents. Total revenues of $685.9 million came ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $669 million and increased 9.7% year over year. 

NYT added approximately 230,000 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), which increased to an impressive $9.64 in the second quarter from $9.34 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 certain tenured subscribers.

NYT Subscription Revenues Show Strong Y/Y Growth

Subscription revenues of $481.4 million increased 9.6% year over year. Subscription revenues from digital-only products jumped 15.1% to $350.4 million. This reflects a surge 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 2.8% to $131.1 million due to decreased domestic home-delivery revenues.

The company ended the quarter with 11.88 million subscribers across its print and digital products, including 11.30 million digital-only subscribers. Of the 11.30 million subscribers, 6.02 million were bundle and multi-product subscribers.

Management envisions third-quarter total subscription revenue growth of 8-10%, with digital-only subscription revenues anticipated to rise 13-16%.

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’s Advertising Revenues

Total advertising revenues of $134 million rose 12.4% from the prior-year period. Digital advertising revenues increased 18.7% to $94.4 million due to areas of strong marketer demand and new advertising supply. Meanwhile, print advertising revenues fell 0.1% to $39.6 million in the quarter under review. 

For the third quarter, the company expects a low-to-mid-single-digit increase in total advertising revenues. It foresees a low-double-digit increase in digital advertising revenues.

Other Key Highlights of NYT’s Results

Affiliate, licensing and other revenues jumped 5.8% year over year to $70.5 million in the quarter under review due to higher Wirecutter affiliate referral revenues and licensing revenues. NYT foresees a high-single-digit increase in affiliate, licensing and other revenues in the third quarter.

Adjusted operating costs rose 6.1% to $552.1 million in the quarter. Management anticipates adjusted operating costs to increase 5-6% in the third quarter.

The total adjusted operating profit grew 27.8% to $133.8 million in the quarter under review, whereas the adjusted operating margin expanded 280 basis points to 19.5%.

NYT’s Segment-Wise Performance

The New York Times Group’s revenues increased 8.1% year over year to $632.4 million. Subscription revenues rose 9% to $446.8 million due to growth in subscription revenues from digital-only products, partly offset by a decline in print subscription revenues. Advertising revenues jumped 7% to $119.9 million due to higher revenues from digital advertising.

Revenues totaled $54 million in The Athletic segment, up 33.4% year over year. Subscription revenues rose to $34.6 million from $29.3 million in the second quarter of 2024 due to increased subscribers with The Athletic. Advertising revenues jumped to $14.1 million from $7.1 million in the second quarter of 2024 due to higher revenues from display advertising.

Sneak Peek Into NYT’s Financial Health

The New York Times Company ended the quarter with cash and marketable securities of $951.5 million, reflecting an increase of $39.7 million from $911.9 million as of Dec. 31, 2024.

The company incurred capital expenditures of about $10 million in the quarter. Management envisions capital expenditures of $40 million for 2025.

In the quarter, the company repurchased 460,136 shares of its Class A common stock for an aggregate amount of $23.6 million. As of Aug. 1, 2025, about $422.2 million remained available and authorized for further repurchases.

We note that shares of this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company have advanced 9.8% in the past six months compared with the industry’s rise of 9.1%.

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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for StoneCo’s current financial-year sales and EPS implies growth of 7.6% and 10.4%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s actuals.

Penguin Solutions, Inc. (PENG - Free Report) , a leading designer and developer of high-performance, high-availability enterprise solutions in computing, memory, and LED solutions, presently sports a Zacks Rank #1. PENG has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 30.1%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Penguin Solutions’ current financial-year sales and EPS suggests growth of 17.1% and 48%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s actuals.

Elastic N.V. (ESTC - Free Report) , the search AI company, currently sports a Zacks Rank #1. ESTC has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 39.1%, on average. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Elastic’s current financial-year revenues and EPS calls for growth of 12.3% and 11.8%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s reported numbers.

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