NY Times (NYT) Q2 Earnings Beat, Subscription Revenues Up Y/Y

The New York Times Company NYT delivered second-quarter 2022 adjusted earnings from continuing operations of 24 cents a share that beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 20 cents but declined 33.3% from the prior-year reported figure. Total revenues of $555.7 million surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $553 million and improved 11.5% year over year.

Subscription revenues rose during the quarter. While digital advertising revenues declined, print advertising revenues showcased an increase from the year-ago period. Notably, The New York Times Company is gradually heading toward its goal of 15 million subscribers by the end of 2027. The company’s recent buyouts of The Athletic and Wordle have helped it in expanding the addressable market and diversifying offerings.

Subscription Revenues Rise

Subscription revenues of $383.6 million fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $385 million but grew 13.1% year over year primarily due to an increase in the number of subscribers to the company’s digital-only products, benefit from subscriptions graduating to higher prices from introductory promotional pricing, and the inclusion of subscription revenues from The Athletic.

Subscription revenues from digital-only products jumped 25.5% to $238.7 million and came ahead of the consensus estimate of $237.9 million. However, print subscription revenues fell 2.8% to $144.9 million due to lower domestic home delivery revenues that declined 2.7%. The metric also missed the consensus mark of $145.5 million.

The company ended the quarter with roughly 9.17 million paid subscribers with about 10.56 million paid subscriptions across its print and digital products. Of the 9.17 million subscribers, approximately 8.41 million were paid digital-only subscribers, with roughly 9.81 million paid digital-only subscriptions. There was a net increase of 180,000 digital-only subscribers and 230,000 digital-only subscriptions compared with the preceding quarter.

Management envisions third-quarter total subscription revenues to increase about 11-13%, while digital-only subscription revenues are anticipated to surge approximately 21-25%.

 

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

Advertising Revenues Increase

Total advertising revenues of $117.4 million fell short of the consensus estimate of $118.4 million but rose 4.1% year over year.

Print advertising revenues advanced 15.1% to $48.1 million in the quarter under review and surpassed the consensus mark of $45.7 million. The metric increased mainly in the luxury and entertainment categories, which were significantly hurt in the year-ago period due to the pandemic.
 
Digital advertising revenues dropped 2.4% to $69.3 million and came below the consensus estimate of $72.7 million. This year-over-year decrease was due to the macroeconomic environment, a decline in marketer spend on advertising adjacent to news coverage, and fewer programmatic advertising impressions, which more than offset higher direct-sold advertising largely from the addition of advertising revenues from The Athletic.

For the third quarter, The New York Times Company expects both digital advertising revenues and total advertising revenues to be flat to down low-single digits.

Other Highlights

We note that other revenues grew 17.6% year over year to $54.7 million during the quarter under review as a result of higher revenues from commercial printing, live events, television and film projects, Wirecutter affiliate revenues, and licensing.

Adjusted operating costs rose 18.2% to $479.5 million during the quarter. Management anticipates adjusted operating costs to increase approximately 9-13% in the third quarter.

Total adjusted operating profit declined 18% to $76.2 million during the quarter under review as a result of operating losses at The Athletic.

Segment Details

The New York Times Group revenues increased 7.6% year over year to $536.1 million. Subscription revenues rose 8.1% to $366.6 million, owing to growth in subscription revenues from digital-only products. Advertising revenues jumped 1.8% to $114.8 million, as higher print advertising revenues more than offset a decline in digital advertising revenues.

Adjusted operating profit fell 4.4% to $88.8 million, as higher revenues were more than offset by higher costs.

Revenues totaled $19.5 million at The Athletic segment, primarily from subscription revenues. Adjusted operating loss amounted $12.6 million.

Management expects third-quarter total subscription revenues to increase 5-7% at The New York Times Group and foresees a 5-7 percentage points contribution from The Athletic to consolidated results. It envisions total advertising revenues to decline in low-to-mid single digits at The New York Times Group and anticipates a 2-5 percentage points contribution from The Athletic.

Financial Aspects

The New York Times Company ended the quarter with cash and marketable securities of about $453.4 million, reflecting a decrease of $616.6 million from $1.07 billion as of Dec 26, 2021. Approximately $550 million was utilized to fund the buyout of The Athletic.

The company incurred capital expenditures of about $10 million during the quarter. Management envisions capital expenditures of about $55 million in 2022.

The board of directors authorized a $150 million share repurchase program in February 2022. As of Jul 29, 2022, the company had repurchased 1,934,708 shares for about $67.8 million, and $82.2 million remained under the authorization.
 
We note that this Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) stock has fallen 14.1% in the past three months compared with the industry’s decline of 8.7%.

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