New York Times Beats Profit Expectations As Subscriber And Ad Revenue Rise

New York Times Co. reported Thursday a second-quarter net profit of $15.6 million, or 9 cents a share, after a loss of $211,000, or breakeven on a per-share basis, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to 18 cents, beating the FactSet consensus of 13 cents. Revenue rose 9.2% to $407.1 million from $372.6 million, above the FactSet consensus of $393.1 million. Subscription revenue increased 13.9%, as a 46.4% jump in digital-only subscription revenue and an increase in home-delivery prices for The New York Times paper offset a decline in print copies sold. Advertising revenue rose 0.8%, as 22.5% growth in digital-only revenue offset a 10.5% decline in print. For the third quarter, the media company expects total subscription revenue to increase at rate similar to the second quarters, while ad revenue is expected to decline in the mid- to high-single digits percentage range. "We believe that more and more people are prepared to pay for high quality in-depth journalism that helps them make sense of the world," said Chief Executive Mark Thompson. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has soared 38% year to date through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 11%.