While Digital Grows, The New York Times Reports Q2 Loss, Down Revenue

Shares of The New York Times Co. slid just under 1% in premarket trade on Wednesday after reporting a loss and revenue below Wall Street expectations for the second quarter. The media company posted a net loss of $211,000 and broke even on earnings per share, after reporting income of $16.4 million, or 10 cents during the same quarter a year ago. Adjusted earnings per share were 11 cents, in line with the FactSet EPS consensus. Revenue for the quarter hit $372,630, compared with $382,886 in the year earlier period, and just below the $376,000 FactSet revenue consensus. The New York Times Chief Executive Mark Thompson said the company gained 51,000 new paid digital subscribers during the quarter and 22% growth year-over-year. Advertising revenue for the quarter was down 11.7%, compared with last year. While digital advertising growth in mobile, video and virtual reality was strong, Thompson said that couldn't offset declines in traditional web display or on the print side. "However, we expect that situation to improve in the second half of the year; in fact, we are already seeing a marked turnaround in July," Thompson said in a statement. "We expect to deliver strong revenue growth from both digital advertising and our digital consumer business in Q3." Shares of The New York Times are down 4.7% in the year to date, underperforming the S&P 500 Index , which is up 6.0%.