Start here if you're new
what it is
The New York Times sells news, games, cooking, audio, Wirecutter, and The Athletic.
how it gets paid
Last year New York Times made $2.8B in revenue. Subscriptions was the main engine at $1.93B, or 69% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 9.2% last year. Revenue grew 10% vs. prior year. Adjusted EPS was $0.89 versus $0.55 expected.
what just happened
NYT posted $802.3M in quarterly revenue and beat the $794.0M estimate.
At a glance
B++ balance sheet — above average — nothing keeping you up at night
50/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
30.7x trailing p/e — you're paying up for this one
1.1% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
15.0% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 68/100 — average
What they do
The New York Times sells news, games, cooking, audio, Wirecutter, and The Athletic.
69% of revenue comes from subscriptions (recurring reader payments). That means readers pay before ads do. Digital was more than 58% of revenue, so your habit is the product, not the paper.
How they make money
$2.8B
annual revenue · their business grew +9.2% last year
Subscriptions
$1.93B
Advertising
$0.56B
Other
$0.31B
The products that matter
paid news and media bundle
Digital & Print Subscriptions
$2.8B revenue base
this is the core of the model we can see from the page: $2.8B in companywide revenue, with the subscription story cited as growing 4.2%. You are buying reader revenue first, with advertising as support.
reader-funded core
Key numbers
30.7x
trailing p/e
Price to earnings ratio means what you pay for one year of profit. At 30.7x, you are paying for perfection.
18.0%
operating margin
Operating margin means profit after running the business. 18 cents of every dollar stayed behind.
1.1%
dividend yield
Dividend yield means cash back versus stock price. This is a small payout, not an income story.
$76
18-mo target
The target is $76, or about $5.47 above the current price of $70.53.
Financial health
B++
strength
- balance sheet grade B++ — above average financial health
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 70 / 100
- net profit margin 14.1% — keeps 14 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 15% — $0.15 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B++ — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in NYT 3 years ago → it's now worth $21,380.
The index would have given you $14,770.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
beat estimates
NYT posted $802.3M in quarterly revenue and beat the $794.0M estimate.
Revenue grew 10% vs. prior year. Adjusted EPS was $0.89 versus $0.55 expected, a 61.82% surprise.
$802.3M
revenue
$0.89
eps
61.8%
surprise
the number that mattered
The $0.89 EPS beat mattered most. It was 61.82% above the $0.55 estimate.
-
the new york times company probably registered impressive results in 2025.
-
the publisher’s digital arm (discussed below) helped bolster totals over the past few quarters.moreover, ongoing cost controls likely enabled the company to counter higher operating expenses, owing to rising sales and marketing and product development costs.
-
all told, earnings per share probably increased 30% in 2025, on an 8% revenue advance.
-
the gray lady is poised to do well in the near term.we expect the newspaper company will continue to gain steam in the coming quarters, as strategic business investments take hold.
-
better operating efficiencies and margin improvements ought to aid results, as well.
source: company earnings report, 2026
Get this snapshot in your inbox
This page, delivered free — plus weekly updates when the numbers change. plain english, no spam.
weekly updates
earnings alerts
plain english
no spam
What could go wrong
the #1 risk is paid subscriber growth slowing while the stock trades at 30.7x earnings.
med
reader growth loses momentum
subscriptions are the center of the model, and the page itself points to digital growth as the main driver. If that slows, the multiple has less cover.
at 30.7x trailing earnings, even a small miss can feel larger in the stock than it does in the income statement.
med
advertising weakens when the economy does
advertising is no longer the whole story, but it still matters. If ad budgets tighten, reader revenue has to do more of the work.
with a 13.4% net margin, there is profit to defend — but not enough to shrug off every ad slowdown.
med
cost discipline slips
sales, marketing, and product development expenses are already rising. If those climb faster than revenue, the 30% EPS growth story fades fast.
this stock works best when earnings keep growing faster than sales. If that flips, investors will notice.
with a 30.7x trailing p/e on a business earning 13.4% net margins, you are paying for steady execution rather than a cheap entry point.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
metric
digital subscriber adds
this is the heartbeat. If reader growth cools, the premium multiple loses its easiest defense.
calendar
next earnings report
watch whether 2026 still points toward roughly $3B in revenue and $2.45 in EPS. You want both, not one.
trend
EPS growth versus revenue growth
2025 gave you 30% EPS growth on 8% revenue growth. If that spread narrows, the stock will feel more expensive.
risk
ad demand and expense mix
if advertising softens while sales, marketing, and product development costs keep rising, margins do the apologizing.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
top 20%
momentum score 2 — in human-speak, analysts expect above-average price performance in the year ahead.
risk profile
average
stability score 3 — typical risk for a single stock, not a bunker and not a rollercoaster.
chart momentum
average
technical score 3 — the chart is behaving like a normal stock, with no special signal doing the talking for you.
earnings predictability
50 / 100
earnings are harder to model here than at a slow-and-steady consumer staple. Expect a few uneven quarters.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 2 consecutive quarters — 266 buyers vs. 210 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 0.2B shares. net buying for 2 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$58
$94
$71
current price
$76
target midpoint · +8% from current · 3-5yr high: $110 (+55% · 12% ann'l return)
Want the deeper analysis?
The full deep dive: dcf model, scenario analysis, competitive moat breakdown, and quarterly tracking — everything on this page, taken further.
see plans from $5/moThe deep dive