New York Times Co. NYT said Wednesday it had net income of $22.3 million, or 13 cents a share, in the first quarter, up from $4.7 million, or 3 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 19 cents, ahead of the 17 cent FactSet consensus. Revenue rose 4.3% to $560.7 million from $537.4 million a year ago, just below the $568.0 million FactSet consensus. Chief Executive Meredith Kopit Levien said acquisition-related charges taken in the year-ago period and higher digital subscription and other revenues were partially offset by higher operating costs and lower ad revenue. But the newspaper group crossed 3 million bundle and multi-product subscribers and added 190,000 net new digital subscribers. boosting the total to more than 9.7 million. “While advertising continues to experience near-term, cyclical challenges, our bundle strategy is gaining momentum, engagement metrics are strong, pricing initiatives are taking hold and we are slowing cost growth,” she said in a statement. Subscription revenue rose 6.9% to $397.5 million and ad revenue fell 8.6% to $106.2 million. Digital ad revenue fell 8.5% to $61.3 million. Operating costs rose 7.3% to $532.8 million. For the second quarter, the company is expecting digital subscription revenue to rise 12% to 15% and for total subscription revenue to rise 6% to 8%. It expects digital ad revenue to fall in the low-to-mid-single digits and for total ad revenue to fall 4% to 8%. The stock was flat premarket but has gained 21% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 7%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.