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New York Times (NYT) AI Stock Analysis

NYT

New York Times

(NYSE:NYT)

Select Model
Rating:77Outperform
Price Target:$80.00▲(14.01% Upside)
Action:reiterated
Date:09/23/26

NYT scores well primarily on strong financial performance (steady growth, expanding margins, strong free cash flow, and an effectively debt-free balance sheet) and a positive earnings outlook with healthy Q3 guidance. The score is tempered by weak technicals (price below key moving averages and soft RSI) and a valuation that looks growth-priced (P/E ~27) with only a modest dividend yield.

Positive Factors
Digital Subscription ScaleRapid digital subscription growth and a base of roughly 13.4 million subscribers demonstrate strong product adoption and recurring revenue potential. Continued subscriber additions, pricing progress and a path toward 15 million subscribers can support durable revenue visibility and operating leverage.
Negative Factors
Platform-Driven Traffic PressureReduced referral traffic from major platforms can constrain audience discovery, engagement and advertising inventory, while making subscription acquisition more dependent on NYT’s own channels. Building direct relationships and products may improve resilience, but the industry pressure remains material.

New York Times (NYT) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)

-10%0%10%20%30%40%50%NYT+22.98%SPY+11.79%Dec '25Jan '26Feb '26Mar '26Apr '26May '26Jun '26Jul '26Aug '26Sep '26Oct '26
Market Cap
$11.32B
Dividend Yield
1.24%
Average Volume (3M)
2.57M
Price to Earnings (P/E)
29.0
Beta (1Y)
0.20
Revenue Growth
10.76%
EPS Growth
23.78%
Country
US
Employees
6,000
Sector
Communication Services
Sector Strength
60
Industry
Publishing

New York Times Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

The New York Times Company, in conjunction with its subsidiaries, furnishes news and vital information to a worldwide readership and viewership through a diverse array of digital and traditional media. Its premier publication is The New York Times, i...

How the Company Makes Money

NYT generates revenue primarily through subscriptions and, to a lesser extent, advertising and other activities. (1) Subscriptions: The company’s largest revenue stream comes from selling paid subscriptions to its digital products and print newspaper...

New York Times Earnings Call Summary

Earnings Call Date:Aug 04, 2026(Q2-2026)|% Change Since:-6.86%|Next Earnings Date:Nov 03, 2026
Earnings Call SentimentPositive

The call presented strong top-line growth across subscriptions, advertising and consolidated revenues, plus meaningful free cash flow and shareholder returns. Management highlighted strategic progress—scaling video, product enhancements, and audience engagement—with robust Q2 results and constructive Q3 guidance. Headwinds include higher-than-expected operating cost growth (largely driven by compensation, incentive payouts, marketing and new sales staffing), platform-driven traffic pressures, early-stage video monetization, and some timing-related lumpiness in affiliate revenues and cash flow. Overall, positive operational momentum and financial performance outweighed the cited challenges and near-term cost/headwind risks.

Positive Updates

Strong Digital Subscription Growth
Digital subscription revenues grew ~16% year-over-year (16.4% per CFO) to $408M; added 280,000 net new digital subscribers in Q2, bringing the total subscriber base to ~13.4M and keeping the company on track toward a 15M milestone. Digital-only subscriber base was ~13.3% higher year-over-year and digital-only ARPU grew 3.1%.

Negative Updates

Higher-Than-Guided Cost Growth
Adjusted operating costs grew ~10% in Q2, exceeding the prior guidance range primarily due to higher compensation and benefits (including incremental variable compensation tied to financial outperformance) and increases in sales and marketing and advertising-related costs.

Company Guidance

For Q3 the Company guided digital‑only subscription revenues to increase 12%–15% and total subscription revenues to increase 9%–11%; digital advertising revenues to rise mid‑ to high‑teens and total advertising to increase high single‑ to low double‑digits; affiliate, licensing & other revenues to grow low‑ to mid‑single digits; and adjusted operating costs to increase 8%–9%. Management reiterated that it expects 2026 to be another year of healthy revenue and AOP growth with strong free cash flow and to remain on track for its midterm targets for subscribers, AOP growth and capital returns. For context, Q2 results underpinning the guide included +11% consolidated revenues, +16% AOP (~$155M), digital‑only subscription revenue up 16.4% to $408M with ~280k net new digital subs (total subs ~13.3–13.4M), total subscription revenue of ~$538M (+11.7%), digital advertising $114M (+20.7%) and total advertising $149M (+11.3%), adjusted diluted EPS $0.69 (up $0.11, +19%), H1 free cash flow ~$266M, and ~$160M returned to shareholders (≈$92M repurchases, $68M dividends).

New York Times Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Strong overall fundamentals: revenue has expanded steadily (2021 ~$2.07B to 2025 ~$2.82B; TTM ~$2.98B), margins improved (net margin ~12.2% in 2025 to ~13.2% TTM; gross margin up to ~51.7% TTM), and free cash flow is robust ($623M TTM) with good earnings quality (~93%–95% of net income since 2023). Balance sheet is exceptionally conservative with effectively zero debt in TTM and improving ROE (~19.5% TTM). Key watch item: some operating margin volatility with TTM below 2025, implying cost/investment pressure.

Income Statement

82Very Positive

Balance Sheet

90Very Positive

Cash Flow

86Very Positive
Financial statement breakdown
BreakdownTTMDec 2025Dec 2024Dec 2023Dec 2022Dec 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue2.98B2.82B2.59B2.43B2.31B2.07B
Gross Profit1.54B1.44B1.28B1.18B1.10B1.04B
EBITDA594.60M547.57M476.46M398.95M328.58M358.26M
Net Income392.82M343.98M293.82M232.39M173.91M219.97M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets2.98B3.00B2.84B2.71B2.53B2.56B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments660.81M642.16M565.92M451.57M347.36M661.05M
Total Debt048.72M47.77M42.91M59.12M63.61M
Total Liabilities936.99M955.73M914.27M951.38M933.78M1.02B
Stockholders Equity2.05B2.04B1.93B1.76B1.60B1.54B
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow623.02M550.50M381.34M337.95M113.73M234.46M
Operating Cash Flow658.26M584.49M410.51M360.62M150.69M269.10M
Investing Cash Flow-265.97M-221.32M-306.09M-159.69M-73.56M-180.81M
Financing Cash Flow-357.24M-306.14M-192.72M-132.71M-174.31M-54.95M

New York Times Technical Analysis

Technical Analysis SentimentPositive
Last Price70.17

Price Trends

50DMA67.15Positive
100DMA69.12Positive
200DMA72.97Negative

Market Momentum

MACD1.00Negative
RSI59.98Neutral
STOCH51.20Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For NYT, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 70.17 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 67.85, above the 50-day MA of 67.15, and below the 200-day MA of 72.97, indicating a neutral trend. The MACD of 1.00 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 59.98 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 51.20 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for NYT.

New York Times Risk Analysis

New York Times disclosed 30 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. New York Times reported the most risks in the "Tech & Innovation" category.

Higher RiskSector Avg.Lower RiskFinance & CorporateTech & InnovationLegal & RegulatoryProductionAbility to SellMacro & Political
Tech & Innovation - Risks related to the company’s reliance on technology and ability to make innovative products

Latest Risks Added

0 New Risks

New York Times Peers Comparison

Overall Rating

UnderperformOutperform
Sector (60)

Financial Indicators

NYT against its peers
NameOverall RatingMarket CapP/E RatioROEDividend YieldRevenue GrowthEPS Growth
NYTNYT77Outperform$11.32B29.0019.47%1.24%10.76%23.78%
NWSANWSA69Neutral$16.21B30.826.62%0.69%1.06%26.22%
WLYWLY67Neutral$2.60B13.5725.28%2.78%-0.27%111.79%
Sector *60Neutral$48.67B4.58-11.27%4.14%2.83%-41.78%
TDAYTDAY49Neutral$907.33M-22.89-25.00%―-6.67%-134.92%
LEELEE45Neutral$136.43M-3.9538.08%―-11.12%72.31%
TNMGTNMG42Neutral$2.96M-0.03-249.02%―-7.16%71.12%

* Communication Services Sector Average

Performance Comparison

0%100%NYTWLYLEENWSATDAYTNMGDec '25Jan '26Feb '26Mar '26Apr '26May '26Jun '26Jul '26Aug '26Sep '26Oct '26
NYT and its peers over the selected period
Show on chartTickerCompany NamePriceChange% Change
NYTThe New York Times Company70.1713.7924.47%
WLYJohn Wiley Sons Cl51.1714.9941.43%
LEELee Enterprises6.121.8342.66%
NWSANews Corporation Class A29.123.3212.89%
TDAYUsa Today Co., Inc.6.180.9117.27%
TNMGTNL Mediagene3.89-48.08-92.51%

New York Times Corporate Events

Business Operations and StrategyExecutive/Board Changes

New York Times Announces Leadership Change in HR Department

Neutral
Sep 9, 2026

On September 9, 2026, The New York Times Company announced that Jacqueline Welch will step down as Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, effective January 1, 2027, marking a leadership change in its human resources function. In...

Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.

Disclaimer

This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.

Date of analysis: Sep 23, 2026