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Lee Enterprises
(NASDAQ:LEE)
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Rating:49Neutral
Price Target:
$7.00
▼(-15.36% Downside)
Action:Reiterated
Date:10/01/26
The score is held down primarily by weak financial fundamentals—declining revenue, negative TTM net income and cash flow, and a highly stressed balance sheet with negative/thin equity—despite improving operating margins. Technicals also lean bearish with price below key moving averages and a negative MACD. Offsetting these are a relatively constructive earnings update (EBITDA/margin expansion, higher digital mix, cost reductions, improved liquidity) and positive recent corporate updates including raised EBITDA growth outlook.
Positive Factors
Digital revenue transition
Lee’s growing digital mix reduces reliance on legacy print and supports more scalable subscription and advertising products. Digital subscriptions and agency revenue have expanded over multiple years, while product enhancements and AI-enabled workflows may improve retention, conversion, and customer lifetime value.
Negative Factors
Persistent revenue contraction
A multi-year decline in revenue signals continuing pressure on Lee’s addressable print and advertising base. Even with digital growth, shrinking consolidated sales can limit scale, weaken fixed-cost absorption, and make it harder for operating improvements to translate into durable net earnings.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
Digital revenue transition
Lee’s growing digital mix reduces reliance on legacy print and supports more scalable subscription and advertising products. Digital subscriptions and agency revenue have expanded over multiple years, while product enhancements and AI-enabled workflows may improve retention, conversion, and customer lifetime value.
Read all positive factors
Lee Enterprises Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Any
Revenue by Source
Breaks down revenue by advertising (print and digital), circulation/subscriptions, commercial printing and marketing services to show how dependent Lee Enterprises is on ad cycles versus recurring reader income. A larger share of subscription and digital revenue suggests steadier cash flow and progress on digital transformation, while heavy reliance on print ads or printing services increases exposure to economic downturns and long-term readership declines and can pressure margins and capital needs.
Breaks down revenue by advertising (print and digital), circulation/subscriptions, commercial printing and marketing services to show how dependent Lee Enterprises is on ad cycles versus recurring reader income. A larger share of subscription and digital revenue suggests steadier cash flow and progress on digital transformation, while heavy reliance on print ads or printing services increases exposure to economic downturns and long-term readership declines and can pressure margins and capital needs.
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The Fly
The FlyLee Enterprises (LEE) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Market Cap
$154.93M
Dividend YieldN/A
Average Volume (3M)36.50K
Price to Earnings (P/E)―
Beta (1Y)0.40
Revenue Growth-11.12%
EPS Growth72.31%
CountryUS
Employees2,365
SectorCommunication Services
Sector Strength97
IndustryPublishing
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)-1.55
Shares Outstanding22,292,044
10 Day Avg. Volume44,604
30 Day Avg. Volume36,500
Financial Highlights & Ratios
PEG Ratio-0.02
Price to Book (P/B)-0.77
Price to Sales (P/S)0.06
P/FCF Ratio-4.68
Enterprise Value/Market Cap<0.01
Enterprise Value/Revenue<0.01
Enterprise Value/Gross Profit<0.01
Enterprise Value/Ebitda<0.01
Forecast
1Y Price TargetN/A
Price Target UpsideN/A
Rating ConsensusN/A
Number of Analyst Covering0
EPS Forecast (FY)-1.73
Revenue Forecast (FY)$587.31M
Lee Enterprises Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
Lee Enterprises, Incorporated, a long-standing media organization founded in 1890 and headquartered in Davenport, Iowa, delivers local news, critical information, and diverse advertising services throughout the United States. The company publishes...
How the Company Makes Money
Lee Enterprises makes money primarily by monetizing audience attention and subscriber relationships across its local news brands, and by selling marketing services to businesses. Key revenue streams include: (1) Subscription and circulation revenu...
Lee Enterprises Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Date:May 07, 2026
(Q3-2026)
| % Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:Dec 03, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Positive
The call emphasized material progress in Lee Enterprises' digital transformation, strong profitability gains (adjusted EBITDA up 23% YoY, margin expansion, return to net income), meaningful balance sheet improvements (cash up to $59M, lower interest costs), and new capital-light growth channels (Hoffman Media Group management agreement). Offsetting these positives are continued advertising-market uncertainty, modest near-term debt paydown, reliance on cost reductions for improved results, and limited realized proceeds from non-core asset monetization. Overall, the positive operational momentum and financial improvements outweigh the challenges.Positive Updates
Adjusted EBITDA Growth and Margin Expansion
Third quarter adjusted EBITDA of $18M, up 23% year-over-year (19% YoY excluding $0.56M business interruption insurance proceeds). Adjusted EBITDA margin improved by 400 basis points, marking the fifth consecutive quarter of comparable adjusted EBITDA growth and $61M of adjusted EBITDA over the last 12 months.
Negative Updates
Advertising Environment Uncertainty
Management described the advertising market as still evolving and noted stabilization is early; emphasis on prioritizing higher-quality recurring revenue suggests top-line transactional ad demand remains uncertain despite sequential improvements.
Read all updates
Q3-2026 Updates
Positive
Negative
Adjusted EBITDA Growth and Margin Expansion
Third quarter adjusted EBITDA of $18M, up 23% year-over-year (19% YoY excluding $0.56M business interruption insurance proceeds). Adjusted EBITDA margin improved by 400 basis points, marking the fifth consecutive quarter of comparable adjusted EBITDA growth and $61M of adjusted EBITDA over the last 12 months.
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
The company raised its full‑year guidance for adjusted EBITDA to growth of 22%–28%, and said it expects digital revenue and digital gross margin to fully support the business (covering SG&A) within the next three years; management also expects approximately $18 million of annual interest savings (about $90 million over five years) after reducing its interest rate from 9% to 5%. To accelerate deleveraging, Lee will apply proceeds from monetizing non‑core assets (identified value ~$20 million; one sale closed since quarter end) and any cash above a $64 million cap to debt repayment—the company paid $1 million in Q3 ( $3 million year‑to‑date including post‑quarter payments) and has reduced outstanding debt by $121 million since March 2020—while finishing the quarter with $59 million of cash versus $14 million a year ago.Lee Enterprises Financial Statement Overview
Summary
Income Statement
34
Negative
Balance Sheet
18
Very Negative
Cash Flow
22
Negative
| Breakdown | TTM | Sep 2025 | Sep 2024 | Sep 2023 | Sep 2022 | Sep 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Statement | ||||||
| Total Revenue | 517.10M | 562.34M | 611.38M | 691.14M | 780.97M | 794.65M |
| Gross Profit | 506.13M | 549.38M | 594.57M | 665.79M | 750.87M | 764.87M |
| EBITDA | 40.48M | 16.70M | 37.66M | 69.01M | 79.11M | 119.66M |
| Net Income | -9.50M | -37.59M | -25.84M | -5.27M | -2.02M | 22.75M |
Balance Sheet | ||||||
| Total Assets | 624.60M | 601.73M | 649.17M | 711.62M | 744.04M | 843.55M |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments | 59.43M | 9.99M | 9.60M | 14.55M | 16.18M | 26.11M |
| Total Debt | 475.30M | 481.58M | 483.85M | 500.08M | 516.42M | 548.91M |
| Total Liabilities | 624.56M | 642.69M | 656.50M | 687.91M | 726.80M | 800.32M |
| Stockholders Equity | -2.24M | -43.31M | -9.89M | 21.24M | 15.01M | 41.10M |
Cash Flow | ||||||
| Free Cash Flow | -578.00K | -7.08M | -8.09M | -7.63M | -4.68M | 42.60M |
| Operating Cash Flow | -167.00K | -5.54M | 1.12M | -2.52M | 2.85M | 50.08M |
| Investing Cash Flow | 538.00K | 7.71M | 3.73M | 7.98M | 6.91M | -2.28M |
| Financing Cash Flow | 44.18M | -1.78M | -9.80M | -7.09M | -19.69M | -55.42M |
Lee Enterprises Technical Analysis
Negative
8.27
Price Trends
7.78
Negative
8.48
Negative
7.73
Negative
Market Momentum
-0.29
Positive
39.67
Neutral
48.05
Neutral
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For LEE, the sentiment is Negative. The current price of 8.27 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 7.36, above the 50-day MA of 7.78, and above the 200-day MA of 7.73, indicating a bearish trend. The MACD of -0.29 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 39.67 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 48.05 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Negative sentiment for LEE.
Lee Enterprises Risk Analysis
Lee Enterprises disclosed 17 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. Lee Enterprises reported the most risks in the "Finance & Corporate" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks
Lee Enterprises Peers Comparison
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (60)
Name | Overall Rating | Market Cap | P/E Ratio | ROE | Dividend Yield | Revenue Growth | EPS Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
77 Outperform | $10.27B | 26.31 | 19.47% | 1.29% | 10.76% | 23.78% | |
60 Neutral | $48.67B | 4.58 | -11.27% | 4.14% | 2.83% | -41.78% | |
49 Neutral | $154.93M | -4.41 | 38.08% | ― | -11.12% | 72.31% | |
48 Neutral | $647.28M | 23.74 | 7.05% | 2.37% | -2.53% | ― | |
46 Neutral | $43.39M | -0.09 | 9301.18% | 1.68% | -25.24% | -83.32% | |
45 Neutral | $240.94M | -0.19 | -127.81% | 1.42% | -14.18% | -2948.71% |
* Communication Services Sector Average
LEE
Lee Enterprises
6.84
1.42
26.08%
SSP
E. W. Scripps Company Class A
2.64
0.14
5.60%
NYT
New York Times
63.71
8.76
15.94%
SCHL
Scholastic
35.85
7.65
27.11%
SEAT
Vivid Seats
3.82
-12.11
-76.02%
Lee Enterprises Corporate Events
Business Operations and StrategyExecutive/Board Changes
Lee Enterprises Adds Hoffmann to Board Amid Governance Shift
Positive
Sep 30, 2026
On September 24, 2026, Lee Enterprises appointed Gregory Hoffmann, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Hoffmann Family of Companies and an experienced real estate and investment executive, to its Board of Directors, with service running through the 2028...
Business Operations and StrategyExecutive/Board Changes
Lee Enterprises Enhances Executive Incentives and Leadership Alignment
Positive
Aug 11, 2026
On April 23, 2026, Lee Enterprises’ board named Nathan E. Bekke president and chief executive officer and Joshua P. Rinehults vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer, and on August 6, 2026, its executive compensation committee ...
Business Operations and StrategyFinancial DisclosuresPrivate Placements and Financing
Lee Enterprises Highlights Strong Digital Growth and Profitability
Positive
Aug 6, 2026
Lee Enterprises, Inc. reported preliminary results for its third quarter of fiscal 2026, ended June 28, highlighting the impact of its digital-first strategy and tighter cost controls. Digital revenue reached $72 million, or 57% of total operating...
Business Operations and StrategyExecutive/Board Changes
Lee Enterprises Announces Board Retirement and Governance Transition
Neutral
Jul 30, 2026
On July 28, 2026, Herbert W. Moloney III informed the Board of Directors of Lee Enterprises that he was retiring from the Board, effective that same day. The company stated that Moloney’s departure involved no disagreements with the Board, i...
Business Operations and StrategyRegulatory Filings and Compliance
Lee Enterprises Updates Stock Purchase Agreement Standstill Terms
Positive
Jul 24, 2026
On July 24, 2026, Lee Enterprises, Incorporated amended a December 30, 2025 Stock Purchase Agreement with a group of major investors, adjusting standstill provisions that govern how much company stock they may buy during a restricted period. The u...
Executive/Board Changes
Lee Enterprises announces retirement of longtime board director
Neutral
Jul 10, 2026
On July 7, 2026, Lee Enterprises, Incorporated disclosed that longtime director Mary Junck informed the Board she will retire from the Board of Directors, effective July 31, 2026. The company stated that Junck’s retirement involves no disagr...
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.