Investing.com – The New York Times didn’t fluff its lines Wednesday as its fourth-quarter results came in above consensus, sending its share price sharply higher.
New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) reported fourth-quarter earnings per share of $0.32 on $502.77 million in revenue. Results in the black were welcome to investors and ahead of forecasts of analysts polled by Investing.com for earnings of $0.27 a share on $479.41 million in revenue.
The stronger-than-expected quarter for the publisher was driven by strong digital subscriber and advertising growth.
The New York Times added 265,000 net new digital subscriptions, the biggest gain since late 2016, the company said. For the year, the company reported 3.4 million digital subscriptions and 4.3 million total subscriptions.
Digital advertising revenue jumped 23% year over year in the quarter, but print ad revenue was down 10%.
Adjusted operating margins came under pressure during the quarter, falling by 290 basis points, owing to higher production and labor costs.