The New York Times Has Another Strong Quarter; Investors Weren’t Impressed

By Christiana Sciaudone • February 5, 2025

The New York Times added some 350,000 net digital-only subscribers in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter, and saw a jump in digital ad and user revenue. 

The forecast for first quarter subscription revenue growth of 7% to 10% compared to analyst estimates of 9.9%, Investing.com reported, citing Visible Alpha. The stock fell more than 11% midday on Wednesday.

Some of the most notable numbers include the following, comparisons are year-over-year.

  • Total number of subscribers 11.43 million compared to 11.09 million in Q3. Of 10.8 million digital-only subscribers, about 5.44 million were bundle and multiproduct subscribers.
  • Total revenue of $726.6 million up 7.5%.
  • Digital subscription revenue up 16%.
  • Print subscription revenue down 7% to $131.6 million.
  • Digital-only average revenue per user (ARPU) up 4.4% year-over-year to $9.65 as subscribers transitioned from promotional to higher prices and tenured non-bundled subscribers saw prices increase.
  • Total advertising revenues increased 0.6% to $165.1 million; digital advertising revenue up 9.5% with print advertising revenue down 16%.
  • Other revenue up 16% year-over-year as a result of higher Wirecutter affiliate referral and licensing revenues.

The Athletic saw advertising revenue up 16.4% to $11.5 million from $9.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 on higher revenues from direct-sold display advertising. Other revenue increased to $6 million from $1.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 because of an increase in licensing revenue.

The Athletic finally turned a profit for The New York Times Company in the third quarter, nearly three years after the newspaper bought the sports site. In the fourth quarter, The Athletic’s adjusted operating profit increased to $3.5 million from a loss of $4.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 thanks to higher digital subscription revenue and digital advertising revenue.

The company expects its pricing power to increase over time as it invests in its journalism and other products. 

Chief Financial Officer William Bardeen said on the call:

The best metric to watch is total digital only ARPU. Having said that, we’re really pleased with how the bundles are going. That’s been the primary driver of that increase in bundle and multiproduct ARPU you’re seeing. And that really just reflects the strategy in action. As we steadily improve the journalism and the product, people are engaging more, and they’re placing higher value on the service, on the bundle, in particular, which is strong. We expect that to continue to be the case, and then that strengthens our ability to transition subs to higher prices over time, and gives us confidence that we can have a strong trajectory going forward.

Meredith Kopit Levien, chief executive officer, said on the call that the New York Times company will continue to lean into video and audio in 2025, and said there is a “robust pipeline for both feature development on the games we already have, and also a very good track record now of building new games.”

“We’re always very focused on subscriber engagement and getting people to stay, pay more over time, stay longer,” she said.