Read the full New York Times third-quarter report here. Adjusted quarterly earnings came in at 9 cents a share that beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 6 cents, and increased threefold from the year-ago quarter.
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Revenue rose marginally to US$367.4 million, beating the average analysts’ estimate of US$364.7 million.
Digital advertising, an important component of the company’s plan to double digital revenue to $800 million by 2020, decreased 5 percent.
Shares rose 1.5% to $13.24 Thursday.
Mr. Thompson attributed the decline in digital ad revenue to fewer technology and luxury ad campaigns, “tactical shifts in a few categories, ” and some impact from the Times’ transition to new “viewability” standards, in which advertisers only pay for impressions that can be seen by users.
Thompson said the gains in online subscribers bring the total number of paid digital-only subscribers to 1,041,000.
In the latest quarter, the Times added 51,000 net digital subscribers, the largest number of quarterly additions since 2012. That was despite uncharacteristic weakness in digital ad revenue, which fell 5% in the period, the first decline in more than a year.
The company did not immediately explain the diverging fortunes of its ad business, but said digital ad sales will post a year-over-year increase again in the fourth quarter. As earlier announced, the Times now has more than a million digital subscribers. This decrease mainly resulted from declines in severance, depreciation and amortization, print distribution efficiencies, and lower raw materials and outside printing costs. Operating profit was $21.9 million in the third quarter of 2015 compared with a loss of $9.0 million in the same period of 2014. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.06 per share for the quarter. As of October 27, 2015, repurchases totaled $61.1 million and $40.0 million remained under the Company’s current repurchase authorization.
Total circulation revenues in the fourth quarter of 2015 are expected to increase at a rate similar to that of the third quarter of 2015. Management now expects adjusted operating costs to decline in the low-single digits in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Advertising, which remains a significant source of revenue, is largely dependent on the global financial health.
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Capital expenditures: approximately $35 million.
