The New York Times Company (NYT) Q4 2020 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Record subscription growth drove a slight increase in operating profit despite a $138 million decline in advertising revenue; digital revenue surpassed print for the first time.

• Added 2.3 million net digital-only subscriptions in 2020 and ended the year with 7.523 million total paid subscriptions across digital and print products.

Financial highlights

• FY2020 revenue fell 1.6% to $1.784 billion; subscription revenue rose 10.3% to $1.195 billion, while advertising revenue declined 26.1% to $392.4 million.

• Operating profit increased 0.4% to $176.3 million; adjusted operating profit was $250.6 million versus $248.4 million.

• Net income was $100.8 million versus $140.0 million; diluted EPS was $0.60 versus $0.83, while adjusted diluted EPS rose to $0.97 from $0.92.

• Digital-only subscription revenue rose 29.9% to $598.3 million; print subscription revenue declined 4.2% to $597.1 million.

Outlook and guidance

• 2020 subscription additions were considered an outlier; additions may vary significantly by quarter, and the 2020 growth rate is not expected to continue at the same pace.

• Plans call for significant further investment in journalism in 2021, continued hiring in newsroom, product and technology, and disciplined cost management to support long-term profitable growth.

• Expected to increase investment in Games and Cooking content, product development and marketing; plans include testing Wirecutter as a subscription product and further audio experiments.

• Expected 2021 qualified pension contributions of approximately $10 million; available cash, marketable securities and operating cash flow were expected to cover financing needs for 12 months.