New York Times Adds 420,000 Digital Subscribers, Beats on Revenue

The New York Times added 420,000 digital-only subscribers in the third quarter, pushing its total subscriber base to 13.8 million as revenue and adjusted earnings beat Wall Street expectations. The stock climbed 3.8% to $69.75 in premarket trading Wednesday.

Revenue reached $768.5 million, up 9.7% from $700.8 million a year earlier and above the $766.9 million analysts expected, according to Yahoo Finance. Net income rose 19.2% to $97.4 million. Diluted earnings came in at 60 cents per share; adjusted earnings of 68 cents beat the consensus estimate of 65 cents.

Yet even a quarter of accelerating subscriber growth could not shield CEO Meredith Kopit Levien from persistent questions about artificial intelligence. On the Wednesday earnings call, she faced repeated inquiries about risks ranging from Google's AI summaries reducing the need to read stories, to AI agents proactively canceling subscriptions to save users money. Her answer: deep journalism and subscriber engagement set the Times apart.

What drove the numbers?

Subscriber momentum accelerated. The 420,000 additions compare with 280,000 in the second quarter, when the publisher ended June at 13.35 million total subscribers.

• Digital-only subscription revenue rose 14.6% to $421.3 million, from $367.4 million a year earlier, within the company's 12%-15% forecast range.
• Digital-only average revenue per user hit $9.93 per 28-day billing cycle, up from $9.79 a year earlier.
• Advertising revenue totaled $142.6 million, up 7.8%, with digital advertising up 12% to $109.9 million from $98.1 million.
• Affiliate, licensing and other revenue grew 6.2% to $78.4 million, lifted by licensing and Wirecutter affiliate referrals.

Operating profit rose 16.4% to $121.9 million. Adjusted operating profit climbed 13.9% to $149.6 million. Total operating costs increased 8.5% to $646.6 million, with adjusted operating costs up 8.7%, inside the guided 8%-9% range.

Why did digital advertising fall short?

Digital advertising growth of 12% landed below the company's mid-to-high-teens forecast, a sharp slowdown from the 20.7% increase in the second quarter. Asked twice whether AI-powered search or weaker engagement contributed, Levien said quarterly ad revenue is difficult to predict. She emphasized that subscriber engagement remains central to both the subscription and advertising businesses but did not directly address whether AI had affected traffic.

CFO Will Bardeen pointed to strong retention, including among subscribers acquired after the Times put its Mini crossword behind the paywall last year. He acknowledged that a larger share of lower-priced subscriptions weighed on average revenue per user, while adding that the company remained pleased with its pricing performance.

How is the Times handling AI risk?

Levien acknowledged that changes by major technology companies are driving less traffic to news sites. "The Times isn't immune to that impact," she said during the call.

She argued that the company's focus on journalism and digital products that readers seek out directly places it in a stronger position as the way people discover information keeps changing.

On AI agents that could cancel subscriptions or steer consumers to cheaper alternatives, Levien was direct. "So far, we're not seeing an impact," she said.

The company is monitoring how AI agents develop and how consumers use them, she added, and it holds the ability to allow, restrict or block specific automated tools from interacting with its platforms.

What comes next?

For the fourth quarter, the Times expects digital-only subscription revenue to grow 12% to 15%, with digital advertising revenue projected to increase in the high-single to low-double digits.

In plain terms: the subscriber engine is accelerating, advertising missed its mark, and management says AI has not yet dented the business.