The New York Times Company

Digital subscribers and pricing

The company ended September with approximately 13.22 million digital-only subscribers and 13.76 million subscribers including print. It added 420,000 digital-only subscribers in the quarter, compared with 280,000 in the preceding quarter and 460,000 a year earlier.

Digital subscription revenue rose 14.6% to $421.3 million. Average revenue per digital subscriber was $9.93 per 28-day billing cycle, up from $9.79 a year earlier and slightly below $9.94 in the preceding quarter.

Third-quarter results

Third quarters ended September 30. Millions of dollars. Adjusted operating profit is non-GAAP; the other rows use GAAP.

Measure	2026	2025
Revenue	$768.5	$700.8
Digital advertising revenue	$109.9	$98.1
Operating profit	$121.9	$104.8
Adjusted operating profit	$149.6	$131.4
Net income	$97.4	$81.6

Adjusted operating profit removes depreciation and amortization, severance, pension-withdrawal costs and specified litigation costs. Adjusted diluted earnings per share were $0.68, compared with reported diluted earnings of $0.60.

Cash generation and financial reserves

First nine months ended September 30. Millions of dollars. Free cash flow subtracts capital expenditures from GAAP operating cash flow.

Measure	2026	2025
Operating cash flow	$462.2	$420.3
Capital expenditures	$26.4	$27.5
Free cash flow	$435.8	$392.9

Management expects approximately $60 million in lower cash-tax payments for full-year 2026 and does not expect most of that benefit to recur after 2026. The previous year's nine-month operating cash flow included approximately $33 million from a lease and subsequent sale of excess land at the College Point printing facility, completed in February 2025.

September financial reserves included $221.3 million of cash and cash equivalents, $451.5 million of short-term marketable securities and $591.8 million of long-term marketable securities. Combined cash and securities totaled approximately $1.26 billion.

No debt was outstanding. The $400 million revolving credit facility was undrawn, with approximately $0.4 million of letters of credit reducing availability.

The company spent approximately $79.1 million repurchasing shares in the third quarter. Approximately $146 million remained authorized for repurchases at October 30.

Expectations to check next

Digital advertising grew 12% in the third quarter, below the mid-to-high-teens outlook published August 5. Digital subscription growth of 14.6% and adjusted cost growth of 8.7% were within their original 12% to 15% and 8% to 9% ranges.

For the fourth quarter, management expects high-single to low-double-digit digital advertising growth, 12% to 15% digital subscription growth and a 6% to 8% rise in adjusted operating costs.

For full-year 2026, the company now expects $35 million to $40 million of capital spending, compared with $35 million to $45 million in August.

Read our analysis: New York Times missed its digital ad forecast. Profit still grew.