Lee Enterprises Inc. (LEE)
NASDAQ:LEE
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Lee Enterprises
(NASDAQ:LEE)
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Rating:57Neutral
Price Target:
$8.50
▲(66.99% Upside)
Action:ReiteratedDate:04/25/26
LEE’s score is held back primarily by weak financial performance—declining revenue, ongoing net losses, and balance-sheet fragility (negative equity and substantial debt). Offsetting this, the latest earnings call was constructive with sharp Q1 adjusted EBITDA improvement, continued digital mix progress, and a significant interest-cost reduction that should aid cash flow. Technicals are neutral-to-slightly constructive, while valuation remains difficult to justify on earnings due to a negative P/E.
Positive Factors
Digital revenue scale & mix shift
Lee’s digital mix now represents the majority of revenue with nearly $300M LTM and 609k digital-only subscribers. This durable recurring subscription base and a reported core digital CAGR (~12%) reduce dependence on print, improving revenue resilience and monetization opportunity over coming years.
Negative Factors
Negative equity & high leverage
Negative shareholders’ equity signals chronic balance-sheet stress and limits financial flexibility. High historical leverage heightens refinancing and downturn risk, constrains strategic optionality, and makes the company more reliant on external capital or asset sales to repair solvency over a multiyear horizon.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
Digital revenue scale & mix shift
Lee’s digital mix now represents the majority of revenue with nearly $300M LTM and 609k digital-only subscribers. This durable recurring subscription base and a reported core digital CAGR (~12%) reduce dependence on print, improving revenue resilience and monetization opportunity over coming years.
Read all positive factors
Lee Enterprises (LEE) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Market Cap
$186.95M
Dividend YieldN/A
Average Volume (3M)54.01K
Price to Earnings (P/E)―
Beta (1Y)0.53
Revenue Growth-8.73%
EPS Growth40.00%
CountryUS
Employees2,674
SectorCommunication Services
Sector Strength97
IndustryPublishing
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)-0.92
Shares Outstanding22,229,939
10 Day Avg. Volume82,789
30 Day Avg. Volume54,011
Financial Highlights & Ratios
PEG Ratio-0.02
Price to Book (P/B)-0.77
Price to Sales (P/S)0.06
P/FCF Ratio-4.68
Enterprise Value/Market Cap2.87
Enterprise Value/Revenue0.98
Enterprise Value/Gross Profit1.70
Enterprise Value/Ebitda23.53
Forecast
1Y Price TargetN/A
Price Target UpsideN/A
Rating ConsensusN/A
Number of Analyst Covering0
EPS Forecast (FY)N/A
Revenue Forecast (FY)N/A
Lee Enterprises Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
Lee Enterprises, Incorporated provides local news and information, and advertising services in the United States. The company offers print and digital editions of daily, weekly, and monthly newspapers and publications; and web hosting and content ...
How the Company Makes Money
Lee Enterprises primarily makes money from (1) advertising and marketing services and (2) reader/audience revenue, with additional revenue from ancillary publishing-related services.
1) Advertising and marketing services: A significant portion of...
Lee Enterprises Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Lee Enterprises Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Date:Feb 10, 2026
(Q1-2026)
| % Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:May 07, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Positive
The call emphasized meaningful progress in the company’s digital transformation, strong first-quarter adjusted EBITDA growth (+61%), a $50 million equity infusion, and a material interest-rate reduction that should save approximately $18 million annually. These positives are balanced against ongoing legacy revenue declines, a still-substantial $455 million debt load, reliance on asset monetization and capital raises, and lingering effects from a prior cyber incident. Overall, the tone was constructive and focused on stabilization and growth driven by digital revenue, but tempered by execution risks and remaining leverage.Positive Updates
Strong Adjusted EBITDA Growth in Q1
Q1 adjusted EBITDA grew 61% year-over-year to $12 million (a $5 million increase vs prior year); adjusted EBITDA on a trailing twelve-month basis was reported at $50 million.
Negative Updates
Ongoing Legacy Revenue Decline
Print and legacy revenue streams continue to decline; company is actively managing legacy cost reductions and headcount reductions to offset declines, indicating continued dependence on transformation execution.
Read all updates
Q1-2026 Updates
Positive
Negative
Strong Adjusted EBITDA Growth in Q1
Q1 adjusted EBITDA grew 61% year-over-year to $12 million (a $5 million increase vs prior year); adjusted EBITDA on a trailing twelve-month basis was reported at $50 million.
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
Management reaffirmed fiscal 2026 guidance for adjusted EBITDA growth in the mid-single-digits, pointing to a strong Q1 that featured adjusted EBITDA up 61% YoY to $12 million (LTM adjusted EBITDA $50 million; Q1 adjusted EBITDA margin 9.4% vs. 5.3% a year ago; excluding $2 million insurance proceeds, Q1 adjusted EBITDA growth was 35%), Q1 digital revenue of just over $70 million (54% of total revenue), digital-only subscription revenue of $23 million from 609,000 subscribers (Q1 digital-only revenue +5%; digital-only revenue growth ~14% LTM), nearly $300 million in digital revenue LTM with a $450 million 2030 target and a goal of 90% digital revenue by 2030, core digital CAGR ~12% (2021–2025), cash costs down $17 million YoY, and balance-sheet actions including a $50 million private placement at $3.25/share plus an amended credit agreement lowering the rate to 5% on $455 million of debt (≈$18 million annual interest savings, up to ~$90 million over five years), $121 million of principal paid since March 2020, $26 million of non‑core assets to monetize, and a fully funded pension termination — all cited as supporting confidence in 2026 and the next five years.Lee Enterprises Financial Statement Overview
Summary
Income Statement
32
Negative
Balance Sheet
18
Very Negative
Cash Flow
41
Neutral
| Breakdown | TTM | Sep 2025 | Sep 2024 | Sep 2023 | Sep 2022 | Sep 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Statement | ||||||
| Total Revenue | 547.84M | 562.34M | 611.38M | 691.14M | 780.97M | 794.65M |
| Gross Profit | 314.18M | 314.52M | 594.57M | 665.79M | 750.87M | 764.87M |
| EBITDA | 22.77M | 16.70M | 37.66M | 69.01M | 79.11M | 97.75M |
| Net Income | -26.46M | -37.59M | -25.84M | -5.27M | -2.02M | 22.75M |
Balance Sheet | ||||||
| Total Assets | 592.56M | 601.73M | 649.17M | 711.62M | 744.04M | 843.55M |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments | 12.63M | 9.99M | 9.60M | 14.55M | 16.18M | 26.11M |
| Total Debt | 496.98M | 481.58M | 483.85M | 500.08M | 516.42M | 548.91M |
| Total Liabilities | 639.00M | 642.69M | 656.50M | 687.91M | 726.80M | 800.32M |
| Stockholders Equity | -48.74M | -43.31M | -9.89M | 21.24M | 15.01M | 41.10M |
Cash Flow | ||||||
| Free Cash Flow | 5.52M | -7.08M | -8.09M | -7.63M | -4.11M | 42.60M |
| Operating Cash Flow | 6.27M | -5.54M | 1.12M | -2.52M | 3.43M | 50.08M |
| Investing Cash Flow | 3.09M | 7.71M | 3.73M | 7.98M | 6.91M | -2.28M |
| Financing Cash Flow | -2.86M | -1.78M | -9.80M | -7.09M | -19.69M | -55.42M |
Lee Enterprises Technical Analysis
Positive
5.09
Price Trends
8.25
Positive
6.39
Positive
5.65
Positive
Market Momentum
0.04
Positive
48.24
Neutral
26.05
Neutral
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For LEE, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 5.09 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 8.46, below the 50-day MA of 8.25, and below the 200-day MA of 5.65, indicating a neutral trend. The MACD of 0.04 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 48.24 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 26.05 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for LEE.
Lee Enterprises Risk Analysis
Lee Enterprises disclosed 17 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. Lee Enterprises reported the most risks in the "Finance & Corporate" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks
Lee Enterprises Peers Comparison
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (60)
Name | Overall Rating | Market Cap | P/E Ratio | ROE | Dividend Yield | Revenue Growth | EPS Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
75 Outperform | $12.80B | 32.93 | 17.55% | 0.95% | 9.24% | 18.04% | |
66 Neutral | $874.70M | 3.53 | 6.91% | 2.78% | 1.38% | 296.53% | |
60 Neutral | $48.67B | 4.58 | -11.27% | 4.14% | 2.83% | -41.78% | |
57 Neutral | $186.95M | -1.01 | 61.72% | ― | -8.73% | 40.00% | |
52 Neutral | $407.69M | -3.48 | -7.89% | ― | -14.31% | -287.96% | |
49 Neutral | $67.18M | -0.12 | -51.54% | ― | -26.41% | -4283.11% |
* Communication Services Sector Average
LEE
Lee Enterprises
8.41
0.36
4.47%
SSP
E. W. Scripps Company Class A
4.46
2.45
121.89%
NYT
New York Times
79.03
27.58
53.61%
SCHL
Scholastic
40.23
22.56
127.71%
SEAT
Vivid Seats
6.24
-49.96
-88.90%
Lee Enterprises Corporate Events
Business Operations and StrategyExecutive/Board Changes
Lee Enterprises Appoints Bekke CEO, Rinehults CFO
Positive
Apr 24, 2026
On April 23, 2026, Lee Enterprises’ board named veteran executive Nathan E. Bekke as President and Chief Executive Officer and appointed Joshua P. Rinehults as Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, formalizing interim roles ...
Executive/Board ChangesShareholder Meetings
Lee Enterprises Shareholders Back Board, Pay and Incentive Plan
Positive
Apr 7, 2026
Lee Enterprises, Inc. held its 2026 annual meeting of stockholders on April 6, 2026, with a quorum of 88.68% of outstanding common shares represented by proxy. Stockholders elected Ronald J. Kruszewski and Madeline E. McIntosh to three-year terms ...
Shareholder Meetings
Lee Enterprises Schedules Earlier 2026 Annual Shareholder Meeting
Neutral
Feb 26, 2026
On February 21, 2026, Lee Enterprises’ board set April 6, 2026, as the date for the company’s 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, advancing it by more than 30 days from the prior year’s meeting. As a result of this schedule chan...
Business Operations and StrategyFinancial DisclosuresPrivate Placements and Financing
Lee Enterprises Raises Capital and Cuts Debt Costs
Positive
Feb 10, 2026
Lee Enterprises reported preliminary results for its first fiscal quarter ended December 28, 2025, highlighting strong operating performance driven by digital growth and cost controls. Total operating revenue was $130 million, with digital revenue...
Business Operations and StrategyExecutive/Board ChangesPrivate Placements and FinancingShareholder Meetings
Lee Enterprises Completes Strategic Investment and Leadership Transition
Positive
Feb 5, 2026
On February 5, 2026, Lee Enterprises closed a previously announced $50 million strategic equity private placement led by investor David Hoffmann, alongside other existing shareholders, providing committed capital intended to bolster the company...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Disclaimer
This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.