New York Times (NYT) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $12.95B
• Dividend Yield: 0.95%
• Average Volume (3M): 2.55M
• Price to Earnings (P/E): 38.3
• Beta (1Y): 0.46
• Revenue Growth: 8.43%
• EPS Growth: 21.38%
• Country: US
• Employees: 5,900
• Sector: Communication Services
• Sector Strength: 97
• Industry: Publishing
• EPS (TTM): 0.89
• Shares Outstanding: 161,568,280
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 2,163,550
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 2,548,975
• PEG Ratio: 1.84
• Price to Book (P/B): 5.55
• Price to Sales (P/S): 4.01
• P/FCF Ratio: 20.57
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 0.99
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 4.56
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 8.93
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: 23.78
• 1Y Price Target: $69.50
• Price Target Upside: -13.58% Downside
• Rating Consensus: Moderate Buy
• Number of Analyst Covering: 6
• EPS Forecast (FY): 2.68
• Revenue Forecast (FY): $3.05B

• Rating: 80 Outperform
• Price Target: $92.00 ▲(14.40% Upside)
• Action: Reiterated Date: 02/28/26
• Date: Action: Reiterated 02/28/26

The score is driven mainly by strong financial performance (margin expansion, strong free cash flow, and a debt-free balance sheet) and supportive earnings-call guidance pointing to continued growth and capital returns. Offsetting factors are a stretched technical setup (overbought signals) and a rich valuation (high P/E with modest yield).

Positive Factors

Balance Sheet Strength

NYT’s elimination of debt and rising equity produce a structurally conservative balance sheet that materially lowers financial risk and preserves optionality. Debt-free status supports sustained capital returns, strategic M&A or product investments, and resilience through cyclical ad or macro slowdowns without leveraging the business.

Free Cash Flow Generation

Consistently rising operating and free cash flow underpin long-term financial flexibility. Strong FCF funds dividends, buybacks and ongoing product investments without reliance on external financing, enabling durable shareholder returns while supporting allocation to growth initiatives like video and product expansion.

Subscriber & Digital Revenue Momentum

Robust net subscriber additions and a milestone >$2B in digital revenue reflect durable product-market fit for core journalism and lifestyle verticals. Recurring subscription economics, rising ARPU and cross-product monetization (Athletic, Games, Cooking, Wirecutter) create predictable revenue streams and diversified digital growth drivers.

Negative Factors

Print Revenue Declines

Ongoing print revenue erosion is a structural headwind that shrinks a legacy revenue base and forces higher reliance on digital growth to sustain aggregate top-line. Fixed costs and legacy distribution economics mean print declines can pressure margins and require continued reallocation of resources to digital transformation.

Elevated Cost & Investment Pace

Management’s stepped-up investments (video production, marketing) and incentive payouts have raised the structural cost base. If revenue growth or ad strength slows, higher fixed and variable costs could compress operating leverage and make margin expansion targets harder to sustain over the medium term.

AI / Legal & Ecosystem Risks

Uncertain outcomes from AI-related licensing, potential litigation and platform dynamics create structural risk to content value and monetization. Legal exposure or disrupted distribution terms could force higher content protection costs or reduce ad/licensing revenue, affecting long-term margin and subscriber economics.

New York Times Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

The New York Times Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides news and information for readers and viewers across various platforms worldwide. It offers The New York Times (The Times), a daily and Sunday newspaper in the United States, as well as international edition of The Times; and operates the NYTimes.com Website. The company also transmits articles, graphics, and photographs from The Times and other publications to approximately 1,500 newspapers, magazines, and websites; licenses electronic databases to resellers in the business, professional, and library markets; and offers magazine licensing, news digests, book development, and rights and permissions. In addition, it engages in the live events business, which hosts physical and virtual live events to connect audiences with journalists and outside thought leaders; direct-sold website, mobile application, podcast, email, and video advertisements, as well as digital advertising services; operates Wirecutter, a product review and recommendation products; develops mobile applications, including games and cooking products; prints and distributes products for third parties; and offers other products and services. The company was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

How the Company Makes Money

The New York Times generates revenue through several key streams, primarily focusing on subscription-based models. The company offers digital subscriptions, which have become a significant source of income, allowing readers access to online content, including articles, podcasts, and newsletters. Additionally, NYT generates revenue from print subscriptions and single-copy sales of its newspapers. Advertising is another crucial revenue stream, with the company selling ad space on its digital platforms and in print editions. NYT has also ventured into branded content and partnerships with other organizations, enhancing its revenue through collaborations and sponsored content. Significant factors contributing to its earnings include its strong brand reputation, a loyal subscriber base, and a growing emphasis on digital transformation to capture a wider audience.

New York Times Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Strong fundamentals: expanding operating and net margins, robust and rising free cash flow, and an exceptionally conservative balance sheet with debt falling to zero. Minor offsets include modest most-recent revenue growth and some historical variability in cash conversion.

Income Statement

NYT shows steady top-line momentum with revenue rising from ~$1.78B (2020) to ~$2.82B (2025), and the latest annual period posting ~2.8% growth. Profitability has strengthened materially over the cycle: net margin improved from ~5.6% (2020) to ~12.2% (2025), while operating margin expanded from ~6.5% to ~16.0%, indicating better cost discipline and operating leverage. A watch item is that gross margin has been broadly stable-to-slightly down versus the 2021 peak (high-40%s range), suggesting some input-cost or mix pressure even as below-the-line profitability improves.

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet is a clear strength: debt is very low and drops to zero in 2025, down from modest levels in prior years, leaving the company with exceptionally low financial risk. Equity has steadily increased (from ~$1.33B in 2020 to ~$2.04B in 2025), supporting asset growth and balance sheet resilience. Returns on equity are solid and improving (about 7.6% in 2020 to ~16.9% in 2025), though future returns could normalize if profit growth slows now that leverage is minimal.

Cash Flow

Cash generation is strong and improving: operating cash flow increased to ~$584M (2025) from ~$298M (2020), and free cash flow rose to ~$551M (2025) from ~$263M (2020). Free cash flow consistently tracks net income well (roughly ~0.75x to ~0.94x across the period), supporting earnings quality. The main weakness is variability in cash conversion relative to profits year-to-year (operating cash flow coverage ranges from ~0.26 to ~0.88), including a notably weaker 2022, even though more recent years have recovered.

Breakdown	Dec 2025	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue	2.82B	2.59B	2.43B	2.31B	2.07B
Gross Profit	1.35B	1.28B	1.18B	1.10B	1.04B
EBITDA	536.26M	476.46M	398.95M	328.58M	358.26M
Net Income	343.98M	293.82M	232.39M	173.91M	219.97M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	3.00B	2.84B	2.71B	2.53B	2.56B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	642.16M	565.92M	451.57M	347.36M	661.05M
Total Debt	48.72M	47.77M	42.91M	59.12M	63.61M
Total Liabilities	955.73M	914.27M	951.38M	933.78M	1.02B
Stockholders Equity	2.04B	1.93B	1.76B	1.60B	1.54B
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	550.50M	381.34M	337.95M	113.73M	234.46M
Operating Cash Flow	584.49M	410.51M	360.62M	150.69M	269.10M
Investing Cash Flow	-221.32M	-306.09M	-159.69M	-73.56M	-180.81M
Financing Cash Flow	-306.14M	-192.72M	-132.71M	-174.31M	-54.95M

New York Times Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Positive
• Last Price: 80.42
• 50DMA: Positive
• 100DMA: Positive
• 200DMA: Positive
• MACD: Negative
• RSI: Negative
• STOCH: Negative

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For NYT, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 80.42 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 73.87, above the 50-day MA of 72.13, and above the 200-day MA of 61.26, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of 2.26 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 71.49 is Negative, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 94.18 is Negative, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for NYT.

New York Times Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
NYT	80 Outperform	$12.95B	38.26	17.34%	0.95%	8.43%	21.38%
WLY	69 Neutral	$1.61B	16.49	13.61%	4.48%	-5.33%	―
PSO	64 Neutral	$8.03B	19.03	11.74%	2.11%	1.93%	34.40%
Sector *	60 Neutral	$48.67B	4.58	-11.27%	4.14%	2.83%	-41.78%
LEE	51 Neutral	$209.05M	-2.17	―	―	-8.02%	-44.34%

New York Times Corporate Events

New York Times Adopts New Executive Severance and Protections

On January 15, 2026, The New York Times Company’s board Compensation Committee approved a new Executive Severance Plan to standardize severance arrangements for senior leaders and better align them with market practice, while also bolstering retention of key executives. The plan covers Executive Committee members and Section 16 officers who sign restrictive covenant agreements and do not already have individual severance contracts, offering structured cash severance, prorated annual incentives, continued health coverage, and outplacement support following qualifying terminations, with enhanced lump-sum payments and COBRA subsidies for senior executives terminated without cause or for good reason within a year of a change in control; it is structured to comply with U.S. tax rules and includes mechanisms to limit excess parachute payments. On the same date, the company amended CEO Meredith Kopit Levien’s employment agreement, extending her post-employment non-solicitation period to 18 months, updating her non-compete to match the current business, and providing richer change-in-control severance protections—larger lump-sum cash payments tied to salary and target bonus plus extended COBRA support—moves that collectively reinforce leadership retention, clarify protections in potential M&A or control-shift scenarios, and tighten post-employment restrictions to protect the company’s talent and competitive position.

The most recent analyst rating on (NYT) stock is a Hold with a $60.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on New York Times stock, see the NYT Stock Forecast page.