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The numbers
$635.9 million: The Times’ total revenue in the first quarter, up 7.1% from the year prior
11.6 million: The total number of digital subscribers The Times now has, up 250,000 from the previous quarter and 1,150,000 from the previous year
12.4%: Digital advertising at The Times in the first quarter rose by 12.4%, showing little impact from the looming tariffs. The company also forecast an increase of “high single digits” for its digital advertising revenue in the upcoming quarter
21.3%: The Times’ operating profit in the first quarter, which reached $58.6 million
$4.4 million: The amount of money The Times spent on litigation against OpenAI in its ongoing lawsuit over the legality of the AI firm scraping its content
4: The number of Pulitzer prizes The New York Times won last week
The watercooler talk
The New York Times logged another banner quarter, putting even more distance between itself and its competitive set.
The legacy publisher saw subscriber growth, advertising upticks, and increased engagement and investment in its portfolio of non-news products, including Games, Cooking, and The Athletic.
Similar to what was said earlier this week by IAC, the ownership group behind Dotdash Meredith, The Times said that the impact of tariffs has so far been “immaterial,” according to Will Bardeen, the executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Its business lines that more directly reflect consumer price sensitivity, such as subscriptions and affiliate revenue, also saw increased growth, suggesting that the macroeconomic headwinds facing the country have not yet affected The Times’ audience.
The publisher continued to tout its efforts to diversify its portfolio away from news, a tactic that insulates it from the volatility of the news business and allows it to charge more for subscriptions as part of its bundle strategy. The increased annual revenue per user (ARPU) was mentioned numerous times during the investor call, making it clear how key of a focus the metric is to The Times.
The key quote
“As our first quarter results show, we’ve had a strong start to the year,” said chief executive Meredith Kopit Levien, “our strategy is working, and our business is growing and demonstrating resilience amidst the current economic and geopolitical uncertainty.”
