New York Times Company
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OVERVIEW
The New York Times Company and, unless the context otherwise requires, its consolidated subsidiaries are referred to collectively in this Annual Report on Form 10-K as the “Company,” “we,” “our” and “us.”
We are a global media organization focused on creating and distributing high-quality news and information that help our audience understand and engage with the world, and this mission has contributed to our success. We believe that The Times’s original, independent and high-quality reporting, storytelling, expertise and journalistic excellence set us apart from other sources and are at the heart of what makes our journalism worth paying for. The quality of our coverage has been widely recognized with many industry and peer accolades, including more Pulitzer Prizes and citations than any other news organization.
The Company includes our digital and print products and related businesses, including:
•our core news product, The New York Times (“The Times”), which is available on our mobile application, on our website (NYTimes.com) and as a printed newspaper, and associated content, such as our podcasts;
•our other interest-specific products, including The Athletic (our sports media product), Audio (our audio offering available as a separate subscription through our news app), Cooking (our recipes and cooking content product) and Games (our puzzle games product), which are available on mobile applications and websites, and Wirecutter (our product review and recommendation offering); and
•our related businesses, such as our licensing operations, our commercial printing operations and other products and services under The Times brand.
As of December 31, 2025, we had approximately 12.78 million total subscribers, more than at any point in our history.
We generate revenues principally from the sale of subscriptions and advertising. Subscription revenues consist of revenues from standalone and multiproduct bundle subscriptions to our digital products and subscriptions to and single-copy and bulk sales of our print products. Advertising revenue is derived from the sale of our advertising products and services. Revenue information for the Company appears under “Item 7 — Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”
The Company was incorporated on August 26, 1896, under the laws of the State of New York.
THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY – P. 1
OUR STRATEGY
Our strategy is to be the essential subscription for curious people seeking to understand and engage with the world, which includes:
•being the world’s best general-interest news destination;
•becoming more valuable to more people by helping them make the most of their lives and engage with their passions; and
•creating a more expansive and connected product experience that makes our products indispensable.
Our current aim is to reach 15 million total subscribers by year-end 2027, up from approximately 12.78 million at the end of 2025. We believe that focusing on the following priorities will enable us to become an essential subscription for our addressable market and drive long-term, profitable growth for the Company and our stockholders.
Producing the best journalism
We believe that our original, independent and high-quality reporting, storytelling and journalistic excellence across topics and formats set us apart from others and are at the heart of what makes our journalism worth paying for. The impact of our journalism and its breadth is evident as we continue to break stories, produce investigative reports and help our audience understand a wide range of topics. Producing the best journalism also makes us a more attractive destination for the talented individuals who are vital to the continued success of our business.
We seek to extend our leadership in news by continuing to focus on four major areas: providing expert beat reporting on a broad array of important subjects, offering leading coverage of breaking news, producing signature journalism projects and excelling at ideas-based commentary and criticism.
While general-interest news is and will remain our primary value proposition, we are working to build leadership positions in a handful of areas that occupy a prominent place in global culture alongside general-interest news — including sports, cooking guidance, puzzle gaming and expert shopping recommendations.
In 2026, we plan to continue investing in our journalism and remain committed to providing a multimedia report of depth, breadth, authority, creativity and excellence, produced with a focus on independence and integrity.
Growing audience and engagement with our products
Our ability to attract, retain and grow our digital subscriber base depends on the size of our audience and its sustained engagement directly with our products. We will continue to focus on reaching a large non-paying audience while also creating a subscription experience aimed at building valuable daily habits that draw people into lifelong relationships worth paying for. Central to our strategy is our offering of a high-value subscription package — or “bundle” — of interconnected digital products that helps subscribers engage with everything we offer and provides multiple reasons to engage with our products each day.
Across all of our products, we have invested in bringing readers back to our content, exposing them to more of our offerings and providing an integrated product experience. Within news, for example, our live briefings keep users up to date on the latest developments across important storylines. Our suite of email newsletters reaches the inboxes of millions globally and plays a central role in engaging potential subscribers. Our mobile applications provide users with a seamless way to experience the breadth of the products we offer.
We plan to continue to invest in engaging content and product features across our products, including video, audio and other multimedia programming and features. We see these investments as increasing the value of our bundle and contributing to our essential subscription strategy.
Growing subscribers, revenue and profit
We believe we are still in the early days of penetrating the global subscription journalism market, and we aspire to be the leader in that market. In this context, we view a large and growing subscriber base as our best lever for long-term value creation because it generates recurring consumer revenue; has the potential to generate more advertising, affiliate and other revenue opportunities; and contributes to higher marketing efficiency.
We plan to continue our emphasis on growing subscribers through our focus on promoting our bundle of interconnected products, which we believe provides the most value to our users and represents the best opportunity
P. 2 – THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY
to monetize our digital products. While we aim to expose more of our subscribers to everything that we offer through the bundle, we continue to offer subscriptions to standalone products as well to attract the widest number of subscribers. We also make an ongoing effort to align our digital pricing model with users’ willingness to pay and the growing value of our products.
Revenue from premium digital advertising is an important and growing part of our business. We believe our journalism and other products attract valuable audiences and that we provide a trusted platform for advertisers’ brands. We continue to innovate advertising offerings that integrate well with the user experience, including solutions that use proprietary first-party data to help inform our clients’ advertising strategies.
We believe we can apply disciplined cost management while continuing to invest in journalism and product development in support of long-term profitable growth. We also aim to continue to maximize the efficiency and profitability of our print products and services, which remain a significant part of our business.
Using technology and data to propel our growth
Achieving our ambition will require products and technology that match the quality of our journalism. Over the past several years, we have invested substantially in the back-end technology and underlying capabilities that enrich the digital experience for users and empower our journalists and business operators. In 2026, we plan to continue prioritizing these areas, with a focus on strengthening our data management infrastructure, enhancing the platforms that power our multiproduct digital bundle, and advancing machine-learning and artificial intelligence (“AI”) applications across our business. We have already seen and expect to see further benefits from these investments as they help us better engage, habituate, convert and retain more subscribers.
THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY – P. 3
PRODUCTS
The Company’s principal business consists of distributing content through our digital and print platforms. In addition, we distribute selected content on third-party platforms.
We offer a digital-only bundle that includes access to our digital news product (which includes our news website, NYTimes.com, and mobile application), The Athletic and our Audio, Cooking, Games and Wirecutter products. Our subscriptions also include standalone digital subscriptions to each of these products. Digital subscriptions can be purchased by individual consumers or as part of group education or group corporate subscriptions. Individual consumers can subscribe to our products directly or through third-party app stores operated by Apple and Alphabet.
Our access model for our digital products generally offers users who have registered free access to a limited amount of content before requiring users to subscribe for access to additional content. We also make some of our content free as a way to generate large audiences that we monetize through advertising revenue, affiliate revenue or by eventually converting them into subscribers; this includes Wordle and Connections (daily digital word games) and portions of our audio and video journalism (which is distributed both on our digital platforms and on third-party platforms), Wirecutter content and Cooking content. We have made and may in the future make the choice at times to suspend limits on registered users’ free access to particularly important news coverage.
The Times’s print newspaper, which commenced publication in 1851, is published seven days a week in the United States. The Times also has an international edition of our print newspaper that is tailored for global audiences and is the successor to the International Herald Tribune, which commenced publication in Paris in 1887. Our print newspapers are sold in the United States and around the world through individual home-delivery subscriptions, bulk subscriptions (primarily by schools and hotels) and single-copy sales. Print home-delivery subscribers are entitled to receive free access to our digital news product, The Athletic, and our Audio, Cooking, Games and Wirecutter products.
SUBSCRIBERS AND AUDIENCE
Our content reaches a broad audience through both digital and print platforms. As of December 31, 2025, we had approximately 12.78 million subscribers across 234 countries and territories.
Paid digital-only subscribers totaled approximately 12.21 million as of December 31, 2025. This includes subscribers with paid digital-only subscriptions to one or more of our news product, The Athletic, or our Audio, Cooking, Games and Wirecutter products. International subscribers with a paid digital-only subscription represented approximately 26% of our total digital-only subscriptions as of December 31, 2025.
The number of paid digital-only subscribers also includes estimated group corporate and group education subscriptions. The number of paid group subscribers is derived using the value of the relevant contract and a discounted subscription rate. The actual number of users who have access to our products through group sales is substantially higher.
In addition, the number of paid digital-only subscribers also includes estimated family subscriptions. Each family subscription is priced higher than a comparable individual subscription, and the number of paid family subscribers is counted as one billed subscriber and one additional subscriber to reflect the additional entitlements in these subscriptions.
Our overall audience is orders of magnitude larger than our subscriber base, and comprises users who engage with our content on our own site and apps, as well as external platforms. This broad audience base serves as a vital engine for the growth of our subscription business, and provides an attractive offering for our advertising partners. By maintaining a reach that extends beyond paid relationships, we bolster the mission of our journalism and the long-term health of our business.
In the United States, The Times had the largest daily and Sunday print circulation of all seven-day newspapers for the six-month period ended September 30, 2025, according to data collected by the Alliance for Audited Media, an independent agency that audits circulation of most U.S. newspapers and magazines.
P. 4 – THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY
ADVERTISING
We offer a comprehensive portfolio of advertising products and services principally to advertisers (such as luxury goods, technology and financial companies) promoting products, services or brands on digital platforms in the form of display, audio, email and video ads; in print in the form of column-inch ads; and at live events. Advertising revenue is primarily determined by the volume (e.g., impressions or column inches), rate and mix of advertisements.
Our digital advertising offerings include solutions that use proprietary first-party data to generate predictive insights and help inform our clients’ advertising strategies. Digital advertising includes revenue from display (which includes website and mobile applications), audio, email and video advertisements that are sold either directly to marketers by our advertising sales teams or, for a smaller proportion of advertising revenue, through programmatic auctions run by third-party ad exchanges. Digital advertising revenue also includes revenues generated by creative services fees. In 2025, digital advertising represented approximately 73% of our advertising revenues.
Print advertising includes revenue from column-inch ads and classified advertising, as well as preprinted advertising, also known as freestanding inserts. In 2025, print advertising represented approximately 27% of our advertising revenues.
Our business is affected in part by seasonal patterns in advertising, with generally higher advertising volume in the fourth quarter due to holiday advertising.
AFFILIATE, LICENSING AND OTHER REVENUES
We also derive revenue from other activities, which primarily include:
•The Company’s licensing of our intellectual property. We license content to digital aggregators in the business, professional, academic and library markets, in addition to licensing content to third-party digital platforms for access by their users and for other purposes. As part of our news and syndication services, we license articles, graphics and photographs both directly and through third-party sellers to a wide variety of clients, including newspapers, magazines, websites and other corporations. We also license content for use in television, films and books; provide rights to reprint articles; and create and sell news digests based on our content;
•Our Wirecutter product’s affiliate referrals (which generate revenue by offering direct links to merchants in exchange for a portion of the sale price upon completion of a transaction); and
•The Company’s commercial printing operations, which utilize excess capacity at our facility in College Point, N.Y., to print and distribute products for third parties.
Our affiliate referral revenue is affected in part by seasonal patterns in consumer spending, with generally higher affiliate referral revenue in the fourth quarter due to higher consumer spending.
THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY – P. 5
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Financial statements
data from SEC XBRL filings. Values are as-reported; restatements supersede originals. Values reported in .
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Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW
We are a global media organization focused on creating and distributing high-quality news and information that help our audience understand and engage with the world. We believe that our original, independent and high-quality reporting, storytelling, expertise and journalistic excellence set us apart from other sources and are at the heart of what makes our journalism worth paying for.
We generate revenues principally from the sale of subscriptions and advertising. Subscription revenues consist of revenues from standalone and multiproduct bundle subscriptions to our digital products and subscriptions to and single-copy and bulk sales of our print products. Advertising revenue is derived from the sale of our advertising products and services. Affiliate, licensing and other revenues primarily consist of revenues from licensing, Wirecutter affiliate referrals, commercial printing, the leasing of floors in the New York headquarters building located at 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, New York (the “Company Headquarters”), and retail commerce. Our main operating costs are employee-related costs.
In the accompanying analysis of financial information, we present certain information derived from our consolidated financial information but not presented in our financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“GAAP”). We are presenting in this report supplemental non-GAAP financial performance measures that exclude depreciation, amortization, severance, non-operating retirement costs and certain identified special items, as applicable. In addition, we present our free cash flow, defined as net cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures. These non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation from or as a substitute for the related GAAP measures and should be read in conjunction with financial information presented on a GAAP basis. For further information and reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures, see “— Results of Operations — Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”
In the third quarter of 2025, the Company updated its internal reporting to reflect how the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer (who is the Company’s Chief Operating Decision Maker) manages the business, and, as a result, the Company has determined it has one reportable segment and one reporting unit.
Financial Highlights
•Total revenues increased 12.0% to $712.2 million in the first quarter of 2026 from $635.9 million in the first quarter of 2025.
•Total subscription revenues increased 11.3% to $516.9 million in the first quarter of 2026 from $464.3 million in the first quarter of 2025. Digital-only subscription revenues increased 16.1% to $389.0 million in the first quarter of 2026 from $335.0 million in the first quarter of 2025. The Company added approximately 310,000 net digital-only subscribers compared with the end of 2025, bringing the total number of subscribers to 13.08 million subscribers, including approximately 12.52 million digital-only subscribers. Compared with the end of the first quarter of 2025, there was a net increase of 1,460,000 digital-only subscribers. Digital-only average revenue per user (“ARPU”) increased 2.4% year-over-year to $9.77.
•Total advertising revenues increased 17.3% to $126.8 million in the first quarter of 2026 from $108.1 million in the first quarter of 2025, due to an increase in digital advertising revenues of 31.6% to $93.3 million.
•Affiliate, licensing and other revenues increased 7.8% to $68.5 million in the first quarter of 2026 from $63.6 million in the first quarter of 2025, as a result of higher licensing revenues.
•Operating costs increased 7.7% to $621.6 million in the first quarter of 2026 from $577.3 million in the first quarter of 2025. Adjusted operating costs, defined as operating costs before depreciation, amortization, severance, multiemployer pension plan withdrawal costs and special items (a non-GAAP financial measure discussed below under “Non-GAAP Financial Measures”), increased 9.4% to $594.3 million in the first quarter of 2026 from $543.2 million in the first quarter of 2025.
•Operating profit increased 54.5% to $90.6 million in the first quarter of 2026 from $58.6 million in the first quarter of 2025. Adjusted operating profit (“AOP”), defined as operating profit before depreciation, amortization, severance, multiemployer pension plan withdrawal costs and special items (a non-GAAP financial measure discussed below under “Non-GAAP Financial Measures”), increased 27.2% to $117.9 million in the first quarter of 2026 from $92.7 million in the first quarter of 2025.
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•Operating profit margin (operating profit expressed as a percentage of revenues) increased to 12.7% in the first quarter of 2026, compared with 9.2% in the first quarter of 2025. Adjusted operating profit margin, defined as adjusted operating profit expressed as a percentage of revenues (a non-GAAP financial measure discussed below under “Non-GAAP Financial Measures”), increased to 16.6% in the first quarter of 2026, compared with 14.6% in the first quarter of 2025.
•Diluted earnings per share were $0.54 and $0.30 for the first quarters of 2026 and 2025, respectively. Adjusted diluted earnings per share, defined as diluted earnings per share excluding amortization of acquired intangible assets, severance, non-operating retirement costs and special items (a non-GAAP financial measure discussed below under “Non-GAAP Financial Measures”), were $0.61 and $0.41 for the first quarters of 2026 and 2025, respectively.
Industry Trends, Economic Conditions, Challenges and Risks
We operate in a highly competitive environment that is subject to rapid and, at times, unpredictable change. We compete for audience, subscribers, advertisers and licensees against a wide variety of companies. Companies shaping our competitive environment include content creators, providers and distributors; news aggregators; search engines; social media platforms; streaming services; and AI companies, certain of which have attracted and any of which may further attract audiences, subscribers, advertisers and/or licensees to their platforms and away from ours. Competition among these companies is robust, and new competitors can quickly emerge and have in recent years. We have designed our strategy to navigate the challenges and take advantage of opportunities presented by this period of transformation in our industry.
We and the companies with which we do business are subject to risks and uncertainties caused by factors beyond our control, including economic weakness, instability and volatility, including the potential for a recession; expanded or retaliatory tariffs or taxes or other trade barriers; a competitive talent market; inflation; supply chain disruptions; high interest rates and interest rates volatility; and political and sociopolitical uncertainties and conflicts. These factors may result in declines and/or volatility in our results. Macroeconomic uncertainty has had in the past, and may have in the future, an adverse impact on both digital and print advertising spending. Additionally, we believe that there is marketer sensitivity to being adjacent to news or specific news topics, impacting overall advertising spend.
The newspaper industry has transitioned from being primarily print-focused to digital, resulting in secular declines in both print subscription and print advertising revenues, and we do not expect this trend to reverse. Our printing and distribution costs have been impacted as a result of this transition, and may be further impacted in the future by higher costs, including those associated with raw materials, delivery and distribution and outside printing, or if they were to become subject to expanded or retaliatory tariffs.
We actively monitor industry trends and political and economic conditions, challenges and risks to remain flexible and to optimize and evolve our business as appropriate; however, the full impact they will have on our business, operations and financial results is uncertain and will depend on numerous factors and future developments. The risks related to our business are further described in the section titled “Item 1A — Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025.
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RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following table presents our consolidated financial results:
| For the Quarters Ended | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (In thousands) | March 31, 2026 | March 31, 2025 | % Change | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Revenues | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Subscription | $ | 516,871 | $ | 464,257 | 11.3 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Advertising | 126,824 | 108,076 | 17.3 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Affiliate, licensing and other | 68,541 | 63,577 | 7.8 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total revenues | 712,236 | 635,910 | 12.0 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating costs | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cost of revenue (excluding depreciation and amortization) | 362,936 | 334,637 | 8.5 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sales and marketing | 77,263 | 65,959 | 17.1 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Product development | 70,193 | 66,539 | 5.5 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General and administrative | 86,452 | 79,913 | 8.2 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 20,563 | 21,378 | (3.8) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Generative AI Litigation Costs | 4,212 | 4,397 | (4.2) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Multiemployer pension plan liability adjustment | — | 4,453 | * | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total operating costs | 621,619 | 577,276 | 7.7 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating profit | 90,617 | 58,634 | 54.5 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other components of net periodic benefit costs | (3,582) | (4,638) | (22.8) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interest income and other, net | 11,283 | 9,972 | 13.1 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Income before income taxes | 98,318 | 63,968 | 53.7 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Income tax expense | 10,396 | 14,417 | (27.9) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net income | $ | 87,922 | $ | 49,551 | 77.4 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
* Represents a change equal to or in excess of 100% or not meaningful.
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Revenues
Subscription Revenues
Subscription revenues consist of revenues from subscriptions to our digital and print products (which include our news product, as well as The Athletic and our Audio, Cooking, Games and Wirecutter products), and single-copy and bulk sales of our print products (which represented less than 5% of our subscription revenues in the first quarters of 2026 and 2025). Subscription revenues are based on both the number of digital-only subscriptions and copies of the printed newspaper sold, and the rates charged to the respective customers.
We offer a digital-only bundle that includes access to our digital news product (which includes our news website, NYTimes.com, and mobile application), as well as The Athletic and our Audio, Cooking, Games and Wirecutter products. Our subscriptions also include standalone digital subscriptions to each of these products.
The following table summarizes digital-only and print subscription revenues for the first quarters of 2026 and 2025:
| For the Quarters Ended | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (In thousands) | March 31, 2026 | March 31, 2025 | % Change | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Digital-only subscription revenues(1) | $ | 389,044 | $ | 335,026 | 16.1 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Print subscription revenues(2) | 127,827 | 129,231 | (1.1) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total subscription revenues | $ | 516,871 | $ | 464,257 | 11.3 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1)Includes bundled subscriptions and standalone subscriptions to our news product, as well as The Athletic and our Audio, Cooking, Games and Wirecutter products.
(2)Includes domestic home-delivery subscriptions, which include access to our digital products. Also includes single-copy, NYT International and other subscriptions.
Subscription revenues increased $52.6 million, or 11.3%, in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the same prior-year period, due to an increase in digital-only subscription revenues of $54.0 million, or 16.1%, partially offset by a decrease in print subscription revenues of $1.4 million, or 1.1%. Average digital-only subscribers increased 1,460,000, or 13.2%, and digital-only ARPU (as defined below) increased $0.23, or 2.4%. The year-over-year increase in digital-only ARPU was driven primarily by subscribers transitioning from promotional to higher prices and price increases on certain tenured subscribers. Print subscription revenue decreased primarily due to a lower number of average home-delivery print subscribers, reflecting secular trends, partially offset by an increase in domestic home-delivery prices.
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A subscriber is defined as a user who has subscribed (and for whom a valid method of payment has been provided) for the right to access one or more of the Company’s products. Subscribers with a domestic home-delivery print subscription to The New York Times, which includes access to our digital products, are excluded from digital-only subscribers.
ARPU, a metric we calculate to track the revenue generation of our digital-only subscriber base, represents the average revenue per digital-only subscriber over a 28-day billing cycle during the applicable period.
The following table sets forth, for the five most recent fiscal quarters, (i) subscribers as of the end of the quarter and (ii) ARPU relating to digital-only subscribers for the quarter:
| (In thousands) | March 31, 2026 | December 31, 2025 | September 30, 2025 | June 30, 2025 | March 31, 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Digital-only subscribers(1) | 12,520 | 12,210 | 11,760 | 11,300 | 11,060 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Print subscribers(2) | 560 | 570 | 570 | 580 | 600 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total subscribers | 13,080 | 12,780 | 12,330 | 11,880 | 11,660 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Digital-only ARPU(3) | $ | 9.77 | $ | 9.72 | $ | 9.79 | $ | 9.64 | $ | 9.54 | |||||||||||||||||
(1)Includes group corporate and group education subscriptions, and, as of the second quarter of 2025, subscribers related to family subscriptions. The number of group subscribers is derived using the value of the relevant contract and a discounted subscription rate. Each family subscription is priced higher than a comparable individual subscription and is counted as one billed subscriber and one additional subscriber to reflect the additional entitlements in these subscriptions.
(2)Subscribers with a domestic home-delivery or mail print subscription to The New York Times, which includes access to our digital products.
(3)Beginning in the second quarter of 2025, ARPU metrics are calculated by dividing the digital-only subscription revenues in the quarter by the average number of digital-only subscribers (calculated as the weighted average of each month's daily average subscribers) divided by the number of days in the quarter multiplied by 28 to reflect a 28-day billing cycle. This change had a de minimis impact on ARPU.
The sum of individual metrics may not always equal total amounts indicated due to rounding. Subscribers (including net subscriber additions) are rounded to the nearest ten thousand.
The Company ended the first quarter of 2026 with approximately 13.08 million subscribers to its print and digital products, including approximately 12.52 million digital-only subscribers. Compared with the end of the fourth quarter of 2025, there was a net increase of approximately 310,000 digital-only subscribers. Compared with the end of the first quarter of 2025, there was a net increase of approximately 1,460,000 digital-only subscribers.
Print domestic home-delivery subscribers totaled approximately 560,000 at the end of the first quarter of 2026, a net decrease of approximately 10,000 subscribers compared with the end of the fourth quarter of 2025 and a net decrease of approximately 40,000 subscribers compared with the end of the first quarter of 2025.
Advertising Revenues
Advertising revenue is primarily derived from advertisers (such as luxury goods, technology and financial companies) promoting products, services or brands on digital platforms in the form of display, audio, email and video ads; in print in the form of column-inch ads; and at live events. Advertising revenue is primarily determined by the volume (e.g., impressions or column inches), rate and mix of advertisements. Digital advertising includes revenue from display (which includes website and mobile applications), audio, email and video advertisements that are sold either directly to marketers by our advertising sales teams or, for a smaller proportion of advertising revenue, through programmatic auctions run by third-party ad exchanges. Digital advertising revenue also includes revenues generated by creative services fees. Print advertising includes revenue from column-inch ads and classified advertising, as well as preprinted advertising, also known as freestanding inserts.
The following table summarizes digital and print advertising revenues for the first quarters of 2026 and 2025:
| For the Quarters Ended | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (In thousands) | March 31, 2026 | March 31, 2025 | % Change | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Digital advertising revenues | $ | 93,255 | $ | 70,866 | 31.6 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Print advertising revenues | 33,569 | 37,210 | (9.8) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total advertising revenues | $ | 126,824 | $ | 108,076 | 17.3 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Digital advertising revenues, which represented 73.5% of total advertising revenues in the first quarter of 2026, increased $22.4 million, or 31.6%, to $93.3 million compared with $70.9 million in the same prior-year period. The increase was primarily a result of higher display revenues of $12.4 million, driven by strong marketer demand and growth in advertising supply, higher podcast revenues of $4.6 million, higher creative service fees of $2.7 million as a result of the volume of custom advertising campaigns and higher video revenues of $2.3 million. Display impressions increased 15%, while the average rate increased 5%.
Print advertising revenues, which represented 26.5% of total advertising revenues in the first quarter of 2026, decreased $3.6 million, or 9.8%, to $33.6 million compared with $37.2 million in the same prior-year period. The decrease was primarily due to a 13.5% decrease in revenues from column-inch ads, partially offset by a 4.3% increase in print advertising rate.
Affiliate, Licensing and Other Revenues
Affiliate, licensing and other revenues primarily consist of revenues from licensing, Wirecutter affiliate referrals, commercial printing, the leasing of floors in our Company Headquarters, and retail commerce.
Affiliate, licensing and other revenues increased $5.0 million, or 7.8%, in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the same prior-year period. The increase was primarily a result of higher licensing revenues.
Digital affiliate, licensing and other revenues, which consist primarily of Wirecutter affiliate referral revenue and digital licensing revenues, totaled $45.2 million and $40.1 million in the first quarters of 2026 and 2025, respectively.
Operating Costs
Operating costs were as follows:
| For the Quarters Ended | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (In thousands) | March 31, 2026 | March 31, 2025 | % Change | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cost of revenue (excluding depreciation and amortization) | $ | 362,936 | $ | 334,637 | 8.5 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sales and marketing | 77,263 | 65,959 | 17.1 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Product development | 70,193 | 66,539 | 5.5 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General and administrative | 86,452 | 79,913 | 8.2 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 20,563 | 21,378 | (3.8) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Generative AI Litigation Costs | 4,212 | 4,397 | (4.2) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Multiemployer pension plan liability adjustment | — | 4,453 | * | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total operating costs | $ | 621,619 | $ | 577,276 | 7.7 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
* Represents a change equal to or in excess of 100% or not meaningful.
Cost of Revenue (excluding depreciation and amortization)
Cost of revenue includes all costs related to content creation, subscriber and advertiser servicing, and print production and distribution as well as infrastructure costs related to delivering digital content, which include all cloud and cloud-related costs as well as compensation for employees that enhance and maintain that infrastructure.
Cost of revenue in the first quarter of 2026 increased $28.3 million, or 8.5%, compared with the same prior-year period. The increase was largely due to higher journalism costs of $24.6 million, higher digital content delivery costs of $2.1 million and higher subscriber servicing costs of $1.9 million. Advertising servicing and print production and distribution costs were relatively flat compared to prior year. The increase in journalism costs was largely due to higher compensation and benefits, which was driven by growth in the number of employees who work in our newsrooms, as well as higher outside services costs. The increase in digital content delivery costs was largely due to higher cloud-related costs. The increase in subscriber servicing costs was largely due to higher credit card processing fees and commissions due to an increase in subscriptions.
24
Sales and Marketing
Sales and marketing includes costs related to the Company’s subscription and brand marketing efforts as well as advertising sales costs.
Sales and marketing costs in the first quarter of 2026 increased $11.3 million, or 17.1%, compared with the same prior-year period. The increase was due to higher marketing costs of $6.4 million and higher sales costs of $4.9 million. The increase in marketing costs was primarily due to higher marketing and promotion expenses. The increase in sales costs was primarily due to higher compensation and benefits largely driven by growth in the number of employees and higher incentive compensation.
Product Development
Product development includes costs associated with the Company’s investment in developing and enhancing new and existing product technology, including engineering, product development and data insights.
Product development costs in the first quarter of 2026 increased $3.7 million, or 5.5%, compared with the same prior-year period. The increase in the first quarter of 2026 was largely due to higher compensation and benefits expenses of $1.7 million driven by higher benefits costs, as well as higher outside services costs of $1.1 million.
General and Administrative Costs
General and administrative costs include general management, corporate enterprise technology, building operations, unallocated overhead, severance and multiemployer pension plan withdrawal costs.
General and administrative costs in the first quarter of 2026 increased $6.5 million, or 8.2%, compared with the same prior-year period. The increase was primarily due to higher compensation and benefits of $4.0 million driven by incentive compensation, higher outside services expenses and other miscellaneous expenses of $3.5 million, partially offset by lower severance expense of $1.2 million.
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation and amortization costs in the first quarter of 2026 decreased $0.8 million, or 3.8%, compared with the same prior-year period.
Generative AI Litigation Costs
In the first quarters of 2026 and 2025, the Company recorded $4.2 million and $4.4 million, respectively, of pre-tax litigation-related costs in connection with certain lawsuits alleging unlawful and unauthorized copying and use of the Company’s journalism and other content in connection with the development of generative artificial intelligence products (“Generative AI Litigation Costs”). Management determined to report Generative AI Litigation Costs as a special item beginning in the first quarter of 2024 because, unlike other litigation expenses, the Generative AI Litigation Costs arise from discrete, complex and unusual proceedings and do not, in management’s view, reflect the Company’s ongoing business operational performance. See Note 14 of the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
25
NON-OPERATING ITEMS
Other Components of Net Periodic Benefit Costs
See Note 9 of the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for information regarding other components of net periodic benefit costs.
Income Taxes
See Note 10 of the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for information regarding income taxes.
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
We have included in this report certain supplemental financial information derived from consolidated financial information but not presented in our financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. Specifically, we have referred to the following non-GAAP financial measures in this report:
•adjusted diluted earnings per share, defined as diluted earnings per share excluding severance, non-operating retirement costs and the impact of special items;
•adjusted operating profit, defined as operating profit before depreciation, amortization, severance, multiemployer pension plan withdrawal costs and special items, and expressed as a percentage of revenues, adjusted operating profit margin;
•adjusted operating costs, defined as operating costs before depreciation, amortization, severance, multiemployer pension plan withdrawal costs and special items; and
•free cash flow, defined as net cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures.
The special item in 2026 consisted of:
•$4.2 million of Generative AI Litigation Costs ($3.1 million, or $0.02 per share, after tax).
The special items in 2025 consisted of:
•$4.5 million charge ($3.3 million, or $0.02 per share, after tax) related to a multiemployer pension plan liability adjustment; and
•$4.4 million of Generative AI Litigation Costs ($3.2 million, or $0.02 per share, after tax).
We have included these non-GAAP financial measures because management reviews them on a regular basis and uses them to evaluate and manage the performance of our operations. We believe that, for the reasons outlined below, these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to investors as a supplement to reported diluted earnings/(loss) per share, operating profit/(loss) and operating costs. However, these measures should be evaluated only in conjunction with the comparable GAAP financial measures and should not be viewed as alternative or superior measures of GAAP results.
Adjusted diluted earnings per share provides useful information in evaluating the Company’s period-to-period performance because it eliminates items that the Company does not consider to be indicative of earnings from ongoing operating activities. Adjusted operating profit and adjusted operating profit margin are useful in evaluating the ongoing performance of the Company’s businesses as they exclude the significant non-cash impact of depreciation and amortization, as well as items not indicative of ongoing operating activities. Total operating costs include depreciation, amortization, severance and multiemployer pension plan withdrawal costs and special items. Total operating costs, excluding these items, provides investors with helpful supplemental information on the Company’s underlying operating costs that is used by management in its financial and operational decision-making.
Management considers special items, which may include impairment charges, pension settlement charges, acquisition-related costs, and beginning in 2024, Generative AI Litigation Costs, as well as other items that arise from time to time, to be outside the ordinary course of our operations. Management believes that excluding these items provides a better understanding of the underlying trends in the Company’s operating performance and allows more accurate comparisons of the Company’s operating results to historical performance. Management determined to report Generative AI Litigation Costs as a special item and thus exclude them beginning in 2024 because, unlike other litigation expenses, which are not excluded, the Generative AI Litigation Costs arise from discrete, complex and unusual proceedings and do not, in management’s view, reflect the Company’s ongoing business operational performance. In addition, management excludes severance costs, which may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter, because it believes these costs do not necessarily reflect expected future operating costs and do not contribute to a meaningful comparison of the Company’s operating results to historical performance.
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Excluded from our non-GAAP financial measures are non-operating retirement costs which are primarily tied to financial market performance including changes in market interest rates and investment performance. Management considers non-operating retirement costs to be outside the performance of the business and believes that presenting adjusted diluted earnings per share excluding non-operating retirement costs and presenting adjusted operating results excluding multiemployer pension plan withdrawal costs, in addition to the Company’s GAAP diluted earnings per share and GAAP operating results, provide increased transparency and a better understanding of the underlying trends in the Company’s operating business performance.
The Company considers free cash flow, which is defined as net cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures, to provide useful information to management and investors about the amount of cash that is available to be used to strengthen the Company’s balance sheet and for strategic opportunities including, among others, investing in the Company’s business, strategic acquisitions, dividend payouts and repurchasing stock. See “Liquidity and Capital Resources — Free Cash Flow” below for more information and a reconciliation of free cash flow to net cash provided by operating activities.
Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are set out in the tables below.
Reconciliation of diluted earnings per share excluding amortization of acquired intangible assets, severance, non-operating retirement costs and special items (or adjusted diluted earnings per share)
| For the Quarters Ended | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| March 31, 2026 | March 31, 2025 | % Change | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Diluted earnings per share | $ | 0.54 | $ | 0.30 | 80.0 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Add: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Amortization of acquired intangible assets | 0.04 | 0.04 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Severance | 0.01 | 0.02 | (50.0) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-operating retirement costs: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Multiemployer pension plan withdrawal costs | 0.01 | 0.01 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other components of net periodic benefit costs | 0.02 | 0.03 | (33.3) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Special items: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Generative AI Litigation Costs | 0.02 | 0.03 | (33.3) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Multiemployer pension plan liability adjustment | — | 0.03 | * | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Income tax expense of adjustments | (0.03) | (0.04) | (25.0) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Adjusted diluted earnings per share(1) | $ | 0.61 | $ | 0.41 | 48.8 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1)Amounts may not add due to rounding.
* Represents a change equal to or in excess of 100% or not meaningful.
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Reconciliation of operating profit before depreciation and amortization, severance, multiemployer pension plan withdrawal costs and special items (or adjusted operating profit) and of adjusted operating profit margin
| For the Quarters Ended | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (In thousands) | March 31, 2026 | March 31, 2025 | % Change | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating profit | $ | 90,617 | $ | 58,634 | 54.5 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Add: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 20,563 | 21,378 | (3.8) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Severance | 1,379 | 2,607 | (47.1) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Multiemployer pension plan withdrawal costs | 1,167 | 1,229 | (5.0) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Generative AI Litigation Costs | 4,212 | 4,397 | (4.2) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Multiemployer pension plan liability adjustment | — | 4,453 | * | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Adjusted operating profit | $ | 117,938 | $ | 92,698 | 27.2 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Divided by: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 712,236 | $ | 635,910 | 12.0 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating profit margin | 12.7 | % | 9.2 | % | 350 bps | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Adjusted operating profit margin | 16.6 | % | 14.6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Recent insider activity
| Date | Insider | Role | Action | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-03 | Welch Jacqueline M | EVP and CHRO | Sell | -4,000 | $74.14 | -$296,548 |
| 2026-05-12 | Bardeen William | EVP, Chief Financial Officer | Sell | -4,121 | $77.85 | -$320,824 |
| 2026-05-12 | KOPIT LEVIEN MEREDITH A. | PRESIDENT & CEO | Sell | -9,750 | $78.00 | -$760,500 |
| 2026-05-11 | Perpich David S. | Director | Sell | -9,000 | $77.06 | -$693,540 |
Source: SEC Form 4 filings.
Next expected filings
- ~2026-08-05 10-Q expected by 2026-08-07 (in 10 days)
- ~2026-11-04 10-Q expected by 2026-11-06 (in 101 days)
- ~2027-02-27 10-K expected by 2027-02-28 (in 216 days)
- ~2027-05-05 10-Q expected by 2027-05-07 (in 283 days)
Predicted from historical filing cadence; not an SEC commitment.
Recent SEC filings
- 2026-05-06 8-K Earnings Release; Financial Statements and Exhibits
- 2026-05-06 10-Q Quarterly Report
- 2026-02-27 10-K Annual Report
- 2026-02-04 8-K Earnings Release; Financial Statements and Exhibits
- 2026-01-21 8-K Officer/Director Change; Financial Statements and Exhibits
- 2025-11-05 10-Q Quarterly Report
- 2025-11-05 8-K Earnings Release; Financial Statements and Exhibits
- 2025-08-06 10-Q Quarterly Report
- 2025-08-06 8-K Earnings Release; Financial Statements and Exhibits
- 2025-06-18 8-K Material Agreement Entered; Financial Statements and Exhibits
- 2025-05-07 10-Q Quarterly Report
- 2025-05-07 8-K Earnings Release; Financial Statements and Exhibits
- 2025-02-27 10-K Annual Report
- 2025-02-05 8-K Earnings Release; Financial Statements and Exhibits
- 2024-11-04 10-Q Quarterly Report