The New York Times Company saw its shares tumble more than 12% in Wednesday trading after the publisher reported second-quarter digital subscriber growth that fell short of Wall Street expectations and issued a softer-than-anticipated outlook for digital subscription revenue.
The company added roughly 280,000 net digital-only subscribers during the quarter, below the average analyst estimate of 295,300 compiled by Visible Alpha. That figure also marked a slowdown from the 310,000 digital subscribers added in the prior quarter. As of the end of the quarter, the Times had approximately 13.35 million total subscribers across print and digital products, including about 12.8 million digital-only subscribers. Year over year, digital-only subscriptions increased by roughly 1.5 million.
Investors also reacted to the company's guidance, which projected digital-only subscription revenue growth of between 12% and 15% for the current quarter. The midpoint of that range came in below analysts' expectations of 14.2%.
Advertising remains a bright spot
While subscriber growth softened, advertising proved resilient. Total advertising revenue rose 11.3% year over year to $149.1 million, exceeding analyst estimates of $146.4 million. Digital advertising revenue climbed 20.7% to $114 million, supported by strong marketer demand and increased advertising inventory, while print advertising revenue declined 11.1% to $35.2 million.
Print subscription revenue continued to weaken, slipping 0.8% to $130 million, primarily due to lower single-copy sales and weaker domestic home-delivery revenue. These results underscore the growing importance of digital advertising and subscriptions as traditional print revenues continue to decline.
Competitive pressures intensify
The New York Times operates in an increasingly competitive digital media landscape, where publishers face shifting reader habits, declining trust in news, and disruption from artificial intelligence platforms. Large technology companies and AI-powered search tools have increasingly affected referral traffic to publishers' websites, while competition for readers has intensified among digital-first outlets including Axios, CNN, and The Verge.
To strengthen subscriber loyalty, the Times has continued bundling its core journalism with lifestyle-focused products such as product review site Wirecutter, sports publication The Athletic, and gaming offerings including Wordle. This strategy has helped the company outperform several legacy newspaper peers despite the latest slowdown in subscriber additions.
Resilience amid a challenging backdrop
Despite Wednesday's decline, New York Times shares remain up more than 8% this year. The company has also attracted support from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. Regulatory filings show Berkshire initially disclosed ownership of about 5.07 million Times shares worth roughly $351.7 million at the end of 2025. By mid-2026, the conglomerate had expanded its holding to more than 15.1 million shares, representing roughly a 9.4% ownership stake.
The Times' relative resilience stands in contrast with several other major U.S. newspapers that have struggled with falling traffic and mounting financial pressure. Earlier this year, The Washington Post announced plans to cut roughly one-third of its workforce while scaling back coverage of sports and international news.
Investors will be watching to see whether the Times can reignite subscriber growth in the coming quarters, especially as competition from AI-driven news aggregation and other digital media intensifies. The company's ability to maintain advertising momentum and expand its bundled offerings will be key factors in its performance.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
