New York Times shares hit highs unseen in 10 1/2 years on Thursday as fourth-quarter revenue and earnings beat, subscriber base grows

Shares of New York Times Company (NYT) touched highs not seen in almost 10 1/2 years during yesterdays trading session, as the companys fourth-quarter revenue and earnings exceeded Wall Street estimates, supported by growth in digital subscriptions.

Shares of New York Times Company closed higher for the second time in the past five trading sessions on Thursday. It has also been the sharpest daily gain since May 3rd 2017. The stock went up 10.16% ($2.25) to $24.40, after touching an intraday high at $25.70, or a price level not seen since June 29th 2007 ($25.75).

In the week ended on February 4th the shares of the media company added 0.22% to their market value compared to a week ago, which marked a fifth consecutive period of gains.

The stock has neutralized earlier losses and is now up 4.95% so far during the current month, following a 25.68% surge in January. The latter has been the first gain since September 2017.

For the entire past year, the shares of New York Times Company rose 39.10% following a 0.89% drop in 2016.

The media companys total revenue went up 10% to $484.1 million during the quarter ended on December 31st. In comparison, analysts on average had expected $467.3 million in revenue.

New York Times said that 157 000 digital subscribers had been added during the latest quarter, bringing the total number of subscriptions to more than 2.5 million.

“We believe there remains a large opportunity to continue to extend our subscription reach and will continue to invest in areas of the business that will allow us to achieve that growth”, New York Times CEO Mark Thompson said in a statement, cited by Reuters.

The companys revenue from digital-only subscription products surged 51.2% year-on-year to $96.3 million during the past quarter, while on the other hand, revenue at its print advertising business continued to shrink, down 8.4% during the same period.

Meanwhile, New York Times reported a net loss of $57.8 million during the quarter ended on December 31st, as costs and pension settlements weighed.

On the other hand, adjusted earnings, which exclude special items, were reported at $0.39 per share during the past three-month period. The figure compares with a median analyst forecast pointing to earnings of $0.29 per share.

According to CNN Money, the 3 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding New York Times’ stock price, have a median target of $18.00, with a high estimate of $25.00 and a low estimate of $16.00. The median estimate is a 26.23% decrease compared to the closing price of $24.40 on February 8th.

The same media also reported that all 5 surveyed investment analysts had rated New York Times’ stock as “Hold”.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, todays levels of importance for the New York Times stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $24.67
R2 – $24.93
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $25.20
R4 (Long Breakout) – $26.00
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $26.93
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $27.50

S1 – $24.13
S2 – $23.87
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $23.60
S4 (Short Breakout) – $22.81
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $21.87
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $21.30

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for New York Times Company (NYT) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $23.31
R1 – $23.89
R2 – $24.78
R3 – $25.36
R4 – $25.94

S1 – $22.42
S2 – $21.84
S3 – $20.95
S4 – $20.06