New York Times Q3 2026: Six-Quarter Beat Streak Earns a Dividend Raise

The New York Times posted adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.68 for Q3 2026, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65. That marked the sixth consecutive quarter the company topped Wall Street's EPS expectations, a streak long enough to give the board confidence to act on the dividend.

The board raised the quarterly dividend to $0.23 per share from $0.18, a meaningful step up that signals management's view of the company's cash generation capacity. Revenue came in at $768.5 million, fractionally ahead of the $766.9 million analysts had projected, with digital-only subscription revenue growing 14.6% year over year and digital advertising rising 12.0%.

The company added approximately 420,000 net digital-only subscribers in the quarter, bringing that total to roughly 13.76 million. Operating profit rose 16.4% to $121.9 million, while net income climbed 19.2% year over year. On a GAAP basis, diluted EPS was $0.60, up from $0.50 a year earlier, with the adjusted figure excluding items such as $3.8 million in pre-tax Generative AI Litigation Costs.

Print remains a drag: print subscription revenue dipped 0.7% and print advertising fell 4.3%. Digital-only average revenue per user grew only 1.4% to $9.93, a relatively modest pace that investors will want to monitor as the subscriber base matures and promotional pricing rolls off.

For Q4 2026, management guided digital-only subscription revenue growth of 12% to 15% and total subscription revenue growth of 9% to 11%, with digital advertising expected to rise in the high-single to low-double digits. Adjusted operating costs are projected to increase 6% to 8% in the quarter, so margin expansion will depend on how cleanly revenue growth outpaces that cost ramp.