The New York Times hit 13 million subscribers in 2026’s first quarter after it added 310,000 digital-only subscribers, bringing the paper closer to its goal of 15 million by 2027.
The Times broke 12 million subscribers in 2025’s third quarter. Since the first quarter of 2025, the company has added 1.46 million digital-only subscribers.
New York Times Company CEO and president Meredith Kopit Levien said the quarter reflected “strong demand for the uncompromised journalism and
premium lifestyle content that The Times is uniquely capable of delivering.”
“We continued to execute against our strategic priorities, which are designed to build direct relationships and daily habits with millions more people,” she said.
The company’s digital advertising revenue increased by 31.6% to $93.3 million, which the Times attributed to strong demand from its clients and a larger supply. Print advertising revenue decreased by 9.8% to $33.6 million. Kopit Levien said the array of journalism the Times publishes — along with its sister brands in Cooking, Games and the product-recommendation website Wirecutter — lures more advertisers, as the company can offer demographic metrics for various audiences engaging with its content.
“Relative to what another publisher might be able to do, because we have so much first-party data, all of that is working,” she said during the Times’ earnings call.
In costs, the paper saw its legal costs related to its lawsuits with AI companies such as OpenAI and Perplexity AI hit $4.2 million in 2026, down from $4.4 million in 2025’s first quarter. Its overall operating costs hit $621.6 million, up 7.7%, which the company said stemmed from higher pay and benefits related to its journalistic work.
Its overall profit reached $90.6 million, a 54.5% increase from last year’s $58.6 million.
Net income: $87.9 million, up 77.4% year over year, compared to $49.5 million a year ago.
Earnings Per Share: Diluted earnings per share of 54 cents. Excluding certain items, adjusted EPS came in at 61 cents per share, compared to 47 cents per share expected by analysts surveyed by Yahoo Finance.
Total Revenue: $712.2 million, up 12% year over year, compared to $700.25 million expected by analysts surveyed by Yahoo Finance.
During the company’s earnings call on Wednesday, Kopit Levien attributed much of the company’s success to its journalistic merit, including investigations into Cesar Chavez and the ongoing coverage of the war in Iran. The Times has also prioritized putting its reporters in front of a camera, and Kopit Levien said the company has more than doubled production of such video during the first quarter. Video, she said, is a “big long-term opportunity for the Times.”
“What we’re really aiming for here is to establish the Times as a preferred brand for watching news,” Kopit Levien said.
More to come…