NEW YORK TIMES CO

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. For further information, see “Item 1 — Business – Overview” and “– Our Strategy.”

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. Other revenues primarily consist of revenues from Wirecutter affiliate referrals, licensing, commercial printing, the leasing of floors in our Company Headquarters, our live events business, retail commerce, books, television and film and our student subscription sponsorship program. 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

THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY – P. 29 reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures, see “— Results of Operations — Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

2024 Financial Highlights

•The Company ended 2024 with approximately 11.43 million subscribers across its print and digital products, including approximately 10.82 million digital-only subscribers. Of the 10.82 million digital-only subscribers, approximately 5.44 million were bundle and multiproduct subscribers. Compared with the end of 2023, there was a net increase of 1,110,000 digital-only subscribers.

•Total digital-only average revenue per user (“ARPU”) grew 2.6% year-over-year to $9.42 driven primarily by subscribers graduating from promotional to higher prices and price increases on tenured non-bundled subscribers.

•Operating profit increased 27.1% to $351.1 million in 2024 from $276.3 million in 2023. Adjusted operating profit (“AOP”) defined as operating profit before depreciation, amortization, severance, multiemployer pension plan withdrawal costs and special items (a non-GAAP measure discussed below under “Non-GAAP Financial Measures”) increased 16.8% to $455.4 million in 2024 from $389.9 million in 2023. Operating profit margin (operating profit expressed as a percentage of revenues) increased to 13.6% in 2024, compared with 11.4% in 2023. Adjusted operating profit margin (adjusted operating profit expressed as a percentage of revenues) increased to 17.6% in 2024, compared with 16.1% in 2023.

•Total revenues increased 6.6% to $2.59 billion in 2024 from $2.43 billion in 2023.

•Total subscription revenues increased 8.0% to $1.79 billion in 2024 from $1.66 billion in 2023. Digital-only subscription revenues increased 14.1% to $1.25 billion in 2024 from $1.10 billion in 2023.

•Total advertising revenues increased 0.2% to $506.3 million in 2024 from $505.2 million in 2023, due to an increase of 7.7% in digital advertising revenues and a decrease of 12.4% in print advertising revenues.

•Other revenue increased 10.0% to $291.4 million in 2024 from $264.8 million in 2023, as a result of continued strength in Wirecutter affiliate referral and licensing revenues.

•Operating costs increased 4.0% to $2.23 billion in 2024 from $2.15 billion in 2023. Adjusted operating costs, defined as operating costs before depreciation, amortization, severance, multiemployer pension plan withdrawal costs and special items (a non-GAAP measure discussed below under “Non-GAAP Financial Measures”) increased 4.6% to $2.13 billion in 2024 from $2.04 billion in 2023.

•Diluted earnings per share were $1.77 and $1.40 for 2024 and 2023, 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 measure discussed below under “Non-GAAP Financial Measures”) were $2.01 and $1.63 for 2024 and 2023, respectively.

•Net cash from operating activities for 2024 was $410.5 million compared with $360.6 million in 2023, and free cash flow (net cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures, a non-GAAP measure) was $381.3 million compared with $337.9 million in 2023.

Industry Trends, Economic Conditions, Challenges and Risks

We operate in a highly competitive environment that is subject to rapid change. Companies shaping our competitive environment include content providers and distributors, news aggregators, search engines, social media platforms, streaming services and products and tools powered by generative artificial intelligence. 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, uncertainty and volatility, including the potential for a recession; a competitive labor market; inflation; supply chain disruptions; high interest rates; and political and sociopolitical uncertainties and conflicts. These factors may result in declines and/or volatility in our results.

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We believe the macroeconomic environment has had, and may in the future have, an adverse impact on both digital and print advertising spending. Additionally, we believe that there may be marketer sensitivity to some 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.

We actively monitor industry trends, 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.”

Liquidity

Throughout 2024, we returned capital to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases and continued to manage our pension liability as discussed below. As of December 31, 2024, the Company had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of approximately $912 million and was debt-free.

Capital Return

The Company aims to return at least 50% of free cash flow to stockholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases over the next three to five years.

We have paid quarterly dividends on the Class A and Class B Common Stock each quarter since late 2013. In February 2025, The Board of Directors approved a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, an increase of $0.05 per share from the previous quarter. We currently expect to continue to pay cash dividends in the future, although changes in our dividend program will be considered by our Board of Directors in light of our earnings, capital requirements, financial condition and other factors considered relevant.

The Board of Directors approved Class A share repurchase programs in February 2022 ($150.0 million), February 2023 ($250.0 million) and February 2025 ($350.0 million). The authorizations provide that shares of Class A Common Stock may be purchased from time to time as market conditions warrant, through open market purchases, privately negotiated transactions or other means, including Rule 10b5-1 trading plans. We expect to repurchase shares to offset the impact of dilution from our equity compensation program and to return capital to our stockholders. There is no expiration date with respect to these authorizations. Through February 19, 2025, we repurchased 6,655,899 shares under these authorizations for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $266.9 million (excluding commissions and excise taxes), fully utilizing the 2022 authorization and leaving approximately $483.1 million remaining under the 2023 and 2025 authorizations.

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Managing Pension Liability

We remain focused on managing our pension plan obligations. We have taken steps over the last several years to reduce the size and volatility of our pension obligations, including freezing accruals under all but one of our qualified defined benefit pension plans, making immediate pension benefits offers in the form of lump-sum payments to certain former employees and transferring certain future benefit obligations and administrative costs to insurers.

As of December 31, 2024, our qualified pension plans had plan assets that were approximately$71 million above the present value of future benefits obligations, compared with approximately $83 million as of December 31, 2023. We made contributions of approximately $13 million and $10 million to certain qualified pension plans in 2024 and 2023, resp ectively. We expect to make contributions in 2025 to satisfy the greater of minimum funding or collective bargaining agreement requirements of approximately $13 million. We will continue to look for ways to reduce the size and volatility of our pension obligations.

While we have made significant progress in our liability-driven investment strategy to reduce the funding volatility of our qualified pension plans, the size of our pension plan obligations relative to the size of our current operations will continue to have an impact on our reported financial results. We expect to continue to experience volatility in our pension costs, particularly due to the impact of changing discount rates, long-term return on plan assets and mortality assumptions on our qualified and non-qualified pension plans. We may also incur additional withdrawal obligations related to multiemployer plans in which we participate, as well as multiemployer plans from which we previously withdrew.

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