Two companies to add on your watchlist among the best newspaper stocks are the New York Times Company and News Corporation. They both have a market cap of around $7.5 billion. The New York Times Company rose by 9.63% during the past month and 43.57% since January 2nd, 2020. News Corp, on the other hand, has gone up 10.02% during the past month and fallen by 7.27% since January 2nd, 2020. For comparison, the S&P500 index has grown by 3.99% during the past month and 1.49% since January 2nd, 2020. So, purely on a short-term performance basis, the New York Times looks to be the pick among top newspaper stocks to buy.
The New York Times Company has a gross margin of 59.75% and an EBIT margin of 9.27% while New Corporation has a gross margin of 43.96% and an EBIT margin of 4.7%. However, News Corporation has a higher cash flow from operations of $729 million as opposed to the New York Times Company’s $203 million.
The New York Times is the third most circulated newspaper in the US, behind USA Today and the Wall Street Journal. Many readers consider the Wall Street Journal to be among the best stock market newspapers. Newspaper circulation has been dwindling over the last few years and is now at the level of the 1940s. However, the New York Times has taken steps to adapt itself to the changing environment. It has taken significant steps to amass 5 million digital subscriptions.
In late July, the New York Times acquired podcast producer Serial Productions. According to Meredith Kopit Levien, COO, New York Times, “We’ve seen the power that audio can have in building deeper connections with our audience and we’re committed to bringing listeners the best audio journalism in the world.”
