UPDATE 2-New York Times rides on ad market recovery to beat revenue expectations
(Recasts paragraph 4, adds ARPU in paragraph 7, segment revenue in paragraph 8, quarterly profit in paragraph 10)
Nov 8 (Reuters) - New York Times surpassed revenue estimates for the third quarter on Wednesday as the advertising market picked up and more subscribers switched to its higher-priced bundles.
The Times has been promoting its bundled offerings of news, entertainment and lifestyle articles as well as podcasts as it looks to attract and retain subscribers, making the publication a lucrative spot for advertisers.
The company reported revenue of $598.3 million for the third quarter, above analysts' average estimate of $589.4 million, according to LSEG data.
Subscription revenue grew 9.4% to $418.6 million in the three months to September, above estimates, helped by introductory rates rising after discounted promotional periods ended.
Strong results by technology giants Meta and Alphabet have signaled a rebound in the advertising market as firms which were earlier bogged down by high interest rates are gradually increasing enterprise spend.
NYT's advertising revenue increased 6% year-over-year to $117.1 million, exceeding market expectations as well.
The company reported average revenue per user (ARPU) for bundled subscriptions of $12.81, compared with a total digital-only ARPU of $9.28.
NYT has a goal to reach 15 million subscribers by 2027. It added 210,000 digital-only subscribers in the quarter, compared to an addition of 180,000 in the second quarter.
The Athletic, its games and sports news offering which the company bought in 2022 for $550 million, generated revenue of $34.4 million, up nearly 46%.
NYT reported adjusted earnings of 37 cents per share, beating estimates of 29 cents per share. (Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
