Is It Too Late To Consider New York Times After Strong Subscription Driven Rally?

• Wondering if New York Times at around $64 is still a smart buy or if most of the upside is already priced in? This article unpacks what the market might be missing.
• The stock has slipped about 1.6% over the last week, but is still up 10.9% in the past month, 22.4% year to date and 18.3% over the last year, with a 93.2% gain over three years signaling the market has steadily rerated the story.
• Recent headlines have focused on the Times expanding its digital subscription bundles, from news and games to cooking and sports, and on the ongoing push into lifestyle and audio products that deepen reader engagement. At the same time, the company has been in the spotlight for high profile coverage decisions and subscription growth milestones, both of which shape how investors think about its long term pricing power.
• Despite that backdrop, New York Times only scores a 2/6 on our valuation checks, which suggests the market sees a fairly full price based on traditional metrics. That sets us up to walk through those methods next before exploring a more nuanced way to think about what this business is really worth.

New York Times scores just 2/6 on our valuation checks. See what other red flags we found in the full valuation breakdown.

Approach 1: New York Times Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Analysis

A Discounted Cash Flow model estimates what a business is worth by projecting the cash it can generate in the future, then discounting those cash flows back to today in dollar terms.

For New York Times, the latest twelve month Free Cash Flow is about $540 million. Using a 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity model, analysts project FCF of roughly $516 million in 2026 and $548 million in 2027, with Simply Wall St extrapolating further out to around $667 million by 2035 as growth gradually moderates.

When these projected cash flows are discounted back to the present, the model arrives at an estimated intrinsic value of about $83.83 per share. Compared with the current share price around $64, this implies the stock is roughly 23.6% undervalued based on the cash flow outlook described in the model.

In plain terms, this particular DCF suggests investors are not fully paying for the Times long term cash generation yet.

Result: UNDERVALUED

Our Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis suggests New York Times is undervalued by 23.6%. Track this in your watchlist or portfolio, or discover 913 more undervalued stocks based on cash flows.

Head to the Valuation section of our Company Report for more details on how we arrive at this Fair Value for New York Times.

Approach 2: New York Times Price vs Earnings

For profitable companies like New York Times, the price to earnings, or PE, ratio is a useful way to judge valuation because it directly links what investors are paying to the earnings the business is generating today. In general, faster growth and lower risk justify a higher PE multiple, while slower growth or higher uncertainty call for a lower one.

New York Times currently trades on a PE of about 30.8x, which is well above the broader Media industry average of roughly 15.4x and also higher than the peer group average of around 16.7x. On the surface, that premium suggests the market is already paying up for the company’s digital subscription growth, strong brand and relatively resilient earnings profile.

Simply Wall St’s Fair Ratio framework refines this comparison by estimating what a reasonable PE should be after accounting for New York Times growth outlook, profitability, risk profile, industry and market cap. For NYT, the Fair Ratio sits closer to 20.2x, which is materially below the current 30.8x. Because this approach bakes in company specific factors rather than relying only on blunt industry or peer averages, it gives a more tailored view of value and indicates the stock is screening as expensive on earnings.

Result: OVERVALUED

PE ratios tell one story, but what if the real opportunity lies elsewhere? Discover 1442 companies where insiders are betting big on explosive growth.

Upgrade Your Decision Making: Choose your New York Times Narrative

Earlier we mentioned that there is an even better way to understand valuation, so let us introduce you to Narratives, which are simple stories that capture your view of a company and link it directly to a forecast for its future revenue, earnings and margins, and then to a Fair Value you can compare with today’s share price on the Simply Wall St Community page used by millions of investors.

Instead of just accepting a single PE or DCF output, a Narrative lets you spell out why you think New York Times will either keep compounding digital subscription growth and margins, or face slowing demand and pressure from AI and commoditized news, and then automatically turns that story into numbers that update as new news, earnings or analyst revisions come in.

For example, one New York Times Narrative might assume higher revenue growth, rising margins and a future PE close to 25x, which would support a Fair Value above the current price. A more cautious Narrative could instead assume slower subscriber growth, margin pressure and a lower future PE near 20x, which would lead to a Fair Value below the current price and a very different decision.

Do you think there's more to the story for New York Times? Head over to our Community to see what others are saying!

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com