(Reuters) -The New York Times Co surpassed market expectations for quarterly revenue on Wednesday as more people signed up for its digital subscriptions to read about the still-raging pandemic and make use of its rich library of games and cooking recipes.
The 170-year-old newspaper has become a beacon for the industry by successfully shifting to a subscription-first business model that has made up for steep declines in advertising and print readership.
Its digital subscriber base swelled by 375,000 in the last three months of 2021 and the company met its target of 10 million subscribers by 2025, thanks to the $550 million acquisition of sports website The Athletic.
The newspaper said it was now targeting at least 15 million subscribers by the end of 2027.
It has in recent years tried to diversify its revenue by building out a portfolio of games and cooking recipes, as well as acquiring businesses such as audio app Audm and product review website Wirecutter.
It purchased popular daily world puzzle Wordle earlier this week to strengthen its games unit, which boasts more than one million subscriptions and started with the Daily Crossword.
Total revenue rose 16.7% to $594.2 million in the fourth quarter, compared with the average analyst estimate of $578.9 million, according to Refinitiv data.
The company posted an adjusted profit of 43 cents per share, compared with expectations of 35 cents.
(Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)
