(Reuters) -The New York Times Co missed quarterly revenue estimates on Wednesday as recession-wary businesses slashed spending on digital ads and readers reconsidered paid subscriptions.
High inflation and rising interest rates have in recent months squeezed marketing budgets across industries, hitting the earnings of ad-dependent companies such as Snap Inc and Pinterest Inc
Consumers have also pulled back on spending, blunting gains from the publisher’s plan to boost revenue by bundling its core news reports with digital content ranging from podcasts to cooking recipes and games.
The Times reported revenue of $560.7 million for the first quarter, compared with analysts’ estimates of $571 million, according to Refinitiv data.
Its digital advertising revenue decreased nearly 9% to $61.3 million.
The publisher added 190,000 digital-only subscribers in the first quarter, compared with 240,000 in the prior quarter. It has a goal of 15 million subscribers by 2027.
In a separate release, the Times said it had appointed strategy head William Bardeen as its chief financial officer, replacing Roland Caputo who had announced his retirement in December.
(Reporting by Samrhitha Arunasalam in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
