USA Today (NYSE:TDAY) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

USA Today (NYSE:TDAY) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, FiscalAI reports. USA Today had a return on equity of 21.75% and a net margin of 1.27%.The business had revenue of $548.49 million for the quarter.

Here are the key takeaways from USA Today’s conference call:

• Q1 showed materially improved profitability and balance-sheet metrics, with total revenues of $548.5M (same-store -1.8%), total adjusted EBITDA of $73.1M (+44.7%), net income of $19.9M (+$27.2M), positive free cash flow of $6.4M, and first-lien net leverage down to 2.3x; the company reaffirmed its full-year outlook.
• Digital subscription momentum continued—digital-only subscription revenue was $45.9M (+6.2% YoY), ARPU hit a record $10.30 (+42.7% YoY), volumes are stabilizing, and bundled “stacking” products are driving materially higher pay-up rates and expected sequential volume growth.
• The “digital other” category (including AI partnerships and licensing) grew 125.6% to $18.8M in Q1, and management views AI licensing as a significant long-term growth opportunity—though they caution revenue timing will be lumpy.
• LocaliQ (DMS) recovery remains slower than hoped, but core platform revenue was $99.3M with ARPU near record ~$2,800 and ~11,900 customers; product investments (Dash, CRM integrations, owned inventory) are expected to drive client growth and better results in H2.
• Digital advertising declined ~3% due to modest page-view weakness—particularly less Google Discover referral traffic and programmatic softness—though the company says some traffic loss is intentional as it shifts toward higher-value, paywall-driven monetization per user.

USA Today Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TDAY traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $7.39. 1,897,357 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,633,019. USA Today has a 52 week low of $3.08 and a 52 week high of $7.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $6.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -67.18 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.33, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citizens Jmp raised their price objective on USA Today from $6.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded USA Today from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded USA Today from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Rosenblatt Securities initiated coverage on USA Today in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $10.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of USA Today in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.70.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On USA Today

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Two Seas Capital LP bought a new stake in USA Today in the 4th quarter valued at about $74,946,000. Alta Fundamental Advisers LLC bought a new stake in USA Today in the 4th quarter valued at about $58,346,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in USA Today by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,536,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,254,000 after acquiring an additional 164,690 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in USA Today by 172.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,898,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,839,000 after acquiring an additional 3,735,152 shares during the period. Finally, Cooperman Leon G raised its stake in USA Today by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cooperman Leon G now owns 5,867,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,232,000 after acquiring an additional 23,151 shares during the period. 76.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About USA Today

Gannett Co, Inc (NYSE: GCI) is a media and marketing solutions company headquartered in McLean, Virginia. As the largest U.S. newspaper publisher by circulation, Gannett publishes USA Today alongside more than 260 local news brands. The company’s multimedia platforms include daily and weekly newspapers, websites, mobile apps and a network of subscription-based digital products.

In addition to journalism and content production, Gannett offers a suite of digital marketing services designed to help small and medium-sized businesses grow online.