New York Times Shares Jump After Activist Investor ValueAct Discloses 6.7% Stake

Activist investor ValueAct has built a 6.7% stake in the New York Times, according to an SEC filing out Thursday, sending shares of the media company up around 10% on the day.

“We are aware that ValueAct has made an investment in the Company,” a spokesperson for the New York Times said in a statement. “As we do with other shareholders, members of our management team have had conversations with ValueAct to hear their views and share ours.”

ValueAct purchased more than 11 million shares and reportedly wants the news organization to push further into subscriber-only bundles, according to Bloomberg, who first reported the stake.

ValueAct did not immediately respond to request for comment from CNBC.

The New York Times added roughly 180,000 digital-only subscribers and 230,000 digital-only subscriptions during the second quarter of 2022, reflecting users with more than one subscription to the company’s products, according to its earnings release out last week. The adds bring the organization’s total to 9.17 million subscribers and 10.56 million total subscriptions across print and digital, including 1 million subscribers to The Athletic, which the company recently acquired.

Digital subscription revenue was $238.7 million in the second quarter of this year, up from 2021. These subscriptions include digital access to the company’s news, its popular cooking offering, and games.

New York Times stock was trading at roughly $35 per share Thursday afternoon, its highest level since mid-May. The stock is down roughly 25% year to date, and the company’s market capitalization currently sits at around $5.85 billion.