New York Times Co (NYT) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to The New York Times Company's First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please also note, today's event is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn the floor over to Anthony DiClemente, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations. Sir, please go ahead.

早安，歡迎參加紐約時報公司 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）也請注意，今天的活動正在錄製中。現在，我想請投資者關係高級副總裁安東尼·迪克萊門特 (Anthony DiClemente) 發言。先生，請繼續。

Thank you, and welcome, everyone, to The New York Times Company's First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. On the call today, we have Meredith Kopit Levien, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Will Bardeen, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that management will make forward-looking statements during the course of this call. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions, which may change over time. Our actual results could differ materially due to a number of risks and uncertainties that are described in the company's 2023 10-K and subsequent SEC filings.

謝謝並歡迎大家參加《紐約時報》公司 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。今天的電話會議有總裁兼執行長 Meredith Kopit Levien；執行副總裁兼財務長威爾‧巴丁 (Will Bardeen)。在我們開始之前，我想提醒您，管理層將在本次電話會議期間做出前瞻性陳述。這些陳述是基於當前的預期和假設，可能會隨著時間的推移而改變。由於公司 2023 年 10-K 和隨後的 SEC 文件中描述的許多風險和不確定性，我們的實際結果可能存在重大差異。

In addition, our presentation will include non-GAAP financial measures, and we have provided reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures in our earnings press release which is available on our website at investors.nytco.com. In addition to our earnings press release, we have also posted a slide presentation relating to our results on our website at investors.nytco.com. And finally, please note that a copy of our prepared remarks from this morning's call will be posted to our investor website shortly after we conclude.

此外，我們的簡報將包括非 GAAP 財務指標，並且我們在獲利新聞稿中提供了與最具可比性的 GAAP 指標的調整表，該新聞稿可在我們的網站 Investors.nytco.com 上取得。除了我們的收益新聞稿外，我們還在我們的網站 Investors.nytco.com 上發布了與我們的業績相關的幻燈片簡報。最後，請注意，我們在今天上午的電話會議中準備好的評論副本將在我們結束後不久發佈到我們的投資者網站上。

And with that, I will turn the call over to Meredith.

這樣，我會將電話轉給梅雷迪絲。

Thanks, Anthony, and good morning, everyone. As our Q1 results demonstrate, we're off to a strong start this year. Our strategy to become the essential subscription for every curious person seeking to understand and engage with the world is working as designed and is positioning us to sustain our growth through a dynamic media environment.

謝謝安東尼，大家早安。正如我們第一季的業績所表明的那樣，我們今年有了一個良好的開端。我們的策略是成為每個尋求了解和參與世界的好奇者的必備訂閱，這項策略正在按設計進行，並使我們能夠透過動態的媒體環境來維持我們的成長。

Let me describe how. First, our world-class news destination combined with our distinctive products in games, sports, cooking and shopping advice are attracting large and passionate audiences in giant spaces. Each of these complementary products addresses a different need in people's lives meaning there's always a reason to seek out The Times. Second, our subscribers are deeply engaged. The share of subscribers spending time on our site and apps each week is now at its highest point since the surge we saw during the pandemic.

讓我描述一下如何。首先，我們世界一流的新聞目的地與我們在遊戲、體育、烹飪和購物建議方面的獨特產品相結合，在巨大的空間中吸引了大量熱情的觀眾。這些互補產品中的每一種都滿足人們生活中的不同需求，這意味著總有理由尋找《泰晤士報》。其次，我們的訂閱者深度參與。每週在我們的網站和應用程式上花費時間的訂閱者比例目前處於大流行期間激增以來的最高點。

That's a clear sign that we're delivering value to users and increasing their likelihood of building long-term relationships with The Times. Third, the high level of engagement we see reinforces our conviction that we can grow digital-only ARPU year-on-year as we use our multiple pricing and monetization levers. And fourth, we've strategically designed our diverse product portfolio to also power multiple revenue streams beyond subscription in advertising, affiliate and licensing, each of which we expect to deliver growth in 2024.

這是一個明顯的跡象，表明我們正在為用戶提供價值，並增加他們與《紐約時報》建立長期關係的可能性。第三，我們看到的高參與度增強了我們的信念，即透過使用多種定價和貨幣化槓桿，我們可以逐年成長純數位 ARPU。第四，我們策略性地設計了多元化的產品組合，以推動廣告訂閱、聯盟行銷和授權之外的多種收入來源，我們預計每項收入來源都將在 2024 年實現成長。

In sum, our portfolio of products create many paths for The Times to reach big audiences and drive the type of deep engagement that grows subscribers and revenue. That makes our business more resilient and positions us well to take advantage of new opportunities even in a rapidly changing media landscape. With focused execution and disciplined cost management, we expect our essential subscription strategy will propel another year of improving profitability and margin expansion as well as strong free cash flow generation.

總而言之，我們的產品組合為《紐約時報》創造了許多途徑來接觸大量受眾並推動深度參與，從而增加訂閱者和收入。這使我們的業務更具彈性，並使我們即使在快速變化的媒體環境中也能充分利用新機會。透過專注的執行和嚴格的成本管理，我們預計我們的基本認購策略將推動另一年盈利能力的提高和利潤率的擴張以及強勁的自由現金流的產生。

Turning now to our first quarter results. We had a quarter of steady revenue growth and significant AOP growth powered largely by our digital subscription business. We added 210,000 net new digital subscribers in the quarter, making further progress on the path to our next milestone of 15 million subscribers. Volume growth in the first quarter was driven by bundle and multiproduct subscribers as well as single product subscribers with our bundle and multiproduct subscribers accounting for over half the digital starts in the quarter. Bundle and multiproduct subscribers now represent 43% of our subscriber base, and we expect to surpass 50% by the end of next year.

現在轉向我們第一季的業績。我們一個季度的營收穩定成長，AOP 顯著成長，這主要得益於我們的數位訂閱業務。本季我們淨新增 21 萬名數位訂戶，在邁向 1,500 萬訂戶這一下一個里程碑的道路上取得了進一步進展。第一季的銷售成長是由捆綁和多產品訂戶以及單一產品訂戶推動的，我們的捆綁和多產品訂戶佔本季數位啟動的一半以上。捆綁和多產品訂閱者目前占我們訂閱者總數的 43%，我們預計到明年年底這一比例將超過 50%。

Core to driving subscriber growth is having products that deliver unique value. That starts with news, where just this past Monday, The Times was recognized with 3 Pulitzer Prizes, our industry's highest honor. The awards showcase the many ways our journalism impacts society. Investigative reporter Hannah Dreier was honored for documenting the pervasive exploitation of migrant children in unsafe working conditions, a series that led to sweeping reforms in business and government. Katie Engelhart, the contributor to the Times Magazine, won for her intimate portrait of mother's dementia and her family's ensuing legal, emotional and ethical struggles. And we received the International Reporting Prize for our investigative work into the origins and aftermath of the Israel Gaza war.

推動用戶成長的核心是擁有能夠提供獨特價值的產品。首先是新聞，就在上週一，《泰晤士報》榮獲 3 項普立茲獎，這是我們產業的最高榮譽。這些獎項展示了我們的新聞業影響社會的多種方式。調查記者漢娜·德雷爾 (Hannah Dreier) 因記錄了在不安全的工作條件下普遍存在的對移民兒童的剝削而感到榮幸，這一系列事件導致了企業和政府的全面改革。 《時代雜誌》撰稿人凱蒂·恩格爾哈特 (Katie Engelhart) 因其對母親癡呆症及其家人隨之而來的法律、情感和道德鬥爭的親密描寫而獲獎。我們因對以色列加薩戰爭的起源和後果的調查工作而獲得了國際報道獎。

This is a recognition of the importance of our ongoing and extensive coverage of the war, which has included thousands of articles and photos, hundreds of videos and real-time reporting from around the world. Beyond illuminating the most urgent stories of the day, we are continuously expanding our report, making it more accessible and evolving how our journalism comes to life. That includes producing more personally relevant reporting into science-backed health and wellness, and it includes experimenting more ambitiously with audio by introducing the ability to listen to much of our report via AI-powered automated voice and also by introducing a new listen tab in our core news app.

這是對我們對戰爭持續廣泛報導的重要性的認可，其中包括來自世界各地的數千篇文章和照片、數百個影片和即時報導。除了闡明當今最緊迫的故事外，我們還不斷擴大我們的報告，使其更容易理解，並不斷發展我們的新聞報導的方式。這包括製作更多與個人相關的科學支援的健康和保健報告，還包括透過引入透過人工智慧驅動的自動語音收聽我們報告的大部分內容的能力，以及透過在我們的應用程式中引入新的收聽選項卡，對音訊進行更雄心勃勃的實驗。

The performance of Games in the quarter provides further evidence for how creating more valuable products translates into user and business impact. We now have 2 puzzles Wordle and Connections with tens of millions of weekly users and another homegrown hit in Strands, our daily word hunt game released in March. Our growth here means we have lots of opportunities to deliver more value to more people. As one example, we're unlocking the ability for subscribers to play the full archive of 1,000-plus Wordle puzzles. Given the very strong engagement with games and our focus on continuing to add product value, we expect to be able to increase monetization over time.

本季遊戲的表現進一步證明了創造更有價值的產品如何轉化為用戶和業務影響。我們現在有 2 個謎題 Wordle 和 Connections，每週都有數千萬用戶，還有另一款本土熱門遊戲 Strands，這是我們於 3 月發布的每日單字搜尋遊戲。我們在這裡的成長意味著我們有很多機會為更多人提供更多價值。舉個例子，我們正在讓訂閱者能夠玩 1,000 多個 Wordle 謎題的完整存檔。鑑於我們對遊戲的強烈參與以及我們對繼續增加產品價值的關注，我們預計能夠隨著時間的推移增加貨幣化。

We're also adding value at the Athletic where we've been deliberate about building awareness and it's paying off. The Athletic audience levels were up again in Q1, both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter, helping fuel advertising growth and keeping us on track to profitability by next year. The Athletic is making the most of major moments of fan interest like the Super Bowl and March Madness and excelling in its always-on coverage of coaching changes, free agency drafts and other news impacting teams. We're as excited as ever about the giant opportunity we see in sports and making steady progress on our ambition to become a top destination for sports news globally.

我們也為競技隊增加了價值，我們一直在刻意培養人們的意識，並且正在取得回報。第一季度，運動觀眾水準再次同比和環比上升，有助於推動廣告成長，並使我們能夠在明年實現盈利。 《The Athletic》充分利用了超級盃和瘋狂三月等球迷感興趣的重要時刻，並在教練變動、自由球員選秀和其他影響球隊的新聞方面始終如一地進行報道。我們一如既往地對體育領域的巨大機會感到興奮，並在成為全球體育新聞首選目的地的目標上穩步取得進展。

We delivered another quarter of the modest year-on-year ARPU growth we've been targeting since 2022. Our ability to successfully transition subscribers on promotional prices, the higher prices is a durable driver of ARPU expansion, and the primary reason we're confident we'll see continued ARPU growth this year. Total advertising revenue came in slightly better than guidance, thanks to print declining less than expected. We continue to feel the impact of some marketers avoiding certain hard news topics last quarter. Even still, we are seeing a pickup in advertiser demand so far in Q2, and we're steadily expanding our high-performing ad products across the entirety of our product portfolio, which together give us optimism.

自 2022 年以來，我們實現了 ARPU 同比溫和成長的另一個季度。信心今年將看到ARPU 持續成長。由於印刷品下降幅度低於預期，廣告總收入略優於預期。我們繼續感受到一些行銷人員上季迴避某些硬新聞話題的影響。即便如此，我們仍然看到第二季迄今為止廣告客戶的需求有所回升，並且我們正在整個產品組合中穩步擴展高效能廣告產品，這讓我們感到樂觀。

Revenue beyond subscriptions and advertising exceeded guidance, driven by a strong quarter for licensing and Wirecutter. We believe the value of Wirecutter's rigorous research-backed recommendations will keep increasing, and we're investing to cover more products in more categories, which should build an even bigger business over time. We remain disciplined on costs and are aggressively reallocating investments to strategic areas. This discipline, together with capable execution resulted in another strong quarter of AOP growth and healthy free cash flow. I'll wrap by reminding you of what we're trying to do every day build scaled products so valuable to people that they will be sought out, asked for by name and worthy of direct relationships and daily habits.

在許可和 Wirecutter 季度強勁的推動下，訂閱和廣告之外的收入超出了預期。我們相信 Wirecutter 嚴格的研究支援建議的價值將不斷增加，我們正在投資更多涵蓋更多類別的產品，隨著時間的推移，這應該會建立更大的業務。我們仍然嚴格控製成本，並積極地將投資重新分配到策略領域。這種紀律，加上強大的執行力，導致了另一個季度的 AOP 成長和健康的自由現金流。最後，我將提醒您，我們每天都在努力打造規模化的產品，這些產品對人們來說非常有價值，以至於人們會找到他們，點名詢問，並值得建立直接關係和日常習慣。

The combination of our world-class news destination plus market-leading lifestyle products means we have complementary offerings in big spaces each with multiple growth levers fueling multiple revenue streams. Together, we believe these make our business more resilient and well positioned for continued value creation.

我們的世界級新聞目的地與市場領先的生活方式產品相結合，意味著我們在廣闊的空間中擁有互補的產品，每個產品都有多種成長槓桿，可推動多種收入來源。我們相信，這些將使我們的業務更具彈性，並為持續創造價值做好準備。

Now let me turn it over to Will for more details on the quarter.

現在讓我將其轉交給威爾，以了解有關本季的更多詳細資訊。

Thanks, Meredith, and good morning, everyone. As Meredith stated, our Q1 financial results demonstrate a strong start to the year and position us to deliver another year of AOP growth, margin expansion and healthy free cash flow generation. Our portfolio of market-leading news and lifestyle products is working as designed to grow our subscriber base, increase subscriber engagement and strengthen our multiple revenue streams. As our subscriber base has scaled, we've moderated our overall expense growth driving operating leverage even as we continue to prioritize strategic investments that help position us for long-term value creation. We grew overall revenue in the first quarter by approximately 6% as increasing digital subscription, licensing affiliates and advertising revenues more than offset ongoing declines in print.

謝謝梅雷迪思，大家早安。正如梅雷迪思所說，我們第一季的財務業績展示了今年的強勁開局，並使我們能夠在新的一年實現 AOP 成長、利潤率擴張和健康的自由現金流生成。我們市場領先的新聞和生活方式產品組合正在按計劃發揮作用，以擴大我們的訂戶基礎，提高訂戶參與度並加強我們的多種收入來源。隨著我們的用戶群規模擴大，我們已經放緩了整體費用成長，推動了營運槓桿，儘管我們繼續優先考慮有助於我們創造長期價值的策略投資。我們第一季的整體收入成長了約 6%，因為數位訂閱、授權附屬公司和廣告收入的增加足以抵消印刷收入的持續下降。

Combined with slower-than-expected cost growth, AOP grew by approximately 41% year-over-year and quarterly AOP margin expanded by approximately 320 basis points to 12.8%. Our free cash flow generation continues to be strong and consistent with our broader expectations for capital allocation, we returned $51 million to shareholders in Q1. This included approximately $32 million in share repurchases and $19 million in dividends.

加上低於預期的成本成長，AOP 年比成長約 41%，季度 AOP 利潤率擴大約 320 個基點至 12.8%。我們的自由現金流產生持續強勁，符合我們對資本配置的更廣泛預期，我們在第一季向股東返還了 5,100 萬美元。其中包括約 3,200 萬美元的股票回購和 1,900 萬美元的股息。

Now I'll discuss the first quarter key results, followed by our financial outlook for the second quarter of 2024. Please note that all comparisons are to the prior year period unless otherwise specified. I'd also like to note that there was one additional day in the first quarter of 2024 compared with the first quarter of 2023 as a result of 2024 being a leap year. I'll start with the discussion of our subscription business. We added approximately 210,000 net new digital subscribers in the quarter with growth coming from multiple sources across our portfolio of products.

現在，我將討論第一季的主要業績，然後是我們對 2024 年第二季的財務展望。我還想指出的是，由於 2024 年是閏年，2024 年第一季比 2023 年第一季多了一天。我將從我們的訂閱業務的討論開始。本季我們淨新增約 21 萬名數位用戶，成長來自我們產品組合的多個來源。

As Meredith mentioned, bundled and multiproduct subscribers now make up 43% of our total base along the path to exceeding 50% by the end of next year. Total digital-only ARPU grew 1.9% year-over-year to $9.21 as we continue to step up subscribers from promotional to higher prices and raised prices on tenured, nonbundled subscribers. The promising bundle monetization we're seeing at step-up points combined with the increasing number of bundled subscribers transitioning to higher prices throughout the year suggests a tailwind to ARPU in the back half of the year.

正如 Meredith 所提到的，捆綁和多產品訂閱用戶目前占我們總用戶數的 43%，到明年年底這一比例將超過 50%。由於我們繼續增加訂戶促銷力度，提高價格，並提高了終身非捆綁訂戶的價格，純數位版 ARPU 總額年增 1.9%，達到 9.21 美元。我們在提升點看到的捆綁貨幣化前景廣闊，加上捆綁訂戶數量不斷增加，全年轉向更高的價格，這表明今年下半年的 ARPU 將會出現增長。

Additionally, as Meredith highlighted, we continue to improve the product in our portfolio and are seeing that value reflected in higher levels of subscriber engagement. This pattern is increasing our confidence in the ability to improve monetization through single product pricing over time and is one driver of the modest year-over-year ARPU expansion that we continue to target for the midterm.

此外，正如梅雷迪思所強調的那樣，我們不斷改進我們產品組合中的產品，並看到這種價值體現在更高水準的訂戶參與度上。這種模式增強了我們對隨著時間的推移透過單一產品定價來提高貨幣化能力的信心，並且是我們中期繼續目標的 ARPU 逐年適度增長的驅動因素之一。

As a result of both higher digital subscribers and digital-only ARPU in the first quarter, digital-only subscription revenues grew approximately 13% to $293 million, and total subscription revenues grew approximately 8% to $429 million. Both were in line with the guidance we provided last quarter.

由於第一季數位用戶數量和純數位 ARPU 的增加，純數位訂閱收入成長約 13% 至 2.93 億美元，總訂閱收入成長約 8% 至 4.29 億美元。兩者都符合我們上季度提供的指導。

Now turning to advertising. Total advertising revenue for the quarter was $104 million, a decline of 2.4%. This was slightly better than our guidance of mid-single digits decline as print advertising performed modestly better than expected.

現在轉向廣告。該季度廣告總收入為 1.04 億美元，下降 2.4%。這略優於我們對中個位數下降的指導，因為印刷廣告的表現略優於預期。

Digital advertising results were within our guidance range in the quarter, increasing approximately 3% to $63 million. Other revenues exceeded our guidance increasing approximately 8% to $61 million as licensing and Wirecutter affiliate revenues continued to be strong drivers of growth in Q1. Adjusted operating costs came in better than our guidance, increasing by 2.2%. Our underlying cost growth in Q1 continued to reflect our discipline of relentlessly reallocating resources to areas of highest impact. We also benefited in Q1 from some unexpectedly favorable compensation and benefit items that help drive the outperformance relative to our guidance range.

本季數位廣告業績在我們的指導範圍內，成長約 3% 至 6,300 萬美元。由於授權和 Wirecutter 附屬公司收入繼續成為第一季成長的強勁推動力，其他收入超出了我們的指導，成長了約 8%，達到 6,100 萬美元。調整後的營運成本成長了 2.2%，優於我們的指導。我們第一季的基本成本成長繼續反映了我們不斷將資源重新分配到影響最大的領域的紀律。我們在第一季度也受益於一些意想不到的有利薪酬和福利項目，這些項目有助於推動相對於我們的指導範圍的優異表現。

Cost of revenue increased approximately 3%, largely due to our continued investment into journalism. Cost of revenue was favorable to our expectations, in part due to timing of content and hiring costs. Sales and marketing costs decreased approximately 3%, largely due to lower subscriber acquisition costs as our products continue to drive the majority of starts organically. Product development costs increased approximately 11% as we continue to strategically invest into the product and technology teams, enabling our digital subscriber growth.

收入成本增加了約 3%，這主要是由於我們對新聞業的持續投資。收入成本符合我們的預期，部分原因是內容的時間安排和招募成本。銷售和行銷成本下降了約 3%，這主要是由於我們的產品繼續有機地推動了大部分的啟動，從而降低了訂戶獲取成本。隨著我們繼續對產品和技術團隊進行策略性投資，促進我們的數位用戶成長，產品開發成本增加了約 11%。

Adjusted general and administrative costs were down approximately 4% as we continued to drive efficiencies. I'd also like to note that in the first quarter, we recorded a severance charge of approximately $4 million due to targeted reductions in certain areas of the business. Our steady revenue growth and disciplined cost management in Q1 translated into strong earnings growth as adjusted diluted EPS increased $0.12 to $0.31. EPS growth in Q1 was also aided by higher interest income.

隨著我們繼續提高效率，調整後的一般和管理成本下降了約 4%。我還想指出的是，在第一季度，由於某些業務領域的有針對性的裁員，我們記錄了約 400 萬美元的遣散費。第一季我們穩定的營收成長和嚴格的成本管理轉化為強勁的獲利成長，調整後攤薄每股收益增加 0.12 美元至 0.31 美元。第一季每股收益的成長也得益於利息收入的增加。

Our tax rate in the quarter was approximately 27%, close to our expected ongoing marginal tax rate of approximately 26%. I'll now look ahead to Q2 for the consolidated New York Times Company. Total subscription revenues are expected to increase 6% to 8% compared with the second quarter of 2023. And digital-only subscription revenues are expected to increase 11% to 14%. Overall advertising revenues are expected to increase low single digits while digital advertising revenues are expected to increase high-single digits.

我們本季的稅率約為 27%，接近我們預期的持續邊際稅率約 26%。我現在將展望合併後的紐約時報公司的第二季。與 2023 年第二季相比，總訂閱收入預計將成長 6% 至 8%。整體廣告收入預計將成長低個位數，而數位廣告收入預計將成長高個位數。

As Meredith noted, we're seeing a pickup in ad demand so far in Q2 and are continuing to expand our first-party premium ad products to more surfaces across our product portfolio. Other revenues are expected to be flat to increase low single digits. Adjusted operating costs are expected to increase 4% to 5%, which reflects that we are investing for growth in a disciplined manner and that we don't currently anticipate the unexpectedly favorable comp and benefits cost performance to extend beyond Q1.

正如梅雷迪思所指出的那樣，我們看到第二季度迄今為止廣告需求有所回升，並將繼續將我們的第一方優質廣告產品擴展到我們產品組合的更多表面。其他收入預計將持平，以低個位數成長。調整後的營運成本預計將增加 4% 至 5%，這反映出我們正在以嚴謹的方式投資於成長，並且我們目前預計意外有利的薪資和福利成本績效不會延續到第一季之後。

I'll close by noting that due to our strong Q1 profit performance, we now expect our AOP and earnings growth in 2024 to no longer be back half weighted. With our essential subscription strategy working as designed, we remain on track to achieve our previously stated midterm targets for subscribers, AOP growth and capital returns.

最後我要指出的是，由於我們第一季的利潤表現強勁，我們現在預計 2024 年的 AOP 和獲利成長將不再是半加權的。隨著我們的基本訂閱策略按設計發揮作用，我們將繼續實現先前規定的訂閱用戶、AOP 成長和資本回報的中期目標。

With that, we're happy to take your questions.

因此，我們很樂意回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our first question today comes from David Karnovsky from JPMorgan.

我們今天的第一個問題來自摩根大通的大衛卡諾夫斯基。

Just 2 for me. Meredith, you spoke to very high engagement around your Games product. I wanted to know how you think about translating this to registrations and ultimately to subscriptions or bundle sign-ups? And can you also speak to the opportunity around building more advertising into games? And then for Will, on the adjusted cost in the quarter, growth was nicely -- the growth was nicely below your outlook. Wanted to follow up here on what came in lower? Are there any shift to remaining quarters to be aware of? You noted some timing benefit? And just given the results in Q1, and the outlook, do you have any updated view on margin for the year?

對我來說只有2個。 Meredith，您談到了您的遊戲產品的參與度非常高。我想知道您如何看待將其轉化為註冊並最終轉化為訂閱或捆綁註冊？您能否談談在遊戲中植入更多廣告的機會？然後，對於威爾來說，根據本季調整後的成本，成長很好——成長遠低於您的預期。想跟進一下下降的情況嗎？剩餘季度是否有任何需要注意的變化？您注意到一些時機優勢了嗎？考慮到第一季的業績和展望，您對今年的利潤率有什麼最新的看法嗎？

Thanks for the question, David. I'll start on Games. I mean the first thing to say is we have invested into a product people really love, and we know that they love it because they're deeply engaged. And I would just say, broadly, that engagement gives us monetization power over time, both in subs and in ads in subs, I would say, the games funnel, so people coming into the App Store and downloading the app or on the web, finding Games is a very effective entry point for someone just in their relationship with the times. That can be -- they come in and we get them to register. That can be we come in and we sell them a bundled subscription. We offer a bundled subscription or it can be they come in and we sell them Games subscription. And if they buy that Games subscription, we have potential to use -- that harness that direct paying relationship to introduce them to other things.

謝謝你的提問，大衛。我將從遊戲開始。我的意思是，首先要說的是，我們投資了人們真正喜歡的產品，我們知道他們喜歡它，因為他們深深地投入其中。我只想說，從廣義上講，隨著時間的推移，參與度給我們帶來了貨幣化能力，無論是在訂閱中還是在訂閱中的廣告中，我會說，遊戲漏斗，所以人們進入應用程式商店並下載應用程式或在網路上，對於那些與時代有關係的人來說，尋找遊戲是一個非常有效的切入點。那可以是——他們進來，我們讓他們註冊。我們可以進來並向他們出售捆綁訂閱。我們提供捆綁訂閱，或者他們進來後我們向他們出售遊戲訂閱。如果他們購買遊戲訂閱，我們就有潛力利用這種直接付費關係向他們介紹其他東西。

And obviously, with games, there's lots of surface area to do that. And then I'll just say, one of the things we've learned over time in the model is that high engagement and the continuous addition of new value can mean you have pricing power that you can exercise because people love the product so much and engage with them so often. So we've got lots of optimism there. On ads, I would just say, plenty of running room to introduce more ad product within games in a way that is friendly to sort of the broad proposition that we have free games, paid games. One of the places that will be focused in the back half of the year is in the Games app which is awesome and got a redesign.

顯然，對於遊戲來說，有很多領域可以做到這一點。然後我只想說，隨著時間的推移，我們在該模型中學到的一件事是，高參與度和不斷增加的新價值可能意味著您擁有可以行使的定價權，因為人們非常喜歡該產品，並且經常與他們接觸。所以我們對此非常樂觀。在廣告方面，我只想說，有足夠的運行空間在遊戲中引入更多廣告產品，以一種有利於我們擁有免費遊戲、付費遊戲的廣泛主張的方式。今年下半年將重點關注的地方之一是遊戲應用程序，它非常棒並且經過了重新設計。

And so you'll see some ads there that you haven't seen before. And I would just say there's lots of room for experimentation on the kinds of the ad products within Games as well because obviously, the formats are different. So we're very excited about that.

因此，您會在那裡看到一些您以前從未見過的廣告。我想說的是，遊戲中的廣告產品類型也有很大的實驗空間，因為顯然，格式是不同的。所以我們對此感到非常興奮。

And David, on costs, we're quite pleased with the overall cost performance in the quarter, which in its core reflects the discipline that we've been discussing for some time. Now as I said in my remarks, the outperformance relative to our guidance range was also in part due to some unexpectedly low comp and benefit items in Q1 that we don't expect to extend beyond the quarter. So looking forward, our Q2 guide of 4% to 5% is what to focus on there, which we believe really reflects investing for growth in a disciplined manner.

大衛，在成本方面，我們對本季的整體成本績效非常滿意，這在其核心反映了我們已經討論了一段時間的紀律。現在，正如我在演講中所說，相對於我們的指導範圍的優異表現也部分歸因於第一季度的一些出乎意料的低補償和福利項目，我們預計這些項目不會延續到本季度之後。因此，展望未來，我們第二季度 4% 至 5% 的指導是我們重點關注的，我們相信這真正反映了以嚴謹的方式投資成長。

And maybe a couple of step-back points to put the year in context, what we mean by disciplined growth there, we're focused on relentlessly reallocating our resources to areas of high impact, in particular our differentiated journalism and product and technology. These are the areas which sustainably, if you will, organic subscriber growth based on our strategy. And then in terms of sort of overall AOP growth and margin expansion, we're expecting that for the year, strong free cash flow generation, and we made the comment that we're -- just given the strong profit growth we saw in Q1 we're no longer expecting the growth to be weighted to the back half of the year.

也許有幾個退一步來回顧今年的情況，我們所說的有紀律的增長意味著我們專注於不斷地將我們的資源重新分配到具有高影響力的領域，特別是我們差異化的新聞以及產品和技術。如果您願意的話，這些領域將根據我們的策略實現用戶的自然成長。然後就整體 AOP 成長和利潤率擴張而言，我們預計今年將產生強勁的自由現金流，並且我們評論說，鑑於我們在第一季度看到的強勁利潤增長我們不再期望增長會集中在今年下半年。

Our next question comes from Jason Bazinet from Citi.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Jason Bazinet。

I just had a very simple question. Would you guys just mind summarizing some of the promotions that you've done on the digital side, how those promotions have changed? And what you're looking for as those promotions roll off, what are some of the key metrics you guys are going to be looking for to measure success.

我只是有一個很簡單的問題。你們介意總結一下你們在數字方面所做的一些促銷活動嗎？隨著這些促銷活動的展開，你們正在尋找什麼，你們將尋找哪些關鍵指標來衡量成功。

Sure. I'll take that. I mean overall, we -- our promotional strategy is all about maximizing lifetime value of our subscriber base. And we're modeling this very carefully. The general way to think about our promotions is that we bring the vast majority of our bundled subscribers, which is the primary offering in on a dollar a week and then step them up over time to higher prices. That is driven by a lot of data science that is measuring a variety of input into that. And what we're looking for, as you can imagine, at those step-up moments is retention and monetization. And as we said, last quarter and reiterating this quarter, we've been very pleased with what we're seeing on both of those fronts as we have increasing numbers of bundled subscribers coming in throughout the year.

當然。我會接受的。我的意思是，總的來說，我們的促銷策略就是最大化我們的訂戶群的終身價值。我們正在非常仔細地建模。考慮我們促銷活動的一般方法是，我們將絕大多數捆綁訂戶（這是每週一美元的主要產品）吸引過來，然後隨著時間的推移將其提高到更高的價格。這是由大量數據科學驅動的，這些數據科學正在測量各種輸入。正如您可以想像的那樣，在這些提升時刻，我們正在尋找的是保留和貨幣化。正如我們在上個季度所說並在本季度重申的那樣，我們對這兩個方面所看到的情況感到非常滿意，因為我們全年的捆綁訂戶數量不斷增加。

Our next question comes from Vasily Karasyov from Cannonball Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Cannonball Research 的 Vasily Karasyov。

Meredith, I wanted to ask you to talk in a little more detail about the underlying trends in digital advertising. Maybe you could break down for us the growth that you had and you expect in Q2 by volume versus price because it looks like you are going to have a higher growth rate against tougher comps. So can you help us understand maybe for both display and digital, what is driving this variance in quarterly performance? And if there are any comps that are coming up that are getting easier for you in terms of volume or price.

梅雷迪思，我想請您更詳細地談談數位廣告的基本趨勢。也許您可以為我們分解您在第二季度的成長情況以及您對數量與價格的預期，因為看起來您將在更艱難的競爭中獲得更高的成長率。那麼，您能否幫助我們了解顯示和數字方面，是什麼導致了季度業績的差異？如果即將推出任何在數量或價格方面對您來說變得更容易的比較。

Yes. I think the most important thing to say is just what I said in my prepared remarks, which is that demand, we're feeling demand pick up in Q2, and you see that in the guide. And I'll also say, we are going to be sort of rolling out more ad supply continuously for the rest of the year. So we're bringing the high-performing ad products to places in our portfolio where we're seeing a lot of marketer demand, seeing that demand really grow like the games app and sports.

是的。我認為最重要的事情就是我在準備好的發言中所說的，那就是需求，我們感覺到第二季需求有所回升，你在指南中看到了這一點。我還要說，我們將在今年剩餘時間內持續推出更多廣告供應。因此，我們將高效能的廣告產品帶到我們的產品組合中，我們看到了大量行銷人員的需求，看到這種需求像遊戲應用程式和運動一樣真正增長。

And when I say high-performing ad products, I mean premium canvases with first-party data. We are still in a process of extending that to other parts of the portfolio with kind of more ahead than behind us. And that really makes the sort of pickup in demand plus that -- than just the kind of broad appeal of The Times with multiple places for marketers to get a message out. And multiple ways for marketers to put a big idea into the world. All of that gives us optimism in the ad business.

當我說高性能廣告產品時，我指的是帶有第一方資料的優質畫布。我們仍在將其擴展到投資組合的其他部分，而且領先的部分比落後的部分要多。這確實帶來了需求的回升，而不僅僅是《紐約時報》的廣泛吸引力，它為行銷人員提供了多個管道來傳達訊息。行銷人員可以透過多種方式將偉大的想法付諸實行。所有這些都讓我們對廣告業務感到樂觀。

Let me add one more beat, which may be just the ads are efficacious. They work -- those premium canvases and first-party data are high performing in the context of a publisher ad offering. So we have a lot of confidence in them.

我再補充一點，這可能只是廣告有效。它們很有效——這些優質畫布和第一方數據在發布商廣告產品的背景下表現良好。所以我們對他們很有信心。

And a quick follow-up. Would it be fair to say that the high-performing ads, what you referred to as high-performing ads that they have much higher CPMs than display that you call out in the release?

並快速跟進。公平地說，您所說的高效能廣告，即它們的每千次曝光費用 (CPM) 遠高於您在發布中提到的展示廣告？

The way we think about it, the sort of core of the digital ad business that we've been talking about for years now is premium ad canvases. We have an ad unit called Flex Frame, which is like a large canvas unit that can do a lot of different things. And that was targeting with our first-party data, which we've been building for years now, is sort of the core of the business, that's what we're talking about -- that's bought a lot of different ways, mostly directly, some programmatically, but that's what we're referring to. And that is generally a high CPM business in the context of the publishing industry.

我們認為，多年來我們一直在談論的數位廣告業務的核心是優質廣告畫布。我們有一個名為 Flex Frame 的廣告單元，它就像一個大型畫布單元，可以做很多不同的事情。這是針對我們多年來一直在建立的第一方數據，這是業務的核心，這就是我們正在談論的——通過很多不同的方式購買，大部分是直接購買的，一些以編程方式，但這就是我們所指的。在出版業中，這通常是一項高每千次展示費用的業務。

Our next question comes from Thomas Yeh from Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Thomas Yeh。

Just following up on the bundle graduation question. Can you help us just think through the cadence of the wave of eligible cohorts that are coming up with graduation. I think, Will, you mentioned some greater back half opportunity on ARPU, just to kind of put a finer point on it, is it right to interpret your comment as the year-over-year growth on subscriber ARPU should pick up in speed in the second half?

只是跟進捆綁畢業問題。您能否幫助我們思考即將畢業的合格群體的節奏。我認為，威爾，您提到了 ARPU 方面的一些更大的後半機會，只是為了更好地說明這一點，將您的評論解釋為正確，因為用戶 ARPU 的同比增長速度應該會加快下半場？

So Thomas, a couple of points there. I think that the only sort of color, I'd say on sort of bundled cadence is that the cohorts are just getting bigger through the course of the year. So we're just seeing more and more coming through. And then as you know, we don't guide on ARPU. I think there are a couple of things that I mentioned that are just giving us general confidence in what we have targeted, which is essentially modest year-over-year growth in total digital-only ARPU.

湯瑪斯，有幾點。我認為唯一的顏色，我想說的是，在某種捆綁節奏上，隊列在這一年中不斷擴大。所以我們看到越來越多的事情發生。如您所知，我們不會對 ARPU 進行指導。我認為我提到的一些事情只是讓我們對我們的目標充滿信心，即純數位 ARPU 總量的逐年適度增長。

And those 2 things are that the experience we've been seeing so far on the bundle step-ups is encouraging, retention and monetization. So as that plays out with bigger and bigger cohorts, that's one of the things that is giving us confidence in ARPU trajectory. And then the second, as we mentioned, single-product subscribers, and this is something that, as we think over time is also giving us confidence, which is the increasing amount of engagement that Meredith has highlighted.

這兩件事是我們迄今為止在捆綁升級方面看到的經驗是令人鼓舞的、保留和貨幣化。因此，隨著越來越多的群體出現這種情況，這是讓我們對 ARPU 軌跡充滿信心的因素之一。然後，正如我們所提到的，單一產品訂閱者，隨著時間的推移，我們認為這也給了我們信心，這就是梅雷迪思強調的參與度不斷增加。

And as we've found in the pattern, the more engagement that gives us pricing opportunities over time and also (inaudible) monetization. So with those 2 among several levers, we feel good about the ARPU trajectory given the target we've sort of put out there the expectation for modest year-over-year ARPU expansion.

正如我們在該模式中發現的那樣，隨著時間的推移，更多的參與度為我們提供了定價機會以及（聽不清楚）貨幣化。因此，透過這兩個槓桿，我們對 ARPU 軌跡感到滿意，因為我們已經設定了 ARPU 逐年適度擴張的預期目標。

Okay. Makes sense. I mean on the stand-alone pricing front, I think last year, you kind of pulled the lever for more of the tenured subs. Is it safe to say that there potentially is more appetite for that, given the success of that rollout and the engagement that you spoke to?

好的。說得通。我的意思是，在獨立定價方面，我認為去年，您為更多的終身訂閱者拉動了槓桿。鑑於此次推出的成功以及您所採訪的參與度，是否可以肯定地說，人們對此可能會有更大的興趣？

I think it's safe to say that as we continue to add value into the products and see that value reflected in increasing levels of engagement, meaning consumers are really experiencing that value. We're always looking at pricing, and that's something that as a lever, you should just continue to expect us to look at and use as a way to continue to improve monetization over time.

我認為可以肯定地說，隨著我們不斷為產品增加價值，並看到這種價值體現在參與度的提高上，這意味著消費者正在真正體驗到這種價值。我們一直在關注定價，這是一種槓桿，你應該繼續期望我們關注並使用它作為隨著時間的推移繼續提高貨幣化的一種方式。

Next question comes from Doug Arthur from Huber Research Partners.

下一個問題來自 Huber Research Partners 的 Doug Arthur。

Will, I was struck by the sales and marketing being down, I don't know, 6% or something in the quarter. In your comment that you're -- the funnel, the organic traffic is driving more of the growth. Is that something -- I mean, obviously, we've seen that before with NYT. Is that something you think the 2024 will benefit for the rest of the year? And then I got a follow-up.

威爾，我對本季銷售和行銷下降（我不知道）6% 左右感到震驚。在您的評論中，您是—漏斗，自然流量正在推動更多的成長。這是嗎——我的意思是，顯然，我們之前在《紐約時報》上就看到過這種情況。您認為 2024 年剩餘時間這會受益嗎？然後我得到了跟進。

Yes. I think let me make sure I'm clear that I think we've always experienced and continue to expect to experience the vast majority of our subscribers coming in organically. I think on any given quarter, that can fluctuate, we're very -- in terms of the amount of marketing we're actually spending. And so that sales and marketing line can fluctuate for a few reasons, but one of the main ones will just be how much media we're putting into the quarter. We're really ROI focused there. And we certainly consider leaning in when we see subscriber acquisition costs being particularly attractive.

是的。我想讓我澄清一下，我認為我們一直在經歷並繼續期望經歷絕大多數訂閱者的有機加入。我認為在任何特定季度，這都可能會波動，就我們實際花費的行銷金額而言，我們非常。因此，銷售和行銷線可能會因多種原因而波動，但主要因素之一就是我們在本季投入了多少媒體。我們確實非常關注投資報酬率。當我們看到訂戶獲取成本特別有吸引力時，我們當然會考慮採取行動。

And that will -- so I think you can expect that to fluctuate around the quarter. Overall, as you've seen, this is a line given our strategy and everything we've said about the way our model works that we have seen leverage on and that we continue to expect to get leverage on over time.

這將會——所以我認為你可以預期這一數字會在本季度左右波動。總的來說，正如您所看到的，考慮到我們的策略以及我們所說的關於我們的模型工作方式的一切，這是一條線，我們已經看到了槓桿作用，並且隨著時間的推移，我們繼續期望獲得槓桿作用。

Did you have a follow-up?

你有後續行動嗎？

Yes, I have just a nitpick. On Page 17 of the press release, you've got this content licensing item, very small, $563,000. Is that, a, is that new? And b, is that an add back to adjusted EBITDA?

是的，我只是有一點挑剔。在新聞稿的第 17 頁，您獲得了該內容許可項目，非常小，價值 563,000 美元。那是，那是新的嗎？ b，這是調整後 EBITDA 的加回嗎？

Okay. So we're just making sure we understand what you were describing.

好的。所以我們只是確保我們理解您所描述的內容。

I'm looking at the schedule on Page 17 with these costs broken out.

我正在查看第 17 頁上的時間表，其中列出了這些費用。

Yes. So what that represents is essentially intercompany licensing between New York Times and The Athletic for use of athletic content at The Times.

是的。因此，這本質上代表的是《紐約時報》和《The Athletic》之間的公司間許可，以使用《紐約時報》的體育內容。

Okay. And I mean, look -- I mean, because you're laying out your cost here. So it looks like it's sort of a duplication add back. Is that -- in terms of normalized EBITDA is that a fair way to think about it? We can deal with this later.

好的。我的意思是，看——我的意思是，因為你在這裡列出了你的成本。所以看起來這有點像是重複加回來。就標準化 EBITDA 而言，這是一個公平的思考方式嗎？我們可以稍後再處理這個問題。

It's expense to NYT, Doug, and then revenue to the athletic. So for the consolidated company wouldn't have an impact. If we're -- we can follow to make sure that we're talking about the same thing. But if we understand you're right, that's the explanation.

道格，這對《紐約時報》來說是開支，對運動員來說是收入。因此對於合併後的公司不會產生影響。如果我們——我們可以遵循以確保我們正在談論同一件事。但如果我們理解你是對的，那就是解釋。

All right. Well, with that, thank you all for joining us this morning. We look forward to talking to you again next quarter.

好的。好的，謝謝大家今天早上加入我們。我們期待下個季度再次與您交談。

Ladies and gentlemen, the conference has now concluded. We thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines.

女士們、先生們，會議現已結束。我們感謝您參加今天的演講。現在您可以斷開線路。