Gannett, the nation’s largest newspaper chain and owner of The (Bergen) Record and eight other New Jersey dailies, reported a sharp increase in second-quarter profit even as revenue continued to fall and the company prepared another round of expense reductions.
Shares reached a 52-week and five-year high of $9.21 on Wednesday, their highest level since 2019, but remained well below the roughly $20 level reached by Gannett’s corporate predecessor, New Media Investment Group, in 2018.
The company reported net income of $78.4 million for the three months ending June 30, 2025, up from $13.7 million one year earlier. The result was boosted by an $87.5 million income-tax benefit.
Revenue fell 8.6%, from $639.8 million to $584.9 million, partly reflecting Gannett’s sale of the Austin American-Statesman to Hearst earlier in the year. Excluding divestitures and other portfolio changes, same-store revenue declined 6.4%. Newspaper and real-estate sale proceeds are not counted as operating revenue.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization totaled $64.2 million, down nearly 14% from one year earlier. Its 11% adjusted profit margin improved from the first quarter but remained slightly below the 11.6% posted a year earlier.
“In the second quarter, we delivered sequential improvement across our key financial metrics,” said Gannett chairman and CEO Michael Reed.
Gannett generated $17.6 million in free cash flow and finished June with $88.5 million in cash. It carried nearly $1.02 billion in debt at a blended interest rate of 9.31%, although it repaid about $100 million during the first half of 2025 and expected to exceed $135 million by year’s end.
The company also announced a program to eliminate approximately $100 million in annual expenses.
“We believe these actions position us to increase our margins, and as a result, we expect to deliver Total Adjusted EBITDA growth in the back half of the year and for the full year of 2026,” Reed said.
Digital advertising revenue increased 4%, while total digital revenue reached $265.4 million, about 45% of overall revenue.
Analysts treated the results as mixed. Revenue missed the pre-earnings consensus estimate of approximately $593 million, but profitability came in substantially better than expected.
According to a Simply Wall St analysis, four analysts lowered their consensus 2025 revenue forecast from $2.36 billion to $2.33 billion but shifted their statutory earnings projection from a loss of about eight cents per share to a profit of 29 cents. Their consensus price target remained $5.76, with individual estimates ranging from $3.50 to $8.
The results come as the future of Gannett’s printed newspapers grows increasingly uncertain. Northwestern University’s 2025 State of Local News report found that fewer than 20% of American dailies still print seven days a week and said the movement toward fewer print days and digital-only publication “looks likely to continue.”
Gannett has consolidated printing plants and shifted more than 70 markets from private carriers to postal delivery. The changes lower expenses but produce earlier deadlines, making print less useful for breaking news and late sports results.
Print nevertheless continues to generate substantial cash, with print subscribers generally paying more than digital-only readers. Abruptly eliminating editions can destroy revenue faster than printing and delivery costs disappear. Industry consultant John Newby has warned that reducing print frequency can produce subscriber losses ranging from 2% or 3% to more than 15%, depending on the market.
There is no announced timetable for ending The Record’s print edition. The more immediate risks are fewer print days, later delivery, remote printing and continued circulation losses.
The outlook could be less promising for smaller Gannett newspapers, including the Burlington County Times, Vineland Daily Journal and New Jersey Herald.
RELATED ARTICLES
-
-
January 14, 2019 -
