NYT stock has doubled since Trump was elected
Despite repeated claims from President Trump that its business has been "failing," New York Times Co (NYSE:NYT) shares have been booming since he was elected. Indeed, NYT stock was trading near $11 during the 2016 presidential election, and has roughly doubled in value since, last seen trading at $22.20. While the equity has pulled back some since peaking at $25.70 back on Feb. 8, it may be finding support a the 20% year-to-date level, as well as the 100-day moving average. Regardless, an analyst at J.P. Morgan Securities sees higher highs ahead for the media concern.
Specifically, analyst Alexia Quadrani upgraded her NYT rating to "overweight" from "neutral," and lifted her price target to $27 from $25. Quadrani cited an impressive uptick in digital subscriptions since Trump's election win, and foresees more growth going forward as the company continues to evolve from a print business to a digital platform. According to Quadrani, digital sales rose 46% year-over-year, which outpaces both Google and Facebook.
The rest of Wall Street doesn't seem too high on the New York Times, however, as all other covering analysts maintain tepid "hold" ratings, and the average 12-month price target sits just above at $23.67. Also, short interest has been exploding in recent months.
In fact, the number of NYT share sold short has jumped by an astounding 335% since August, including a 26% increase in the last two reporting periods. As it stands now, almost 13% of the total float is controlled by short sellers. The security's ability to keep rising on the charts despite this sharp climb in short interest hints at strong underlying technical strength. Looking ahead, the company is expected to report first-quarter earnings on Thursday, May 3.
