NYT shares are trading at 13-year highs
New York Times (NYSE:NYT) shares are up 12.7% today at $30.28, and earlier hit a 13-year high of $30.56. The company this morning posted stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter top- and bottom-line results, while also raising its dividend. Much of the strength stemmed from the media giant's digital efforts, where subscriber growth impressed -- a trend some analysts saw coming nearly a year ago. The company now wants to have 10 million digital subscribers by 2025, compared to just over four million currently.
Today's price action puts NYT shares' one-year rise at nearly 35%. Considering this, it's surprising to see half of the analysts in coverage still have "hold" or "sell" ratings at the moment, and the average 12-month price target of $29 is now below current levels. As such, the door is open for a round of bullish attention that could drive the equity even higher.
Similarly, short interest remains high on the security. More than 12% of the total float is in the hands of short sellers, or 16.33 million shares. Going by average daily volumes, it would take these bears almost nine sessions to cover, showing there's plenty of fuel for a short squeeze.
