Friday, August 05, 2022
Lee Enterprises (LEE)
Its Three Pillar Strategy Is Working
Lee Enterprises, Incorporated provides local news, information, and advertising primarily in midsize markets in the United States. It publishes 49 daily newspapers, as well as offers 300 weekly newspapers and specialty publications in 23 states. The company also provides online advertising and services; and online infrastructure and online publishing services for approximately 1,500 daily and weekly newspapers and shoppers. In addition, it offers commercial printing services. The company has a strategic alliance with Yahoo!, Inc. to provide its classified employment advertising customer base the opportunity to post job listings and other employment products on Yahoo!s HotJobs national platform. Lee Enterprises, Incorporated was founded in 1890 and is based in Davenport, Iowa.
Michael Kupinski, Director of Research, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.
Patrick McCann, Research Associate, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.
Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.
Strong fiscal Q3. Q3 revenue was $195 million, 1.7% above our forecast of $191.7 million. Adj. EBITDA of $23 million was in line with our forecast. The revenue beat was driven by strong 27% growth of Digital revenue, which now accounts for 32% of total revenues.
Digital ahead of schedule. Digital revenue growth was driven by Digital-only subscription revenue, up 50%, and Digital Ad & Marketing Services revenue, up nearly 27%. Notably, Digital only subscribers were up 49% to 501,000, achieving the year-end subscriber goal of 495,000 a full quarter early. We believe the most recent quarter demonstrates an industry-leading Digital transformation strategy, which capitalizes on Lee’s local market focus.
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This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).
*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary. Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision.
