Holiday store catalogs are returning, reviving a classic tradition (today.com)

The New York Times Company announced third-quarter 2020 diluted earnings per share from continuing operations of $.20 compared with $.10 in the same period of 2019. Adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations (defined below) was $.22 in the third quarter of 2020 compared with $.12 in the third quarter of 2019. Operating profit increased to $39.6 million in the third quarter of 2020 from $25.1 million in the same period of 2019 and adjusted operating profit (defined below) increased to $56.5 million from $44.1 million in the prior year, as higher digital-only subscription revenues and lower costs more than offset lower advertising revenues. Subscription revenues in the third quarter of 2020 rose due to growth in the number of subscriptions to the Company’s digital-only products, which include our news product, as well as our Cooking, Games (previously Crossword) and audio products. Revenue from digital-only products increased 34.0 percent, to $155.3 million. Print subscription revenues decreased 3.8 percent to $145.7 million largely due to lower retail newsstand revenue, while revenue from our domestic home delivery subscription products grew 2.5 percent.

Total reported sales for the second quarter of 2022 were $2.0 billion, down 2% compared to the second quarter of 2021 primarily due to fewer retail stores in service and greater market-wide challenges related to the sourcing and supply chain environment relative to last year. Retail Division sales were lower primarily due to 71 planned store closures and lower store traffic, which was offset by higher sales in our BSD Division. The Company drove stronger business-to-business (B2B) sales through its contract channel as more businesses continued to return to the office, which was partially offset by lower sales through its eCommerce channel compared to a year ago. The Company reported operating income of $28 million in the second quarter of 2022, down compared to operating income of $30 million in the prior year period. GAAP operating results in the second quarter of 2022 included $26 million of charges consisting primarily of $23 million in merger, restructuring and other operating costs largely associated with activities related to the Company’s previously planned separation.

Following recent findings by research psychologists Pam A. Mueller of Princeton University and Daniel M. Oppenheimer of the University of California, Los Angeles, which showed that students who took handwritten notes did better than those who took notes on their computers, new research indicates still further that too much technology in the classrooms harms students’ ability to learn. As millions of dollars are spent on increased investment in classroom technology, including students’ use of iPads and e-textbooks, it’s assumed that the learning environment in the classroom should reflect the high-tech realities of the digital culture in which students and their parents live. Working on this presumption, the state of California passed a law in 2009 requiring that all college textbooks be available in electronic form by 2020. Following suit, the state of Florida passed legislation in 2011 requiring public schools to convert their textbooks to digital versions. “Given this trend,” write Patricia Alexander and Lauren Singer of the University of Maryland, “teachers, students, parents and policymakers might assume that students’ familiarity and preference for technology translates into better learning outcomes. But we’ve found that’s not necessarily true.” Click Read More below for additional information.