Washington Post Swings to a Profit

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By Trey Thoelcke Published
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Shares of the Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO) are up in early trading after the company reported that it swung to a profit on strong revenue growth from its TV divisions, though sales in its newspaper businesses continued to decline.

The diversified media and education company posted adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $12.64 on revenues of $1.01 billion for the third quarter. In the same period a year ago, the company reported a net loss of $0.82 on revenues of $1.01 billion. The quarter’s results also compare to the consensus estimates for EPS of $1.31 and $993.3 million in revenues.

Third-quarter revenue from the education division declined 8% year-over-year to $552.6 million. Newspaper publishing division revenue came to $137.3 million, down 4%. But cable television division revenue grew 6% to $199.6 million and revenue for the television broadcasting division rose 44% to $106.4 million.

The company offered no guidance for the full year. The Thomson Reuters consensus estimates call for EPS of $17.35 and $3.99 billion in revenues. That would be down from $24.02 per share and $4.21 billion in the previous year.

Washington Post shares are up about 5.5% to $18.53 in morning trading. The 52-week range is $323.29 to $405.00. Shares of competitor New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) are down about 1% to $8.71, and Gannet Co. (NYSE: GCI) shares are also about 1% lower to $17.10.

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About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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