NYT Short Interest Jumps 39% in a Month, Stock Defies Peers

Short sellers have built a notably larger position in NYT over the past month, with short interest climbing 39% to roughly 10.8% of the free float. That is a meaningful accumulation: from around 12.8 million shares short at the end of September to 17.5 million as of October 29. The week-on-week move was more modest, a 7% decline in shares short, suggesting the build has paused rather than reversed. Borrow costs remain cheap at 0.56%, and availability is loose at over 1,100%, meaning there is no constraint on further short positioning from the lending market. Options positioning is also notably less defensive than usual: the put/call ratio has dropped to 0.71, nearly a full standard deviation below its 20-day average of 1.06, as call activity has picked up relative to puts over the past two weeks.

That options shift coincides with a stock that has held up well while close peers fell. NYT gained 0.8% over the past week, against a median decline of roughly 3.9% for its most correlated peers. NWSA dropped 5.3% over the same period, WLY fell 5.1%, and TTD lost 5.5%. NYT is up 12.6% over the past month, trading at $70.17, near but below the consensus price target of around $77.

The analyst debate splits on whether the subscription model can sustain the growth rates it has delivered. The bull case rests on digital subscriber additions above 1.09 million, digital ARPU growing 2.4% year-on-year, low-double-digit digital advertising growth, and a balance sheet carrying no debt and $661 million in cash. Morgan Stanley took a more cautious view in October, cutting its target from $90 to $75 while keeping an Equal-Weight rating. The stock now trades above Barclays' $63 target but below JPMorgan's $82 Overweight target. Bears point to intensifying competition for subscribers, audience fragmentation, and the risk that advertising softens faster than the company can offset it through subscriptions.

Ownership data adds an interesting layer. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway filed a Schedule 13G in May 2026 disclosing a 9.4% stake of roughly 15.1 million shares. BlackRock holds a slightly larger 9.8% position and added 609,000 shares in the quarter to September 30. No 13D activist is on the register, and all large holders are filing passive 13G positions. Stakes are as last disclosed around the 5% threshold, and holders dropping below 5% may not file again. The Q3 print on November 4 will test whether the subscription growth rate that underpins those institutional positions has continued into the second half, or whether the margin trajectory that Morgan Stanley questioned is starting to show through in the numbers.