News Corp Earnings Rise as Wall Street Journal Digital Subscriptions Jump 11%

News Corp reported a 6% increase in fiscal first-quarter revenue to $2.28 billion, driven by growth at Dow Jones and an 11% rise in digital-only subscriptions to The Wall Street Journal. Net income surged 43% to $215 million, surpassing analysts' expectations of $26 cents per share. Digital subscriptions to the Journal grew by 11% to nearly 4.7 million, fueled by enterprise subscriptions.

Dow Jones' revenue grew 8% to $630 million, with digital advertising revenue increasing 12%. Professional information businesses at Dow Jones also experienced gains, including a 11% boost in revenue at Dow Jones Risk & Compliance and an 8% increase in Dow Jones Energy revenue. CEO Robert Thomson emphasized the value of News Corp's content to artificial intelligence developers, stating, "high quality content is the very essence of AI."

He highlighted existing licensing agreements with OpenAI and Meta, while asserting that News Corp would pursue compensation from other tech platforms. Outside Dow Jones, digital real estate services revenue rose 10% to $529 million, partly due to favorable currency movements. HarperCollins revenue grew 9% to $582 million, supported by stronger book sales, particularly in audiobooks.

However, traditional newspaper operations faced pressure, with News Media segment revenue declining 1% to $540 million, reflecting lower print advertising and other revenue.