News Corp, the parent company of The New York Post, posted a record first-quarter performance on Wednesday, driven by growth in its Dow Jones, digital real estate and book publishing divisions.
The New York-based media giant said its first-quarter net income expanded 43% to $215 million, or 29 cents a share. Adjusted earnings per share totaled 28 cents.
Revenue for the quarter edged up 6% to $2.28 billion versus year-ago revenue of $2.14 billion.
Analysts expected EPS of 26 cents on revenue of $2.26 billion.
News Corp CEO Robert Thomson said in a statement that the results “herald our fourteenth consecutive quarter of year-over-year profitability growth.”
“Our three engines of growth — Digital Real Estate Services, Dow Jones and Book Publishing — collectively delivered robust results despite volatile economic conditions,” Thomson continued.
“Our performance reflects the transformation of News Corp into a thriving, higher-margin business, digitally driven with peerless, profitable content,” he added.
During the quarter, News Corp’s financial results were fueled by a 10% jump in revenue to $529 million in its digital real estate unit.
The company also saw an 8% increase in sales to $630 million in its Dow Jones division, and a 9% surge in revenue to $582 million in its book publishing division.
Thomson — who has been a staunch critic of AI companies for failing to pay enough for content — touched on News Corp’s path for growth with the burgeoning technology.
“We believe we are primed for further growth in the AI age, as data centers, chips and water may be necessary components, but high quality content is the very essence of AI,” he said. “We remain vigilant in protecting that priceless intellectual property.”
Thomson touted the company’s content relationships with OpenAI and Meta — and issued a pointed warning.
“We are pleased to have partners in OpenAI and Meta that recognize the importance of our content, and remain optimistic that other platforms will choose compensation over confiscation, principle over plunder. To that end, we will woo and we will sue,” he concluded.