TDAY - USA TODAY Co., Inc.

USA TODAY Co., Inc. (TDAY) operates Gannett's flagship USA TODAY newspaper and digital news platform, along with a network of approximately 200 local and regional news brands across the United States. The business model is a hybrid of digital subscription revenue and advertising sales, serving both direct consumers and local/national advertisers. Annual revenue is approximately $2.5B to $3B, almost entirely from the U.S. domestic market. The company has been restructuring away from print toward digital subscriptions and programmatic advertising to offset secular print decline.

Past Year Trends

• Total revenues declined approximately 8.6% YoY in Q2 2025 and 8.4% YoY in Q3 2025 as structural print advertising and circulation losses accelerated, with total full-year 2025 revenues finishing near $2.3 billion versus prior-year levels, despite digital revenues crossing 46.9% of the mix by Q3. (Bearish)
• Gannett Co., Inc. rebranded as USA TODAY Co., Inc. in October 2025, with NYSE shares beginning to trade under the new ticker TDAY on November 8, 2025, marking a formal pivot to center the company's identity on its flagship consumer media brand. (Neutral)
• The company repaid approximately $98 million of debt in the first half of 2025 and completed a $100 million annualized cost reduction program by Q3 2025, pushing total debt below $1 billion for the first time in years and reducing first-lien net leverage to approximately 2.3x by Q1 2026. (Bullish)

Next Year Trends

• Digital-only subscription revenue of $45.9 million in Q1 2026 grew 6.2% YoY with ARPU surging 42.7% YoY to $10.30, and the company is targeting 50%+ of total revenues from digital sources by year-end 2026; failure to sustain this ARPU trajectory would undermine the core bull case. (Bullish)
• LocaliQ Core Platform Revenue stood at $99.3 million in Q1 2026 with segment EBITDA of only $6.8 million, and the unit's ability to grow ARPU beyond the current ~$2,800 per client while retaining its small-and-medium business customer base against Google and Meta competition is the primary revenue diversification risk for the next 12 months. (Bearish)
• With $988.3 million in total debt principal remaining as of March 31, 2026, mandatory debt service will continue to consume the majority of free cash flow, and any refinancing of near-term maturities at current elevated interest rates would increase cash interest expense and further constrain capital allocation flexibility. (Bearish)

Red Flags

No severe red flags identified as of May 20, 2026.