(Reuters) -Media conglomerate News Corp beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter revenue on Thursday, bolstered by growth at its Dow Jones and digital real estate services segments.
News Corp, part of media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s empire, has pivoted toward digital and subscription-based revenue models, aiming to enhance its competitiveness and adapt to a fast-changing news landscape.
Revenue from the Dow Jones unit rose 6% in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, with the total average subscriptions to the segment’s consumer products increasing 8% to nearly 6.4 million.
The division, which includes the Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, has been a key growth driver for the company.
“We recently raised the full price rate for the Wall Street Journal digital subscription for new customers and to a portion of our tenured customers. Recognizing the value of our best in class journalism, we are actively reviewing our go forward pricing strategy,” finance chief Lavanya Chandrashekar said on a post-earnings call.
News Corp’s digital real estate services unit, which includes its majority-owned REA Group, grew 5% in the quarter, helped by higher revenues at both REA and Move, the parent of real estate listing company realtor.com.
The News Media segment — with mastheads like the Sun and the Times in the UK, the Australian and the New York Post — grew 1%.
Quarterly revenue from the HarperCollins book publishing unit was down 2%, with orders slowing from both readers and retailers.
The Murdoch family in September reached a deal that saw Rupert Murdoch’s politically conservative eldest son, Lachlan Murdoch, cement control of the family media empire, which includes Fox News and the Wall Street Journal.
Under the deal, Rupert’s children James Murdoch, Elisabeth Murdoch and Prudence MacLeod are each expected to receive about $1.1 billion in proceeds.
The company reported total revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $2.10 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Alan Barona)
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