BofA: Soft Q3 So Far

By: Jennifer Saba Banc of America Securities weighs in on Q3 reports and finds that while operating results were "disappointing," so far there was no "incremental bad news."

For Knight Ridder, Gannett, E.W. Scripps, and Tribune -- the companies that reported last week -- the research firm estimates that ad revenues were up a "modest" 2.5%. Analysts expect more of the same from the other reporting companies, notably, McClatchy, Journal Register, and The New York Times. Dow Jones though could show some earnings per share upside benefiting from the addition of Weekend Journal, said the note.

At the Wall Street Journal, page counts for October so far indicate that lineage is down in the mid to high single digits. Including the Saturday edition, pages are up approximately 1%.

At the New York Times, October print page counts indicate that help wanted and real estate listings are down in the high teens and high single to low double digits respectively. Telco is down in the teens. Movies are up in the teens and department stores are up 1%.

Online job postings for October: the New York Times is up 64%; The Boston Globe is up 15%, The San Diego Union-Tribune is down 10%; the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is down 9%; and the New Haven Register is up 17%.

Online real estate postings for October: the New York Times is up 4%; the Boston Globe is up 81%, the San Diego Union-Tribune is up 27%, the New Haven Register is down 27%.