The New York Times Co. shares surged almost 5% in premarket trade Thursday, after the company beat first-quarter earnings estimates. The paper said it had net income of $21.9 million, or 13 cents a share, in the first quarter, up from $13.2 million. or 8 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 17 cents, ahead of the FactSet consensus of 15 cents. Revenue rose to $413.9 million from $398.8 million, also ahead of the FactSet consensus of $408 million. Subscription revenue rose 7.5%, while ad revenue fell 3.4%. Other revenue rose 5%. Chief Executive Mark Thompson said ad revenue was the best since the third quarter of 2015. "However, as predicted, we had a subdued start to year in digital advertising, with a 6 percent decline in the quarter, driven in part by the lumpiness of our growing strategic partnership business, and the fact that audiences in the quarter, while strong, did not quite reach the peaks of the immediate post-election and inauguration period a year earlier. We expect another down quarter in digital advertising in Q2, but are confident that we will return to solid year-over-year growth in the third quarter." The company is expecting second quarter subscription revenue to rise in the mid-single digits, while ad revenue is expected to fall at a low teens rate. Shares have gained 43% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 10%.