Gannett Shares Popped: What You Need to Know (GCI)

Gannett Shares Popped: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of newspaper and advertising company Gannett (NYSE: GCI ) were sharply higher by 12% earlier in the trading session following news that management sees ad trends improving.

So what: Gannett, the largest U.S. newspaper company, is heavily reliant on ad revenue to drive its business, so hearing CEO Gracia Martore describe ad trends as "demonstrably better" last month at the UBS Global Media Conference has to be good news for shareholders. Martore also said that Gannett feels "very comfortable" with Wall Street's current fourth-quarter estimates.

Now what: Ad revenue has been trending higher across the industry, so this strength is probably not something you want to ignore. McClatchy (NYSE: MNI ) and AOL (NYSE: AOL ) have both alluded to stronger ad spending recently, which should breathe a little life into the publishing industry. Earlier in the week, Gannett moved higher on news of an upgrade from Lazard and the expectation that Gannett may boost its dividend in the near future. I happen to agree with Lazard's analysis and think today's announcement is just another step for Gannett in the right direction.

Craving more input on Gannett? Start by adding it to your free and personalized watchlist.

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Fool contributor Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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