Stocks · Communication Services · Publishing
Lee Enterprises, Incorporated LEE
$6.71 -1.90% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NASDAQ · Market cap $149.2M
Next earnings report: Dec 3, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- Net debt is 10.3× EBITDA, a high level of leverage.
- The stock is in a downtrend: below its 200-day average, with the 50-day average below the 200-day.
- Operating margin widened to 6.6% from 1.1% a year earlier.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Communication Services sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 9%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRBottom 9%
- Revenue growth accelerationBottom 33%
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalTop 30%
- Gross marginTop 2%
- Operating marginTop 48%
- Accruals (lower is better)Bottom 13%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 9%
- Interest coverBottom 42%
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldBottom 19%
- Free-cash-flow yieldBottom 22%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueTop 45%
- Sales / enterprise valueTop 26%
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthTop 15%
- 6-month returnBottom 24%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Top 24%
- Distance from 52-week highBottom 32%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Bottom 18%
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersBottom 9%
- Consecutive EPS beatsTop 34%
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Top 44%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsBottom 17%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Top 14%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 9%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | -9.9% | -11.1% | ↓ |
| Gross margin | 97.6% | 97.9% | ↑ |
| Operating margin | 1.1% | 6.6% | ↑ |
| FCF margin | -1.0% | -0.1% | ↑ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | -11.1% | -9.9% | ↓ | Bottom 9% |
| Gross margin | 97.9% | 97.6% | ↑ | Top 2% |
| Operating margin | 6.6% | 1.1% | ↑ | Top 48% |
| Net margin | -1.8% | -7.1% | ↑ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | -0.1% | -1.0% | ↑ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 6.5% | — | Top 30% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | -10.4% | — | Bottom 9% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -1.5%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 0.2%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- -10.2 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 10.27×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 1.0×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 0.00%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- -30.40%
- Shareholder yield
- -30.40%
- Share count change, 1 year
- -0.2%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- +1.1%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 28, 2026 (filed Aug 7, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 2
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 2 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- -100.0%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- -2.9%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 3 of 8
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 2026 | +231.3% | +1.9% | +2.3% | +0.6% | — |
| May 7, 2026 | +83.0% | -1.8% | -4.0% | +35.0% | -3.3% |
| Feb 10, 2026 | -33.3% | +6.5% | +34.9% | +67.2% | +55.2% |
| Nov 26, 2025 | -1666.7% | -9.2% | -14.9% | -15.4% | +100.7% |
| Aug 7, 2025 | -138.5% | -8.0% | -4.3% | -19.6% | -11.3% |
| May 8, 2025 | -256.9% | -3.8% | -9.9% | -17.0% | -39.1% |
| Feb 6, 2025 | -600.0% | -7.9% | -14.5% | -37.6% | -38.5% |
| Dec 12, 2024 | -360.0% | -0.6% | -10.0% | -13.7% | -49.6% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 2026 | $0.21 | -$0.16 | +231.3% | $126.0M |
| May 7, 2026 | -$0.16 | -$0.94 | +83.0% | $122.0M |
| Feb 10, 2026 | -$0.92 | -$0.69 | -33.3% | $130.1M |
| Nov 26, 2025 | -$1.06 | -$0.06 | -1666.7% | $139.1M |
| Aug 7, 2025 | -$0.31 | -$0.13 | -138.5% | $141.3M |
| May 8, 2025 | -$2.07 | -$0.58 | -256.9% | $146.6M |
| Feb 6, 2025 | -$2.80 | -$0.40 | -600.0% | $144.6M |
| Dec 12, 2024 | -$1.69 | $0.65 | -360.0% | $158.6M |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EV / EBITDA | 14.0× | — | — | Top 45% |
| EV / Sales | 1.09× | — | — | Top 26% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | -0.39% | — | — | Bottom 22% |
| Earnings yield | -23.10% | — | — | Bottom 19% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 7.8× – 11.3× since Jun 27, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✗ Price above 20-day average
- ✗ Price above 50-day average
- ✗ Price above 200-day average
- ✗ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✗ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 0
- Days above the 200-day average
- 0
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- -5.8%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- +4.2%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -13.3%
- Distance from 200-day average
- -13.6%
- RSI (14)
- 35.9
- Relative volume
- 1.37×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 43.4%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 24th percentile · Normal for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.41
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.07
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -42.9%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -82.0%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 11, 2022 | Dec 17, 2025 | -92.1% | 987 days | Not yet recovered |
| May 5, 2021 | Nov 19, 2021 | -48.9% | 139 days | 17 days (Dec 15, 2021) |
| Mar 4, 2021 | Mar 23, 2021 | -25.9% | 13 days | 10 days (Apr 7, 2021) |
| Oct 23, 2020 | Oct 30, 2020 | -15.2% | 5 days | 8 days (Nov 11, 2020) |
| Dec 15, 2021 | Dec 31, 2021 | -14.8% | 11 days | 7 days (Jan 11, 2022) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $149.2M
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- -$1.55
- Revenue (TTM)
- $517.1M
- 52-week range
- $3.34 – $11.88
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $794.6M | $781.0M | $691.1M | $611.4M | $562.3M |
| Gross profit | $764.9M | $750.9M | $665.8M | $594.6M | $549.4M |
| Operating income | $56.6M | $51.6M | $45.2M | $30.4M | $19.9M |
| Net income | $22.7M | -$2.0M | -$5.3M | -$25.8M | -$37.6M |
| EPS (diluted) | $3.90 | -$0.35 | -$0.90 | -$4.35 | -$6.15 |
| Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | Q3 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $158.6M | $144.6M | $137.4M | $141.3M | $139.1M | $130.1M | $122.0M | $126.0M |
| Net income | -$10.1M | -$16.7M | -$12.5M | -$1.9M | -$6.4M | -$5.6M | -$2.1M | $4.7M |
| EPS (diluted) | $2.69 | -$2.80 | -$2.08 | -$0.31 | -$1.05 | -$0.92 | -$0.35 | $0.77 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $50.1M | $2.9M | -$2.5M | $1.1M | -$5.5M |
| Capital expenditure | -$7.5M | -$7.5M | -$5.1M | -$9.2M | -$1.5M |
| Free cash flow | $42.6M | -$4.7M | -$7.6M | -$8.1M | -$7.1M |
| Dividends paid | $0 | $0 | -$657,000 | $0 | $0 |
| Net share buybacks | $253,000 | $369,000 | -$279,000 | $0 | $0 |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $59.4M
- Total assets
- $624.6M
- Total liabilities
- $624.6M
- Total debt
- $475.3M
- Net debt
- $415.9M
- Shareholders’ equity
- -$2.2M
As of Jun 28, 2026 (filed Aug 7, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 28, 2008 | $0.19 | Oct 1, 2008 |
| May 29, 2008 | $0.19 | Jul 1, 2008 |
| Feb 28, 2008 | $0.19 | Apr 1, 2008 |
| Nov 29, 2007 | $0.19 | Jan 2, 2008 |
| Aug 29, 2007 | $0.18 | Oct 1, 2007 |
| May 30, 2007 | $0.18 | Jul 2, 2007 |
| Feb 27, 2007 | $0.18 | Apr 2, 2007 |
| Nov 29, 2006 | $0.18 | Jan 2, 2007 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 566,007
- Days to cover
- 16.56
- Change vs previous report
- -3.8%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.
Stock splits
- Mar 15, 2021
- 1-for-10
- Dec 11, 1995
- 2-for-1
- Mar 4, 1986
- 2-for-1
- Apr 4, 1983
- 2-for-1
- Nov 1, 1978
- 3-for-2