Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (LEE) Stock

Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (LEE) is a Communication Services stock trading at $7.85 (as of 2026-07-27), with a market capitalization of $174.50M. Figures are sourced from first-party U.S. SEC EDGAR filings and market data.

Lee Enterprises, Incorporated is a U.S. publisher that produces print and digital newspapers and related publications, and provides advertising services. It also offers web hosting and content management, commercial printing, and digital marketing offerings for organizations and media customers.

Understand Lee Enterprises, Incorporated: how it makes money

Lee Enterprises publishes local news (print and digital newspapers and publications) and makes money from subscriptions plus advertising and marketing services, including digital offerings like search, social media services, and content management/web hosting.

The profit model is driven by sustaining a digital subscriber base and monetizing it through recurring subscription revenue plus advertising and marketing services revenue tied to the company’s digital audience.

Revenue by segment (latest quarter)
DigitalAds	$0.0B
DigitalSubs	$0.0B
AmplifiedAgency	$0.0B
DigitalServices	$0.0B

Business quality (Mixed): The company shows an operating margin of 7.0% on revenue of about 0.1B for the period shown, and its operating drivers appear to be digital subscriptions and digital advertising and marketing services. A key limitation is that the provided revenue segment candidates do not clearly reconcile to the latest-period total, so segment mix comparisons should be treated as directional.

Bull case

Digital subscription scale exists: Digital-Only Subscribers are 591,000, and Digital-Only Subscription Revenue is 0.02B, indicating a measurable recurring digital revenue stream.
Digital advertising and marketing is a meaningful revenue line: Digital Advertising and Marketing Services Revenue is 0.04B, supporting monetization beyond subscriptions.
Positive operating profitability in the latest period: Operating margin is 7.0% for the period ending 2026-03-29.

Bear case

Small revenue base relative to disclosed digital revenue concepts: Latest reported revenue is about 0.1B for 2026-03-29, while some provided digital revenue candidates are higher (for example, Annual Digital Revenue Foundation), which makes it harder to assess how much of the business is captured in the most recent period.
Advertising exposure can be cyclical: The business includes advertising and marketing services, which depend on advertisers and can be sensitive to advertising demand (including the Local Advertisers (Core Base) of 20,000).
Key digital monetization metrics may need to keep momentum: Digital-Only Subscription Revenue is 0.02B and Digital Advertising and Marketing Services Revenue is 0.04B, so performance in these areas is important for maintaining profitability.

Valuation — source: SEC EDGAR (first-party)
Price	$7.85
Market Cap	$174.50M
EV / EBITDA	19.3
Price / Sales	0.33
FCF Yield	-7.6%

Profitability & Growth — source: SEC EDGAR
Revenue (TTM)	$562.34M
Net Margin	-6.7%
Revenue Growth (YoY)	-10.0%
EPS Growth (YoY)	-67.1%
FCF Growth (YoY)	-141.8%

Financial Health — source: SEC EDGAR
Altman Z-Score	0.14 (distress)

Valuation vs Sector & Industry
Sector P/E (Communication Services)	22.0
Industry P/E (Printing & Publishing)	27.7

Smart-Money Activity — SEC Form 4 / 13F / Congressional disclosures
Top Institutional Holder	Solas Capital Management, LLC ($13.95M)
Institutional Holders Tracked	10

Company
Sector	Communication Services
Industry	Printing & Publishing
CEO	Nathan E. Bekke
Employees	2,674
Country	US
IPO Date	1980-03-17

Related Companies (Business model: Ad-Supported Digital Media / Social; 8 closest by market cap; US-domiciled)

Data as of 2026-07-27.

Figures sourced from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC EDGAR) filings and market data. Not personalized investment advice.