John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.02, Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $447.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $450.00 million. John Wiley & Sons had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 28.38%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. John Wiley & Sons updated its FY 2027 guidance to 4.600-5.050 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from John Wiley & Sons’ conference call:

• Wiley said fiscal 2026 was a breakout year, with record margins, strong free cash flow growth, and adjusted EBITDA margin reaching an all-time high of 26.2%. Adjusted EPS rose 15%, and free cash flow increased 55% to $195 million.
• Research remained a key strength, with 4% revenue growth for the year, 11% output growth, and 25% growth in submissions, while management said the business is tracking toward mid-single-digit growth. The company also highlighted new society wins and the addition of Emerald Publishing to deepen its research portfolio.
• Wiley’s AI and data analytics business continued to scale, with revenue rising from $40 million to $49 million and recurring AI revenue growing rapidly. Management expects AI revenue to exceed $50 million in fiscal 2027, with recurring revenue expected to expand by 2x to 3x from the prior year’s $8 million base.
• The company completed the Emerald Publishing acquisition for about $450 million, calling it highly strategic and financially attractive. Wiley expects $30 million of cost synergies by year three, modest EPS accretion in year one, and free cash flow accretion by year two.
• Learning remained a headwind, with academic revenue down 5% and professional revenue down 10% for the year, though management expects improvement in fiscal 2027. Wiley also said Q4 cash flow was affected by late renewal signings that pushed some collections into Q1.

John Wiley & Sons Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WLY opened at $44.88 on Wednesday. John Wiley & Sons has a 12 month low of $28.38 and a 12 month high of $45.64. The company has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.64 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $41.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

John Wiley & Sons Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 7th were paid a dividend of $0.355 per share. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 7th. John Wiley & Sons’s dividend payout ratio is 49.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On John Wiley & Sons

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WLY. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in John Wiley & Sons by 13.5% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 24,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,083,000 after acquiring an additional 2,897 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in John Wiley & Sons by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 23,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in John Wiley & Sons by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 122,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,456,000 after purchasing an additional 6,928 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in John Wiley & Sons by 14,320.0% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 158,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,068,000 after purchasing an additional 157,520 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in John Wiley & Sons in the 1st quarter worth approximately $65,000. Institutional investors own 73.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings raised John Wiley & Sons from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Zacks Research lowered John Wiley & Sons from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, John Wiley & Sons has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

John Wiley & Sons News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting John Wiley & Sons this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wiley reported fiscal Q4 EPS of $1.67, edging past analyst estimates, while revenue came in near expectations and increased year over year. Earnings report and conference call details
• Positive Sentiment: Fiscal 2026 results highlighted record margins, with operating income rising 25% and diluted EPS increasing meaningfully, signaling stronger operational efficiency. Wiley FY2026 results release
• Positive Sentiment: Management pointed to research and AI momentum plus cash flow growth, which supports the investment case for longer-term revenue and margin expansion. Q4 2026 earnings call highlights
• Neutral Sentiment: Wiley issued FY2027 EPS guidance of 4.60 to 5.05, which brackets the consensus estimate and appears broadly in line with expectations rather than a major upside surprise. Stock and guidance summary
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue of $447.94 million missed the $450 million consensus estimate, and that slight top-line shortfall may limit enthusiasm despite the earnings beat. Earnings call transcript

About John Wiley & Sons

John Wiley & Sons, Inc is a global publishing and educational services company founded in 1807 and headquartered in Hoboken, New Jersey. The company operates through two primary segments: Research & Publishing and Education. Through these segments, Wiley produces a wide range of scholarly journals, books, reference works and digital products for academic, scientific, technical and medical markets, as well as professional development and higher education learning resources.

In its Research & Publishing segment, Wiley publishes thousands of peer-reviewed journals and maintains the Wiley Online Library, a leading platform for scientific and scholarly content.