John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.04 EPS

Posted by Francis Steltz on Sep 5th, 2026

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY – Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.04, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $386.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $380.20 million. John Wiley & Sons had a return on equity of 27.99% and a net margin of 11.90%.The company’s revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. 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:

Research momentum remained strong, with publishing revenue up 12%, submissions up 31%, output up 8%, and customer retention above 99%. Management reaffirmed its mid-single-digit research growth outlook, supported by open access, journal renewals, and the Emerald acquisition.
AI revenue reached $14 million in Q1, with another $14 million already contracted for Q2 and Q3. Wiley maintained its goal of exceeding $50 million in fiscal 2027 AI revenue, although licensing activity remains uneven and lumpy.
Emerald integration is running ahead of schedule, with early cost synergy capture and AI licensing interest. Wiley continues to expect the acquisition to be EPS-accretive in year one and to deliver $30 million of annual cost synergies by year three.
Learning revenue declined 20%, reflecting weak professional and retail demand, lower assessments activity, print declines, and difficult comparisons against prior-year AI licensing revenue. The segment’s adjusted EBITDA margin fell to 15.1% from 27.4%, though management expects trends to improve as the year progresses.
Despite the weak first quarter, management reaffirmed full-year guidance for low- to mid-single-digit organic revenue growth, a 26.5%–27.5% adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted EPS of $4.60–$5.05, and $205 million of free cash flow. Corporate adjusted EBITDA expenses fell 19%, and the company raised its dividend for the 33rd consecutive year.

John Wiley & Sons Stock Down 5.1%

Shares of NYSE:WLY opened at $48.06 on Friday. John Wiley & Sons has a 52 week low of $28.38 and a 52 week high of $57.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion, a PE ratio of 12.71 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $51.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.54.

John Wiley & Sons Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 7th were issued a dividend of $0.3575 per share. This is an increase from John Wiley & Sons’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 7th. John Wiley & Sons’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.81%.

Key John Wiley & Sons News

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

Positive Sentiment: Wiley reported fiscal first-quarter adjusted EPS of $0.44, above the $0.40 analyst consensus, while revenue of $386.4 million also exceeded estimates of $380.2 million. The earnings beat helped initially support the stock. John Wiley & Sons Beats Q1 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
Positive Sentiment: Management reaffirmed its full-year outlook and provided fiscal 2027 EPS guidance of $4.60 to $5.05, compared with the $4.80 consensus estimate. The midpoint is broadly in line with expectations, reducing the risk of a near-term guidance cut. Wiley Reports First Quarter 2027 Results
Neutral Sentiment: Management characterized first-quarter results as in line with expectations and maintained its full-year outlook, suggesting the quarter did not materially change the company’s broader operating plan. John Wiley Q1 2027 Earnings Call Transcript
Negative Sentiment: GAAP diluted EPS was a loss of $0.23, compared with earnings of $0.22 a year earlier, largely because of restructuring charges. Revenue declined approximately 3% year over year to $386 million, operating income fell to $3 million from $31 million, and adjusted EPS also declined from $0.49. These trends overshadowed the adjusted quarterly beat. Wiley Turns to Q1 Loss, Revenue Declines

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on WLY. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of John Wiley & Sons from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of John Wiley & Sons from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, John Wiley & Sons currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

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Institutional Trading of John Wiley & Sons

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WLY. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 519.8% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 564 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 359.0% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 815 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 1,595.7% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 780 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of John Wiley & Sons during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of John Wiley & Sons during the 4th quarter valued at about $60,000. Institutional investors own 73.94% of the company’s stock.

John Wiley & Sons Company Profile

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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.