John Wiley & Sons Inc - Class A
Q3 2026 Earnings
Market Reaction
S&P 500 over the same 30 days: −3.24%.
Did WLY Beat Earnings? Q3 2026 Results
John Wiley & Sons delivered a strong fiscal third quarter, posting adjusted EPS of $0.97 against a consensus estimate of $0.86, a beat of 12.79%, while revenue of $410.04 million topped the $391.00 million estimate by 4.87% and edged up 1.3% year over year. The primary engine behind the outperformance was the company's Research segment, which generated $274.12 million in revenue and benefited from accelerating AI and data services activity, including $7.00 million in AI revenue during the quarter and roughly $42.00 million year-to-date, as Wiley crossed $100.00 million in lifetime AI revenue. Adjusted EBITDA rose 12% at constant currency to $105.41 million, with margin expanding 250 basis points to 25.7%, while year-to-date operating cash flow nearly doubled to $103.31 million. JPMorgan Chase raised its stake in the company by 13.8% during the period, a signal of institutional confidence. Looking ahead, management tightened its FY2026 guidance toward the high end of its adjusted EPS range of $3.90 to $4.35 and adjusted EBITDA margin of 25.5% to 26.5%, while reaffirming approximately $200.00 million in free cash flow.
- Research Publishing grew 4% at constant currency excluding prior year AI revenue comparison
- Article submissions up 26% and output up 11% year-to-date
- Open access revenue grew 24% year-to-date
- Corporate expenses reduced 21% at constant currency through restructuring and tech transformation
- Adjusted Operating Margin expanded 280 basis points to 17.0%
- Adjusted EBITDA Margin expanded 250 basis points to 25.7%
- Lower share count from accelerated buyback program
“We continue to accelerate our progress in major areas of focus, from driving Research and AI growth to delivering materially higher margins and cash flow. In Research Publishing, we're leveraging our scale and competitive moat to grow market share and drive record publishing output, with AI as a further accelerator. In AI and data services, we're leveraging our proprietary content and unparalleled partner ecosystem to execute strategic multi-year agreements with corporations in life sciences and other verticals. We recently surpassed $100 million in lifetime AI revenue and secured our first LLM customer outside the US. Finally, margin expansion remains our company-wide ethos as evidenced by our 280 basis point improvement in our Adjusted Operating Margin.”
John Wiley & Sons CEO, on the earnings call
Forward Guidance & Outlook
Wiley is guiding to the high end of its FY2026 outlook range for Adjusted EBITDA margin (25.5% to 26.5%) and Adjusted EPS ($3.90 to $4.35), while reaffirming Adjusted Revenue (low-single digit growth from FY2025's $1,660M) and Free Cash Flow (approximately $200M). Research and AI momentum are expected to remain strong. Looking ahead to FY2027, the company expects continued Research growth, accelerating AI momentum, further margin expansion from tech transformation and corporate expense reduction, and ongoing disciplined capital allocation.
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Figures from SEC filings and company reports. Not investment advice.