John Wiley & Sons
WLY NYSE Publishing Financials FY2017βFY2026
John Wiley & Sons' revenue fell 0.1% to $1.7 billion in fiscal 2026. Its operating margin was 16.5%, up from 13.2% a year earlier. Free cash flow was $209 million, up 48.4%. It paid out $174 million in dividends and buybacks, 83% of free cash flow. The diluted share count fell 2.9%.
What John Wiley & Sons does
No business description yet.
- Legal name
- JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC.
- Fiscal year ends
- April 30, 2026
- Latest annual report
- β
- Accession Β· CIK
- 0001628280-26-045111
0000107140
Revenue and margins
John Wiley & Sons had $1.7B of revenue in fiscal 2026, down 0.1% on the year before.
Net income and earnings per share
From fiscal 2017 to 2026, diluted EPS grew 8.8% a year. Loss periods are shown in red.
Returns on capital
After-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash.
Cash flow
Free cash flow was $209M in fiscal 2026, 12.5% of revenue. Cash from operations minus capital spending.
Dividends, buybacks and share count
John Wiley & Sons returned $174M to shareholders in fiscal 2026, 83% of free cash flow. The diluted share count fell 2.9%.
Value John Wiley & Sons yourself
Change the assumptions and see what they imply per share. These are models, not forecasts or price targets β the answer depends entirely on what you put in.
Discounted cash flow
Value per share
β
Adds net cash of β$608M and divides by 53.2M diluted shares. Ten years of cash flows plus a terminal value, discounted to today.
Earnings multiple
Value per share
β
Reference multiples: today 14.5x Β· peers 29.4x Β· sector 17.3x.
Balance sheet
Cash, debt and the ratios that show how comfortably John Wiley & Sons can carry it.
| Fiscal year end | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 | FY26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | $100M | $107M | $83.2M | $85.9M | $75.6M |
| Debt incl. finance leases | $787M | $748M | $775M | $799M | $683M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.6x | 2.4x | 3.0x | 1.9x | 1.5x |
| Debt / equity | 0.7x | 0.7x | 1.1x | 1.1x | 0.8x |
| Interest coverage | 11.1x | 1.5x | 1.1x | 4.2x | 6.3x |
| Current ratio | 0.6x | 0.6x | 0.5x | 0.5x | 0.5x |
| Quick ratio | 0.5x | 0.6x | 0.5x | 0.5x | 0.5x |
| Total assets | $3.4B | $3.1B | $2.7B | $2.7B | $2.6B |
| Total liabilities | $2.2B | $2.1B | $2.0B | $1.9B | $1.7B |
| Shareholders' equity | $1.1B | $1.0B | $740M | $752M | $848M |
| Net debt (β = net cash) | $687M | $642M | $691M | $714M | $608M |
Insider trades
Open-market purchases and sales by officers, directors and 10% owners, from Form 4 filings. 'Plan' marks trades under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
Bought, 12 months
$0.0M
0 insiders
Sold, 12 months
$0.0M
0 insiders
Of sales under plans
β
$0.0M
No open-market insider trades in the last 12 months.
Piotroski F-score
Nine pass/fail tests of profitability, funding and efficiency. 8β9 is strong, 0β2 weak.
| Test | FY24 | FY25 | FY26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | β | β | β |
| Cash from operations is positive | β | β | β |
| Return on assets rose | β | β | β |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | β | β | β |
| Debt fell relative to assets | β | β | β |
| Current ratio rose | β | β | β |
| Share count didn't rise | β | β | β |
| Gross margin rose | β | β | β |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | β | β | β |
| F-score | 5 / 9 | 8 / 9 | 8 / 9 |
| Accruals ratio | β14.0% | β4.4% | β1.5% |
| Altman Z'' | 1.40 | 1.96 | 2.51 |
Similar companies
Each company's latest fiscal year. Fiscal years end in different months, so periods don't line up exactly.
| Company | Market cap | Growth | Op. margin | FCF margin | ROIC | P/E | F-score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Wiley & Sons WLY | $2.7B | β0.1% | 16.5% | 12.5% | 19.0% | 14.5x | 8 | |
| Scholastic SCHL | $728M | β2.7% | 1.0% | 0.2% | 1.1% | 27.1x | 7 | Compare β |
| New York Times NYT | $11.3B | 9.2% | 15.3% | 19.5% | 23.8% | 29.0x | 7 | Compare β |
| News NWSA | $17.2B | 6.8% | β | 9.0% | 8.9% | 29.8x | 5 | Compare β |
| Tripadvisor TRIP | $1.1B | 3.1% | 4.2% | 8.6% | 8.9% | 156.8x | 6 | Compare β |
10 years of figures
US$ millions unless stated. Hover a ratio's name for its definition.
| Fiscal year | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 | FY26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | $1.7B | $1.8B | $1.8B | $1.8B | $1.9B | $2.1B | $2.0B | $1.9B | $1.7B | $1.7B |
| Gross profit | $1.3B | $1.3B | $1.2B | $1.2B | $1.3B | $1.4B | $1.3B | $1.3B | $1.2B | $1.2B |
| Operating income | $212M | $232M | $224M | β$54.3M | $186M | $219M | $55.9M | $52.3M | $221M | $277M |
| Interest expense | $16.9M | $13.3M | $16.1M | $25.0M | $18.4M | $19.8M | $37.7M | $49.0M | $52.5M | $43.8M |
| Pretax income | $191M | $214M | $213M | β$63.1M | $176M | $210M | $33.1M | β$187M | $143M | $215M |
| Income tax | $77.5M | $21.7M | $44.7M | $11.2M | $27.7M | $61.4M | $15.9M | $13.3M | $58.7M | β$6.5M |
| Net income | $114M | $192M | $168M | β$74.3M | $148M | $148M | $17.2M | β$200M | $84.2M | $222M |
| Diluted EPS | $1.95 | $3.32 | $2.91 | β$1.32 | $2.63 | $2.62 | $0.31 | β$3.65 | $1.53 | $4.16 |
| Diluted shares | 0.06B | 0.06B | 0.06B | 0.06B | 0.06B | 0.06B | 0.06B | 0.05B | 0.05B | 0.05B |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | $315M | $382M | $251M | $288M | $360M | $339M | $277M | $208M | $203M | $261M |
| Capital expenditure | $105M | $114M | $77.2M | $88.6M | $77.4M | $88.8M | $81.2M | $76.1M | $61.5M | $51.2M |
| Free cash flow | $210M | $268M | $174M | $200M | $283M | $250M | $196M | $132M | $141M | $209M |
| Depreciation and amortization | $157M | $154M | $161M | $175M | $200M | $215M | $213M | $177M | $147M | $144M |
| Stock-based compensation | $17.6M | $11.2M | $18.3M | $20.0M | $22.0M | $25.7M | $26.5M | $25.0M | $22.2M | $20.6M |
| Acquisitions | $126M | $0.0M | $190M | $230M | $300M | $75.7M | $7.3M | $3.1M | $3.6M | $0.2M |
| Share buybacks | $50.3M | $39.7M | $60.0M | $46.6M | $15.8M | $30.0M | $35.0M | $45.0M | $60.4M | $100M |
| Dividends paid | $71.5M | $73.5M | $75.8M | $76.7M | $76.9M | $77.2M | $77.3M | $77.0M | $76.1M | $74.4M |
| Dividends and buybacks | $122M | $113M | $136M | $123M | $92.7M | $107M | $112M | $122M | $137M | $174M |
| Balance sheet | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | $58.5M | $170M | $92.9M | $203M | $93.8M | $100M | $107M | $83.2M | $85.9M | $75.6M |
| Total debt | $365M | $360M | $479M | $775M | $822M | $787M | $748M | $775M | $799M | $683M |
| Finance lease liabilities | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M |
| Current assets | $360M | $480M | $503M | $615M | $526M | $551M | $541M | $454M | $440M | $420M |
| Current liabilities | $788M | $874M | $882M | $927M | $989M | $969M | $896M | $873M | $821M | $779M |
| Inventory | $47.9M | $39.5M | $35.6M | $43.6M | $42.5M | $36.6M | $30.7M | $26.2M | $22.9M | $19.3M |
| Property and equipment, net | $243M | $290M | $289M | $298M | $282M | $272M | $247M | $192M | $162M | $136M |
| Total assets | $2.6B | $2.8B | $2.9B | $3.2B | $3.4B | $3.4B | $3.1B | $2.7B | $2.7B | $2.6B |
| Total liabilities | $1.6B | $1.6B | $1.8B | $2.2B | $2.4B | $2.2B | $2.1B | $2.0B | $1.9B | $1.7B |
| Shareholders' equity | $1.0B | $1.2B | $1.2B | $934M | $1.1B | $1.1B | $1.0B | $740M | $752M | $848M |
| Margins | ||||||||||
| Gross margin | 73.2% | 70.4% | 69.2% | 67.7% | 67.8% | 66.4% | 65.7% | 69.1% | 74.3% | 74.3% |
| Operating margin | 12.3% | 12.9% | 12.4% | β3.0% | 9.6% | 10.5% | 2.8% | 2.8% | 13.2% | 16.5% |
| EBITDA margin | 21.4% | 21.5% | 21.4% | 6.6% | 19.9% | 20.9% | 13.3% | 12.2% | 22.0% | 25.1% |
| Net margin | 6.6% | 10.7% | 9.4% | β4.1% | 7.6% | 7.1% | 0.9% | β10.7% | 5.0% | 13.2% |
| FCF margin | 12.2% | 14.9% | 9.7% | 10.9% | 14.6% | 12.0% | 9.7% | 7.0% | 8.4% | 12.5% |
| Returns | ||||||||||
| Return on capital | 9.7% | 15.5% | 12.0% | β2.8% | 9.4% | 8.5% | 1.7% | 2.7% | 9.0% | 19.0% |
| Return on capital employed | 10.7% | 12.2% | 11.1% | β2.5% | 7.9% | 9.0% | 2.4% | 2.6% | 11.9% | 15.0% |
| Return on equity | 11.1% | 17.5% | 14.2% | β7.0% | 14.6% | 13.3% | 1.6% | β22.5% | 11.3% | 27.7% |
| Return on assets | 4.1% | 7.1% | 5.8% | β2.4% | 4.5% | 4.4% | 0.5% | β6.9% | 3.1% | 8.4% |
| Growth | ||||||||||
| Revenue growth | β0.5% | 4.5% | 0.2% | 1.8% | 6.0% | 7.3% | β3.0% | β7.3% | β10.4% | β0.1% |
| Net income growth | β22.1% | 69.1% | β12.5% | β144.2% | β | 0.0% | β88.4% | β1,262.4% | β | 163.3% |
| EPS growth | β21.4% | 70.3% | β12.4% | β145.4% | β | β0.4% | β88.2% | β1,277.4% | β | 171.9% |
| FCF growth | β20.4% | 27.8% | β35.2% | 15.1% | 41.4% | β11.4% | β21.7% | β32.9% | 7.3% | 48.4% |
| Share count change | β0.9% | β0.5% | β0.1% | β2.8% | 0.5% | 0.2% | β0.4% | β2.5% | β0.2% | β2.9% |
| Financial health | ||||||||||
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.8x | 0.5x | 1.0x | 4.7x | 1.9x | 1.6x | 2.4x | 3.0x | 1.9x | 1.5x |
| Debt / equity | 0.4x | 0.3x | 0.4x | 0.8x | 0.8x | 0.7x | 0.7x | 1.1x | 1.1x | 0.8x |
| Interest coverage | 12.5x | 17.4x | 13.9x | β2.2x | 10.1x | 11.1x | 1.5x | 1.1x | 4.2x | 6.3x |
| Current ratio | 0.5x | 0.6x | 0.6x | 0.7x | 0.5x | 0.6x | 0.6x | 0.5x | 0.5x | 0.5x |
| Quick ratio | 0.4x | 0.5x | 0.5x | 0.6x | 0.5x | 0.5x | 0.6x | 0.5x | 0.5x | 0.5x |
| Capital allocation | ||||||||||
| Capex / revenue | 6.1% | 6.4% | 4.3% | 4.8% | 4.0% | 4.3% | 4.0% | 4.1% | 3.7% | 3.1% |
| Stock comp / revenue | 1.0% | 0.6% | 1.0% | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1.2% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.2% |
| Payouts / FCF | 58.1% | 42.2% | 78.2% | 61.7% | 32.8% | 42.8% | 57.3% | 92.8% | 96.7% | 83.3% |
| Quality scores | ||||||||||
| Piotroski F-score | 7.0 | 7.0 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 6.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| Altman Z'' | 2.3 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 2.5 |
| Accruals ratio | β7.3% | β7.0% | β2.9% | β11.9% | β6.4% | β5.6% | β8.0% | β14.0% | β4.4% | β1.5% |
Source: SEC EDGAR XBRL filings (CIK 0000107140). Data updated October 19, 2026. Quarterly fourth quarters are the full year minus the first nine months. For information only β not investment advice. Check the original filings before relying on any figure.