John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
- Open
- 53.29
- Day high
- 53.29
- Day low
- 51.79
- Prev close
- 53.71
- Volume
- 686K
- Mkt cap
- $2.7B
- P/E (TTM)
- 12.4
- EPS (TTM)
- $4.22
- P/B
- 3.1
- P/S
- 1.6
- Yield
- 1.36%
- Per share
- $0.71
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (WLY) is a Communication Services company listed on NYSE. The stock is up 31% over the past year. Drillr has 1 published research article covering WLY.
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (WLY) financials & analyst ratings
Fundamentals (TTM)
Source: exchange market data + company filings. Figures are trailing-twelve-month or as most recently reported. For informational purposes only — not investment advice.
WLY earnings date, history & EPS estimates
| Report date | EPS est | EPS actual | Surprise | Revenue | Rev. surprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 16, 2026 | $1.65 | $1.67 | +1.3% | $448M | -0.3% |
| Mar 5, 2026 | $0.86 | $0.97 | +12.4% | $410M | -8.2% |
| Dec 4, 2025 | $0.79 | $1.10 | +39.6% | $422M | +1.6% |
| Sep 4, 2025 | $1.05 | $0.49 | -53.4% | $397M | -7.0% |
| Jun 17, 2025 | $1.27 | $1.37 | +7.7% | $443M | +2.0% |
| Mar 6, 2025 | $0.65 | $0.84 | +29.4% | $405M | -6.8% |
| Dec 5, 2024 | $0.87 | $0.97 | +11.0% | $427M | +1.2% |
| Sep 5, 2024 | $0.54 | $0.47 | -13.4% | $404M | +3.8% |
| Jun 13, 2024 | $0.82 | $1.21 | +47.7% | $468M | +6.1% |
| Mar 7, 2024 | $0.46 | $0.59 | +29.1% | $461M | +4.7% |
| Dec 6, 2023 | $0.57 | $0.73 | +27.4% | $493M | +28.3% |
| Sep 7, 2023 | $-0.06 | $0.27 | +550.0% | $451M | +23.1% |
WLY insider trading activity (SEC Form 4)
| Date | Insider | Type | Shares | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 24, 2026 | Madden Karen Ndirector | Grant | 39 | — |
| Jul 24, 2026 | MCDANIEL RAYMOND Wdirector | Grant | 462 | — |
| Jul 24, 2026 | Singh Inder Mdirector | Grant | 114 | — |
| Jul 24, 2026 | Andresen Katherine Dunndirector | Grant | 31 | — |
| Jul 24, 2026 | Dobson David Cdirector | Grant | 230 | — |
| Jul 24, 2026 | Baker Mari Jeandirector | Grant | 311 | — |
| Jul 24, 2026 | Hemphill Brian Odirector | Grant | 105 | — |
| Jul 1, 2026 | Silver Deirdre P.officer: EVP, General Counsel | Option | 14,171 | — |
| Jul 1, 2026 | Weber Andrewofficer: EVP, Technology and Operations | Option | 905 | — |
| Jul 1, 2026 | Caridi Christopherofficer: SVP, Chief Accounting Officer | Option | 905 | — |
| Jul 1, 2026 | Caridi Christopherofficer: SVP, Chief Accounting Officer | Tax | 1,885 | $48.51 |
| Jul 1, 2026 | Weber Andrewofficer: EVP, Technology and Operations | Tax | 4,168 | $48.51 |
| Jul 1, 2026 | Monaco Kevinofficer: SVP, Treasurer & Tax | Tax | 1,219 | $48.51 |
| Jul 1, 2026 | Caridi Christopherofficer: SVP, Chief Accounting Officer | Option | 4,319 | — |
| Jul 1, 2026 | McMahan Danielleofficer: EVP, Chief People Officer | Option | 15,810 | — |
Source: WLY SEC Form 4 filings, latest Jul 24, 2026. For informational purposes only — not investment advice.
See the full WLY insider & 13F page →John Wiley & Sons, Inc. company profile
Overview
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY) is a 217-year-old American publishing and education services company founded in 1807. Originally established as a traditional book publisher, Wiley has evolved into a global research and education company serving academic institutions, researchers, professionals, and corporations worldwide. The company operates through three main segments: Research Publishing & Platforms, Academic & Professional Learning, and Education Services. Headquartered in Hoboken, New Jersey, Wiley has undergone significant strategic transformation in recent years, divesting non-core businesses to focus on its research publishing and learning operations while capitalizing on emerging opportunities in artificial intelligence and digital content licensing.
Business
John Wiley & Sons operates in the academic and professional publishing industry, serving the global research and education ecosystem through three distinct business segments. The Research Publishing & Platforms segment represents the company's largest and most profitable division, generating approximately 45-50% of total revenue. This segment publishes scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly journals across disciplines including physical sciences, engineering, health sciences, social sciences, and humanities. The segment serves learned societies, individual researchers, academic institutions, corporate libraries, and government organizations. Beyond traditional journal publishing, this division operates the Literatum platform, which provides publishing software and services to scholarly societies and publishers for web-based content delivery and management. The segment has been transitioning toward open access publishing models, where research articles are freely available to readers while publication costs are covered by authors or their institutions. The Academic & Professional Learning segment accounts for roughly 35-40% of revenue and focuses on educational content and professional development. This includes digital courseware (particularly the zyBooks platform for STEM education), textbooks, professional development materials, and test preparation services. The segment serves colleges, universities, libraries, corporations, students, and working professionals. Digital courseware has become increasingly important, with products like zyBooks showing strong growth as educational institutions adopt interactive, technology-enhanced learning materials. The Education Services segment represents the smallest portion at approximately 10-15% of revenue, providing online program management services for higher education institutions and talent development services including professional training and placement services for businesses. This segment helps universities develop and manage online degree programs while also offering corporate training solutions to address skills gaps in the workforce.
Revenue model
Wiley generates revenue through multiple business models across its segments. The Research Publishing division primarily operates on a subscription model, where academic libraries and institutions pay annual fees to access journal content. This creates highly recurring revenue streams, with the company completing approximately 80% of its journal subscription renewals early in each fiscal year. Additionally, this segment generates revenue through open access publishing fees, where authors or their institutions pay article processing charges to make research freely available. The division also earns licensing revenue, particularly from AI companies seeking to train large language models on Wiley's scientific content - a new revenue stream that generated $44 million in recent quarters. The Academic & Professional Learning segment operates through direct sales of educational materials, digital courseware subscriptions, and professional development services. Revenue comes from textbook sales, digital platform subscriptions (like zyBooks), and corporate training programs. The Education Services segment generates revenue through service fees for managing online university programs and providing talent development services to corporations. Several factors influence Wiley's profitability margins. Positive margin drivers include the company's transition to digital delivery (83% of revenue is now digital), which reduces printing and distribution costs, and the shift toward open access publishing, which can command higher per-article fees. The growing AI content licensing opportunity provides high-margin revenue with minimal incremental costs. Negative margin pressures include competition from open access publishers, declining university enrollments affecting textbook sales, corporate spending constraints during economic uncertainty, and the need for continuous technology investment to maintain competitive digital platforms. Currency fluctuations also impact margins given Wiley's global operations, and the company faces ongoing pressure to invest in AI capabilities and digital transformation initiatives.
Competitive moat
Wiley's competitive moat is moderate but faces increasing challenges from digital disruption. The company's primary moat stems from its extensive content library accumulated over more than two centuries, including relationships with prestigious academic societies and researchers who contribute high-quality scholarly content. The Research Publishing segment benefits from the established journal ranking system and impact factors, where researchers must publish in recognized journals for career advancement, creating switching costs for both authors and institutional subscribers. The company's Literatum publishing platform provides some technological moat by offering integrated publishing services to scholarly societies, creating switching costs once societies adopt the platform. Wiley's brand recognition in academic and professional circles, particularly in STEM fields, provides customer loyalty and pricing power. However, Wiley's moat is being eroded by several competitive threats. Open access publishers like PLOS ONE and newer entrants are challenging traditional subscription models with lower-cost alternatives. Preprint servers such as arXiv allow researchers to share findings immediately without traditional peer review, potentially reducing demand for formal journal publication. Institutional repositories and government mandates for open access publishing threaten subscription revenue models. In the learning segment, digital education platforms and free online resources compete with traditional textbooks and courseware. The rise of AI poses both opportunity and threat - while Wiley can license content to AI companies, these same AI systems might eventually generate educational content that competes with Wiley's offerings. The company's moat is best described as moderate, relying heavily on established relationships and content quality, but requiring continuous adaptation to maintain relevance in a rapidly digitizing industry.
Risks & safety
Wiley's margin of safety appears concerning from a traditional financial stability perspective, though the company maintains adequate liquidity for operations. **Liquidity and Solvency:** • Current ratio of 0.55 indicates current liabilities significantly exceed current assets • Quick ratio of 0.52 shows limited ability to meet short-term obligations with liquid assets • Cash and short-term investments of $105 million provide modest liquidity cushion • Debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44 indicates high leverage with debt exceeding equity value • Free cash flow of $125 million (Q3 2025) demonstrates ability to generate cash from operations **Valuation Metrics:** • EV/EBITDA of 11.0x appears reasonable for a stable publishing business • Price-to-book ratio of 3.2x suggests shares trade at premium to book value • Graham net-net of -30.7 indicates negative liquidation value • Negative return on equity of -3.3% (Q3 2025) shows recent profitability challenges **Other Considerations:** • Highly recurring subscription revenue (58% of total) provides revenue stability • Recent AI licensing deals ($44 million year-to-date) offer new revenue streams • Ongoing cost reduction program targeting $130 million in savings provides margin improvement potential • Working capital intensive business model typical for publishing industry
Recent development
Over the past few years, Wiley has undergone significant strategic transformation focused on portfolio optimization and digital innovation. The company completed a major restructuring program, divesting non-core businesses including University Services, Wiley Edge, and CrossKnowledge to concentrate resources on its Research Publishing and Learning segments. This strategic refocusing was accompanied by an aggressive cost reduction initiative targeting $130 million in savings, with approximately 90% of these savings already implemented. The most significant recent development has been Wiley's entry into AI content licensing, generating $44 million in revenue year-to-date through partnerships with technology companies seeking high-quality scientific content to train large language models. The company has adopted a selective approach to these partnerships, emphasizing protection of author rights and responsible AI development. Beyond external licensing, Wiley is internally deploying AI for workflow automation, document review, research integrity, and content creation processes. In the Research segment, Wiley has accelerated its transition to open access publishing, with open access now representing 33% of publishing revenue and growing in double digits. The company has signed transformational agreements with multiple countries and expanded its institutional partnerships, including a significant subscription agreement covering 6,000 research institutions in India. Technology investments have focused on developing an end-to-end research publishing platform and implementing AI-powered research integrity tools. The Learning segment has seen strong growth in digital courseware, particularly the zyBooks STEM platform which has grown over 30% annually. The company has also expanded its professional development offerings and improved its digital content acquisition capabilities. Recent leadership changes include the appointment of an interim CFO and the elimination of the CTO position, with technology and operations functions consolidated under unified leadership to improve operational efficiency.
WLY company profile · for informational purposes only — not investment advice.
Track WLY with Drillr
SEC filings, earnings calls, insider activity, alt-data signals — all queryable through Drillr's AI terminal and MCP API.
Try Drillr for free