John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

For fiscal 2026, Wiley said adjusted revenue was flat year over year, or up 1% including currency. Adjusted EBITDA margin improved 220 basis points to 26.2%, adjusted operating margin rose 260 basis points to 17.7%, and adjusted EPS grew 15%. Free cash flow increased 55% to 195 million, with shareholder returns of 174 million and record buybacks of 100 million. In Q4, revenue was flat on a constant-currency basis, adjusted EBITDA rose 17% with margin up 480 basis points to 33.2%, adjusted EPS was up 22%, and adjusted operating margin increased 520 basis points to 25.3%. For fiscal 27, management guided to low-to-mid single-digit organic revenue growth, research growth at mid-single digits, adjusted EBITDA margin of 26.5% to 27.5%, adjusted EPS of $4.60 to $5.05, and free cash flow of 205 million; the guide excludes about 78 million of Emerald revenue contribution from organic revenue but includes it in other metrics.

Matthew Kissner framed fiscal 2026 as a breakout year and emphasized that Wiley is becoming more important in the AI economy because of its trusted scientific content and proprietary data. His tone was upbeat and strategic, repeatedly describing a two-engine model: durable research publishing and a fast-growing AI/data analytics business. He highlighted the company’s partnerships, the Emerald acquisition, and new leadership hires as evidence that Wiley is positioning itself for more scalable, higher-margin growth.

Craig Albright focused on execution, margin expansion, cash generation, and capital discipline. He said Q4 adjusted EBITDA margin improved to 33.2% and adjusted operating margin to 25.3%, helped by a 22% reduction in corporate expenses in the quarter; for the full year, corporate expenses were down 15%. He also noted free cash flow rose to 195 million on lower capex of 65 million, with year-end leverage at 1.4x and pro forma leverage after Emerald at about 2.1x, within the long-term target range of 1.5x to 2.5x. On capital allocation, he reiterated priority on organic investment, then M&A, portfolio optimization, and shareholder returns, while noting the credit facility was expanded by 300 million to 1.6 billion.

Analysts focused on the AI revenue outlook, the Emerald acquisition, learning trends, delayed cash collections, and capital allocation. Management said AI revenue should be above 50 million in fiscal 27 and recurring AI revenue should grow to 2x to 3x the 8 million level seen in fiscal 26, while the business shifts away from nonrecurring training revenue. On Emerald, they said it brings about 85 million of revenue, roughly 92% recurring revenue, and about 37% to 38% margins, with $30 million of cost synergies expected by year 3. On learning and cash flow, management attributed weakness to Amazon inventory practices, softer consumer/corporate spending, and timing of large renewals, which they said was not a trend and should catch up in Q1.