John Wiley & Sons Stock Earnings Reports

Wiley reported a mixed Q2: strong execution and momentum in Research and AI offset by continued weakness in Learning. Research publishing grew (7% in publishing; 5% overall research) supported by record submission volumes, double-digit open access growth, and recurring revenue models. Management highlighted accelerating AI monetization — another LLM licensing deal in the quarter, ~$35M of AI training revenue year-to-date, and nearly $100M of AI training revenue realized in under two years — plus development of Nexus content licensing and a new AI Gateway for content enrichment and RAG use cases. Corporate R&D subscriptions are nascent but expanding (eight customers cited, including ESA, Novartis, Regeneron) with strategic partnerships (AWS, Anthropic, Perplexity, Mistral). Learning revenue declined (down 11% in the quarter, down ~10% year-to-date) driven by retail channel/inventory shifts (notably Amazon), softer consumer and corporate spending, and an 8% enrollment decline in undergraduate computer science; management views these largely as cyclical and expects moderation in H2 while taking price, product and cost actions. Financials: adjusted EBITDA grew 8%; adjusted operating margin expanded 250 bps to 18.8% in Q2 and management reaffirmed full-year targets for margin, adjusted EPS ($3.90–$4.35) and free cash flow (~$200M) while narrowing revenue guidance to the low end of prior range (low single-digit growth). Capital allocation: buybacks accelerated (+69% in the quarter; $21M), $73M returned through the half, net debt/EBITDA ~2.0x and expected to meaningfully decline. Operational priorities: technology transformation, cost discipline, and AI-driven productivity to drive further margin expansion and lower cost base. Management reiterated long-term confidence in Research as a durable, AI-enabled growth engine and signaled continued opportunistic buybacks and selective M&A in high-impact journals/data.