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John Wiley & Sons, Inc. key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2026, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. had return on equity of 27.7%, an operating margin of 16.5%, debt equal to 80.6% of equity and a current ratio of 0.54. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.: financial ratios, annual
Fiscal year2010Apr 20102011Apr 20112012Apr 20122013Apr 20132014Apr 20142015Apr 20152016Apr 20162017Apr 20172018Apr 20182019Apr 20192020Apr 20202021Apr 20212022Apr 20222023Apr 20232024Apr 20242025Apr 20252026Apr 2026LTMJul 2026
Gross margin—69.1%69.5%69.8%71.4%——73.2%70.4%69.2%67.7%67.8%66.4%65.7%69.0%74.3%74.3%74.6%
Operating margin14.3%14.2%15.7%11.3%11.6%13.0%10.9%12.3%12.9%12.4%−3.0%9.6%10.5%2.8%2.8%13.2%16.5%14.9%
Net margin8.4%9.9%11.9%8.2%9.0%9.7%8.4%6.6%10.7%9.3%−4.1%7.6%7.1%0.9%−10.7%5.0%13.2%11.9%
Free-cash-flow margin15.7%18.4%17.5%15.8%16.4%15.7%15.3%12.2%14.9%9.6%10.9%14.6%12.0%9.7%7.0%8.4%12.5%14.4%
Return on equity19.9%20.2%21.3%14.4%14.8%15.8%13.9%11.1%17.5%14.2%−7.0%14.6%13.3%1.6%−22.4%11.3%27.7%24.1%
Return on assets6.2%7.3%8.6%5.4%5.5%5.8%4.9%4.1%7.1%5.8%−2.4%4.5%4.4%0.5%−6.9%3.1%8.4%6.9%
Asset turnover0.740.740.720.660.600.600.580.620.660.620.600.590.610.620.640.620.630.58
Current ratio0.720.700.900.951.080.920.860.460.550.570.660.530.570.600.520.540.540.64
Debt to equity89.8%46.4%46.7%68.1%59.2%71.1%58.3%36.4%30.2%40.5%83.0%75.3%68.9%71.7%104.8%106.3%80.6%162.0%
Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest)7.5x14.3x31.0x15.2x14.9x13.9x11.3x12.5x17.4x13.9xn/m10.1x11.1x1.5x1.1x4.2x6.3x5.3x
Effective tax rate28.3%25.6%21.8%22.8%17.9%21.6%16.6%40.5%10.2%21.0%—15.7%29.3%47.9%—41.1%−3.0%−7.2%
SG&A as % of revenue———————54.9%53.1%53.5%54.5%52.7%51.8%51.4%54.1%56.5%53.4%53.7%
Capital spending as % of revenue2.8%3.1%3.8%3.3%3.2%3.8%5.0%6.1%6.4%4.3%4.8%4.0%4.3%4.0%4.1%3.7%3.1%3.0%
Free cash flow ÷ net income185.9%186.9%146.8%193.0%181.1%161.7%180.8%184.7%139.5%103.2%—190.6%168.7%>999%—167.7%94.5%121.0%
Dividends ÷ net income23.0%22.6%22.7%39.8%36.7%38.7%47.9%63.0%38.3%45.0%—51.9%52.1%448.5%—90.4%33.6%37.1%
Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow12.4%20.8%43.3%47.1%42.1%45.6%53.1%58.1%42.2%78.2%61.7%32.8%42.8%57.3%92.7%96.7%83.3%73.1%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

2 of 7 checks passed · July 31, 2026
What it owns · $3.1bn
Short-term assets $438mLonger-term assets $2.7bn
What it owes, and who funded it · $3.1bn
Short-term liabilities $689mLonger-term liabilities $1.6bnShareholders' equity $797m
  • Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $438m of assets due within a year against $689m of liabilities due within a year.
  • Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $438m short-term assets against $1.6bn of longer-dated liabilities.
  • More cash than debt $106m of cash against $1.3bn of debt.
  • Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 162% of equity.
  • Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 81% to 162% over five years.
  • A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $290m of operating cash flow against $1.3bn of debt.
  • Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $249m against $47m of interest.

From John Wiley & Sons, Inc.'s latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

52 /100

Moderate moat

How hard John Wiley & Sons's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

  • Returns on capital 11 / 20

    Cash operating profit has been a median 9.4% of total assets over 8 years.

  • Pricing power 19 / 20

    Gross margin has been a median 69.4%, moving by 3.0 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.

  • Durability 2 / 20

    Operating margin has been a median 10.0%; its worst year was -1.6%.

  • Cash conversion 16 / 20

    Free cash flow was positive in 10 of 10 years, at a median 11.9% of revenue.

  • Discipline 19 / 20

    The diluted share count fell 7.3% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 1.2% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: High. In this industry, the core product is information work that AI systems increasingly perform. The score above includes a 15-point deduction for that exposure (67 before it).

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

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More: Publishing stocks compared, Communication Services sector, rankings of US companies

Figures from John Wiley & Sons, Inc.'s SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 26, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to John Wiley & Sons, Inc.