Hello, everyone and welcome to News Corp's Fiscal First Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. We issued our earnings press release about 30 minutes ago, and it's now posted on our website at newscorp.com. Additionally, this call will include certain non-GAAP financial measurements such as total segment EBITDA, adjusted segment EBITDA, and adjusted EPS. The definitions and GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations of such measures can be found in the earnings release for the applicable periods posted on our website.

Overall, our revenue for the period rose 2% versus the prior year to $2.14 billion, and total segment EBITDA increased by 5% to $340 million. Net income from continuing operations was $150 million, up from $149 million last year and our adjusted EPS rose from $0.20 to $0.22 in the quarter. Clearly, our current cash position is robust, and we expect to generate strong free cash flow this fiscal year and have thus materially increased the rate of our share buybacks. As for our segments during the quarter, Dow Jones EBITDA rose 10% compared to a year earlier, following a solid 6% increase in revenue.

Once again, we saw particularly strong revenue growth at risk and compliance, where revenues surged 16%, while Dow Jones Energy revenues were 7% higher. Digital circulation revenues rose from 72% of total circulation revenues last year to 75%, and an increase in digital advertising revenue was offset by a marginal decline in print advertising. In total, digital accounted for 68% of advertising revenues for the quarter, a new record. real estate market, as lower interest rates stimulated higher demand for housing.

What went well
  • Group revenue rose 2% to $2.14 billion and total segment EBITDA increased 5% to $340 million, with adjusted EPS up from $0.20 to $0.22 and margins improving 40 bps to 15.9%.
  • Dow Jones posted revenue up 6% to $586 million and EBITDA up 10% to $144 million (margin ~25%, +90 bps), led by risk & compliance revenue surging 16% to $94 million and Dow Jones Energy up 7% to $73 million.
  • Digital real estate revenue grew 5% to $479 million (7% adjusted) and EBITDA rose 13% to $158 million (16% adjusted), lifting margin from 30.6% to 33%; Realtor.com revenue climbed 9% to $152 million, its fourth straight quarter of growth and highest rate in nearly four years.
  • News media EBITDA jumped 67% to $30 million on cost efficiencies, lifting margin from 3.3% to 5.5%, with New York Post digital advertising up roughly 19-23%.
  • Materially accelerated share buybacks to about $2.5 million per day, over 4x the previous pace, backed by a robust cash position and expectations for strong free cash flow.
What went wrong
  • Book publishing was uncharacteristically weak: segment revenue fell 2% to $534 million and EBITDA dropped 28% ($23 million) to $58 million, hurt by softer U.S. orders and tough prior-year comps (JD Vance's Hillbilly Elegy, Bridgerton, Wicked).
  • A $13 million receivable write-off tied to the expected closure of distributor Baker & Taylor weighed on HarperCollins and total segment EBITDA.
  • HarperCollins digital revenue fell 9% and audiobooks were down 11% on title mix; GAAP continuing-operations EPS slipped to $0.20 from $0.21.
  • FX and softer Australian listings pressured REA, whose revenue rose only 3% reported (5% constant currency) as new buy listings fell 8% (Melbourne -4%, Sydney -6%); Realtor.com average monthly unique users declined 6% to 72 million.

More on News Corp

Reported 2025-11-06 · figures from the News Corp Q1 2026 earnings call.

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