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News Corp.: Q4 FY2026 earnings call

What management said about Q4 FY2026, from the documents filed with the SEC on 5 August 2026: press release. The quarter’s numbers.

Key takeaways

  • Fourth quarter revenue and profit rose: Fourth quarter revenue rose 11% to $2.34 billion. Net income from continuing operations rose 167% to $230 million, mainly on higher Total Segment EBITDA and lower impairment and restructuring charges. Source
  • Full-year revenue and EBITDA grew: Fiscal 2026 revenue rose 7% to $9.03 billion, net income from continuing operations rose 15% to $743 million, and Total Segment EBITDA rose 15% to $1.63 billion. Source
  • Dow Jones Q4 segment EBITDA up 20%: Dow Jones fourth quarter revenue rose 7% to $644 million and segment EBITDA rose 20% to $181 million. Circulation and subscription revenue rose 7% and digital advertising revenue rose 10%. Source
  • Digital Real Estate Services Q4 up 46%: Fourth quarter revenue rose 19% to $553 million and segment EBITDA rose 46% to $222 million. Move revenue rose 13% to $167 million. Source
  • Free cash flow rose 42%: Full-year free cash flow was $811 million against $571 million. Capital expenditures were $426 million in the year. Source
  • Buyback accelerated to $643 million: Management said the buyback accelerated to well over four times the prior year’s rate. The cash flow statement shows $641 million of News Corp share repurchases and $141 million of REA Group share repurchases. Source
  • Core growth engines and digital shift: Management attributes the results to reinvestment in its core growth engines and its move to a digital-first company built on trusted content. Source
  • AI content deals described as advanced: The company has content relationships with OpenAI and Meta and says it is in advanced discussions with several other companies. The prior release referred to discussions with other companies. Source

“We concluded Fiscal 2026 with an exceptional fourth quarter performance, including an 11% increase in revenues to $2.34 billion and the highest profitability on record.”

Robert Thomson, Chief Executive

What changed from last quarter

  • New: REA India announced the sale of its remaining business, Housing.com, to Aurum Proptech Limited. The prior release reported the sale of PropTiger and the closure of Housing Edge. Source

Results and growth drivers

  • Fourth quarter revenue and profit rose: Fourth quarter revenue rose 11% to $2.34 billion. Net income from continuing operations rose 167% to $230 million, mainly on higher Total Segment EBITDA and lower impairment and restructuring charges. Source
  • Full-year revenue and EBITDA grew: Fiscal 2026 revenue rose 7% to $9.03 billion, net income from continuing operations rose 15% to $743 million, and Total Segment EBITDA rose 15% to $1.63 billion. Source
  • Currency lifted full-year revenue: Foreign currency added $189 million, or 2%, to full-year revenue. Adjusted Revenues, which exclude currency, acquisitions and divestitures, rose 4%. Source
  • Fourth quarter EPS rose to $0.33: Fourth quarter diluted EPS from continuing operations was $0.33 against $0.09. Adjusted EPS was $0.35 against $0.19. Source
  • Adjusted EPS rose for the year: Full-year diluted EPS from continuing operations was $1.03 against $0.84. Adjusted diluted EPS was $1.18 against $0.89. Source

Segments and regions

  • Dow Jones Q4 segment EBITDA up 20%: Dow Jones fourth quarter revenue rose 7% to $644 million and segment EBITDA rose 20% to $181 million. Circulation and subscription revenue rose 7% and digital advertising revenue rose 10%. Source
  • Risk & Compliance and Energy grew: Full-year professional information revenue rose 9%. Risk & Compliance revenue grew 16% to $392 million and Dow Jones Energy revenue grew 8% to $301 million. Source
  • Digital Real Estate Services Q4 up 46%: Fourth quarter revenue rose 19% to $553 million and segment EBITDA rose 46% to $222 million. Move revenue rose 13% to $167 million. Source
  • Book Publishing Q4 revenue up 15%: Fourth quarter Book Publishing revenue rose 15% to $566 million and segment EBITDA rose 14% to $57 million. Backlist was about 60% of consumer revenue, against 65% a year earlier. Source
  • Acquisitions added to book revenue: Full-year Book Publishing revenue rose 6% to $2.29 billion. The increase included $31 million from recent acquisitions. Source
  • News Media Q4 EBITDA fell 14%: Fourth quarter News Media revenue rose 5% to $574 million, mostly from currency. Segment EBITDA fell 14% to $24 million. Source

“Without our journalists, our authors, our data, our brands and our professional expertise, users would be drowning in a slimy sea of AI slop.”

Robert Thomson, Chief Executive

Products and customers

  • News subscriptions averaged 6.7 million: Average total news product subscriptions were over 6.7 million, up 7%. Digital-only subscriptions were nearly 6.3 million, up 9%. Wall Street Journal digital-only subscriptions rose 8%. Source
  • Circulation rose on pricing and digital: Circulation revenue rose 3%, from converting introductory promotions to higher pricing and from digital-only growth, partly offset by lower print volume. Source
  • Digital advertising grew 10% in Q4: Dow Jones advertising revenue rose 5% for the quarter. Digital advertising was 69% of advertising revenue, against 65% a year earlier. Source

Costs, margins and currency

  • Q4 segment EBITDA rose 31%: Total Segment EBITDA rose 31% to $423 million. On the adjusted basis, which excludes currency, acquisitions and divestitures, it rose 25% to $400 million. Source
  • Currency added to Q4 results: Foreign currency added $71 million, or 4%, to fourth quarter revenue and $23 million to Total Segment EBITDA. Adjusted Revenues rose 7%. Source
  • Other-segment costs narrowed the loss: Full-year Total Segment EBITDA rose 15%, with lower employee costs in the Other segment. The Other segment loss narrowed to $203 million from $223 million. Source
  • Book Publishing costs and write-offs: Full-year Book Publishing segment EBITDA fell 3% to $287 million on higher costs, a $16 million one-time inventory write-off and a $13 million receivable write-off. Source

Cash flow and capital returns

  • Free cash flow rose 42%: Full-year free cash flow was $811 million against $571 million. Capital expenditures were $426 million in the year. Source
  • Operating cash flow rose $259 million: Operating cash flow from continuing operations was $1.24 billion, up 26%, on higher Total Segment EBITDA and working capital, partly offset by higher cash tax and restructuring payments. Source
  • Buyback accelerated to $643 million: Management said the buyback accelerated to well over four times the prior year’s rate. The cash flow statement shows $641 million of News Corp share repurchases and $141 million of REA Group share repurchases. Source
  • Dividend of $0.10 declared: The company declared a semi-annual cash dividend of $0.10 per share on Class A and Class B common stock. Source

Strategy and content licensing

  • Core growth engines and digital shift: Management attributes the results to reinvestment in its core growth engines and its move to a digital-first company built on trusted content. Source
  • AI content deals described as advanced: The company has content relationships with OpenAI and Meta and says it is in advanced discussions with several other companies. The prior release referred to discussions with other companies. Source
  • Action against firms taking content: Management said it is taking aggressive action against companies that pilfer and profit from its work, under what it calls a woo and sue approach. Source

Audiences and demand

  • Realtor.com traffic and listing volumes: Realtor.com averaged 68 million monthly unique users, down 6%, while volumes rose 1%. Comscore visits were 297 million, giving it a 33% share of U.S. real estate portal visits. Source
  • Australian residential listings rose: Australian national residential buy listing volumes rose 11% in the quarter, with Sydney and Melbourne listings each up 8%. Source
  • Australian digital subscribers little changed: News Corp Australia closing digital subscribers were 1,162,000 against 1,166,000, and news mastheads 981,000 against 993,000. The Times and Sunday Times reached 681,000 from 640,000. Source

Coming up, as management said on 5 August 2026

  • Dividend payment date set: The semi-annual $0.10 dividend is payable October 7, 2026 to holders of record on September 9, 2026. Source

Risks management discussed

  • Demand: Management attributes the decline in Realtor.com users to broader macroeconomic trends and a focus on higher-quality leads. Source
  • Demand: Lower print advertising revenue continues to weigh on News Media advertising, partly offset by currency. Source
  • Operational: Costs for the recently launched California Post and for News Broadcasting coverage of the FIFA World Cup weighed on full-year News Media segment EBITDA. Source
  • External: Management says currency fluctuations are unpredictable and volatile, and it adjusts for them in its non-GAAP measures. Source

Earlier plans management reported on

  • Not stated: The third quarter release said the company remained on track for another year of record profitability. This release says the company reported another year of record revenue and profitability on a continuing operations basis. Source
  • Not stated: The third quarter release expected growth in free cash flow for the full fiscal year despite moderately higher capital expenditures. The fourth quarter release says capital expenditures rose by $19 million. Source

Other quarters

Summarised with AI from the documents the company filed with the SEC. Every point is checked against the filing before it is shown: management’s own words word for word, figures against the line or table row they come from. A point that fails the check is left out. Source opens the filing at that line.