PSO vs WLY vs DJCO Stock Comparison

Pearson, John Wiley & Sons and Daily Journal Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
PSO Pearson Plc
$17.64 +9.4% 1M +19.4% 1Y
Market cap
$11.27B
P/E
26.0x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Publishing Communication Services
3 wins
WLY John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
$52.65 +10.7% 1M +42.6% 1Y
Market cap
$2.57B
P/E
12.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.67B
Div. yield
0.03%
Publishing Communication Services
4 wins
DJCO Daily Journal Corp
$610.92 -7.0% 1M +63.1% 1Y
Market cap
$833.60M
P/E
22.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$98.33M
Div. yield
–
Publishing Communication Services
3 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

John Wiley & Sons leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (John Wiley & Sons 4, Pearson 3, Daily Journal 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionPSOWLYDJCOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $11.27B $2.57B $833.60M PSO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 26.0x 12.9x 22.1x WLY
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.8x 10.6x — WLY
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — -0.3% +24.2% DJCO
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 11.9% 38.3% DJCO
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 13.7% 3.0% WLY
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 3.1x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.03% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +19.4% +42.6% +63.1% DJCO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +16.0%/yr -0.7%/yr +12.3%/yr PSO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 25.7% 36.8% 45.9% PSO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 42/100 74/100 70/100 WLY

Percentile Scorecard

PSOWLYDJCO

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisPSOWLYDJCO
Valuation 42 #31 of 53 71 #16 of 53 19 #43 of 53
Growth – 95 #3 of 44 81 #9 of 44
Profitability – 93 #4 of 42 83 #8 of 42
Financial Health 72 #18 of 61 57 #27 of 61 98 #2 of 61
Shareholder Returns 12 #23 of 26 52 #13 of 26 –
Overall 42 74 70
  • PSO ranked among 61 companies in Advertising and Media
  • WLY ranked among 61 companies in Advertising and Media
  • DJCO ranked among 61 companies in Advertising and Media

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodPSOWLYDJCOSPY
1 month +9.4%+10.7%-7.0% -0.2%
3 months +1.2%-3.0%+3.3% +3.9%
6 months +22.2%+28.4%+16.4% +8.2%
Year to date +25.6%+71.9%+25.4% +12.9%
1 year +19.4%+42.6%+63.1% +12.3%
3 years +59.2%+75.0%+113.6% +87.4%
3 years, per year +16.8%+20.5%+28.8% +23.3%
5 years +109.8%-3.7%+78.2% +67.9%
5 years, per year +16.0%-0.7%+12.3% +10.9%
10 years +95.3%+4.3%+189.6% +261.1%
10 years, per year +6.9%+0.4%+11.2% +13.7%

Risk

MeasurePSOWLYDJCOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 25.7%36.8%45.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 29.5%35.0%49.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.330.140.91 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.761.161.38 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -32.1%-50.0%-40.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -4.1%-5.5%-9.8% -1.2%
52-week high $18.40$55.74$677.05 $779.14
52-week low $12.06$28.79$374.53 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultiplePSOWLYDJCO
P/E now vs peer median 26.0xmedian 18.4x 13.5xmedian 18.4x 22.3xmedian 18.4x
P/S now vs peer median 2.4xmedian 0.6x 1.6xmedian 0.6x 8.6xmedian 0.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 10.5x 10.2xmedian 10.5x —median 10.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 13.6xmedian 9.0x 11.1xmedian 9.0x —median 9.0x
P/B now vs peer median 2.3xmedian 1.5x 3.4xmedian 1.5x 2.5xmedian 1.5x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.44 0.17median 0.44 49.52median 0.44

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsPSOWLYDJCO
Revenue – $1.67B $98.33M
Gross profit – $1.24B $97.73M
Operating income – $248.83M $13.57M
Net income – $198.19M $37.71M
Free cash flow – $239.89M –
EPS (diluted) – $3.91 $27.37
Cash & equivalents $448.46M $106.43M $31.13M
Total debt $1.99B $1.29B $830.00K
Shares (diluted) 660.30M 50.75M 1.38M
Enterprise value $8.38B $2.22B -$1.08B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricPSOWLYDJCO
P/E 26.0x 13.5x 22.3x
P/FCF 13.6x 11.1x –
P/Operating cash flow – 9.2x –
P/S 2.4x 1.6x 8.6x
P/B 2.3x 3.4x 2.5x
P/Tangible book 3.0x -47.5x 2.5x
EV/EBITDA – 10.2x –
EV/EBIT – 15.5x 29.9x
EV/Revenue – 2.3x 4.1x
EV/FCF – 16.1x –
EV/Operating cash flow – 13.3x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.17 49.52

Growth

14 metrics
MetricPSOWLYDJCO
Revenue growth (1Y) – -0.3% 24.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – – 15.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 0.3% 24.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – 15.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) – 11.4% 103.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – – 25.4%
Net income growth (1Y) – 103.7% -61.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 76.1% 0.4%
EPS growth (1Y) – 116.6% -61.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 79.4% 0.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 40.7% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 0.6% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 62.8% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 6.0% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricPSOWLYDJCO
Gross margin – 74.6% 99.4%
EBITDA margin – 22.6% –
Operating margin – 14.9% 13.8%
Pretax margin – 11.1% 48.7%
Net margin – 11.9% 38.3%
FCF margin – 14.4% –
Operating cash flow margin – 17.4% –
Return on equity – 24.1% 10.5%
Return on assets – 6.9% 7.5%
Return on invested capital – 13.7% 3.0%
Return on capital employed – 11.4% 2.9%
Asset turnover – 0.6x 0.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.5x –
Stock comp / revenue – 1.2% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricPSOWLYDJCO
Debt / assets 22.9% 41.2% 0.2%
Debt / equity 0.4x 1.6x 0.0x
Net debt / EBITDA – 3.1x –
Debt / FCF – 5.4x –
Liabilities / assets 43.3% 74.6% 28.4%
Equity / assets 56.7% 25.4% 71.6%
Interest coverage – 5.3x 12.1x
Current ratio 2.0x 0.6x 11.6x
Quick ratio 1.3x 0.5x 11.4x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.2x 11.0x
Altman Z-score – 2.15 6.14

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPSOWLYDJCO
Dividend yield 2.0% 2.7% –
Net buyback yield – 3.8% –
Shareholder yield 2.0% 6.5% –
Payout ratio (earnings) – 37.1% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 30.7% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – -3.0% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – -1.6% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusPSOWLYDJCO
Forward P/E 19.8xFY2026 10.6xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $0.89FY2026 $4.95FY2026 –
EPS growth, next FY +3.5%FY2026 +18.1%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +23.6% +4.4% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $5.14BFY2026 $1.63BFY2026 –
Revenue growth, next FY +6.8%FY2026 -2.8%FY2026 –
Revenue growth, the year after +6.6% +13.6% –

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersPSOWLYDJCO
Held by institutions 4.1% 99.1% 78.1%
Institutions holding 213 264 132
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.0% -0.6% -2.1%
Institutions buying 138 142 65
Institutions selling 36 77 35
Buyers to sellers 3.83 1.84 1.86

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

PSOWLYDJCO
PSO 1.00 0.43 0.12
WLY 0.43 1.00 0.21
DJCO 0.12 0.21 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, PSO, WLY and DJCO?

Pearson (PSO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Pearson (PSO) $11.27B, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) $2.57B, Daily Journal (DJCO) $833.60M.

Which stock is cheaper, PSO, WLY and DJCO?

John Wiley & Sons (WLY) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Pearson (PSO) 26.0x, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) 12.9x, Daily Journal (DJCO) 22.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) is cheapest (Pearson (PSO) 19.8x, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) 10.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Daily Journal (DJCO) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: John Wiley & Sons (WLY) -0.3%, Daily Journal (DJCO) +24.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Daily Journal (DJCO) has the highest net margin (John Wiley & Sons (WLY) 11.9%, Daily Journal (DJCO) 38.3%). On return on invested capital, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) leads (John Wiley & Sons (WLY) 13.7%, Daily Journal (DJCO) 3.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Daily Journal (DJCO) returned the most: Pearson (PSO) +19.4%, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) +42.6%, Daily Journal (DJCO) +63.1%. Over five years, Pearson (PSO) compounded fastest (Pearson (PSO) +16.0%/yr, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) -0.7%/yr, Daily Journal (DJCO) +12.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Pearson (PSO) 0.00%, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) 0.03%, Daily Journal (DJCO) 0.00%. Pearson (PSO) and Daily Journal (DJCO) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Pearson (PSO) has been the steadiest (Pearson (PSO) 25.7%, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) 36.8%, Daily Journal (DJCO) 45.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, PSO, WLY and DJCO?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) leads on 4. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.