PSO vs WLY Stock Comparison

Pearson and John Wiley & Sons Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
PSO Pearson Plc
$18.30 +13.5% 1M +22.5% 1Y
Market cap
$11.51B
P/E
27.0x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Publishing Communication Services
3 wins
WLY John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
$53.69 +12.8% 1M +44.3% 1Y
Market cap
$2.67B
P/E
13.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.67B
Div. yield
0.03%
Publishing Communication Services
4 wins

Head to Head

7 decided of 12

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

QuestionPSOWLYLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $11.51B $2.67B PSO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 27.0x 13.5x WLY
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 20.6x 10.8x WLY
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — -0.3% –
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 11.9% –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 13.7% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 3.1x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.03% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +22.5% +44.3% WLY
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +17.0%/yr +0.2%/yr PSO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 25.5% 36.8% PSO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 41/100 74/100 WLY

Percentile Scorecard

PSOWLY

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

AxisPSOWLY
Valuation 40 #33 of 54 72 #16 of 54
Growth – 96 #3 of 45
Profitability – 93 #4 of 43
Financial Health 72 #18 of 62 57 #27 of 62
Shareholder Returns 12 #23 of 26 52 #13 of 26
Overall 41 74
  • PSO ranked among 62 companies in Advertising and Media
  • WLY ranked among 62 companies in Advertising and Media

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodPSOWLYSPY
1 month +13.5%+12.8% -0.8%
3 months +9.3%+5.4% +3.5%
6 months +25.7%+30.8% +7.0%
Year to date +30.3%+75.3% +12.2%
1 year +22.5%+44.3% +13.0%
3 years +65.2%+78.4% +86.3%
3 years, per year +18.2%+21.3% +23.1%
5 years +119.2%+1.1% +68.6%
5 years, per year +17.0%+0.2% +11.0%
10 years +101.3%+4.1% +258.0%
10 years, per year +7.2%+0.4% +13.6%

Risk

MeasurePSOWLYSPY
Volatility, 1Y 25.5%36.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 29.1%35.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.350.15 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.881.20 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -32.1%-50.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -0.5%-3.7% -1.8%
52-week high $18.40$55.74 $779.14
52-week low $12.06$28.79 $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.

MultiplePSOWLY
P/E now vs peer median 27.0xmedian 18.4x 13.7xmedian 18.4x
P/S now vs peer median 2.5xmedian 0.6x 1.6xmedian 0.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 11.0x 10.4xmedian 11.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 14.1xmedian 9.1x 11.4xmedian 9.1x
P/B now vs peer median 2.4xmedian 1.6x 3.4xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.44 0.17median 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 monthsPSOWLY
Revenue – $1.67B
Gross profit – $1.24B
Operating income – $248.83M
Net income – $198.19M
Free cash flow – $239.89M
EPS (diluted) – $3.91
Cash & equivalents $448.46M $106.43M
Total debt $1.99B $1.29B
Shares (diluted) 660.30M 50.75M
Enterprise value $8.62B $2.32B

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
MetricPSOWLY
P/E 27.0x 13.7x
P/FCF 14.1x 11.4x
P/Operating cash flow – 9.4x
P/S 2.5x 1.6x
P/B 2.4x 3.4x
P/Tangible book 3.1x -48.4x
EV/EBITDA – 10.4x
EV/EBIT – 15.7x
EV/Revenue – 2.3x
EV/FCF – 16.3x
EV/Operating cash flow – 13.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.17

Growth

14 metrics
MetricPSOWLY
Revenue growth (1Y) – -0.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – –
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 0.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – –
Operating income growth (1Y) – 11.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – –
Net income growth (1Y) – 103.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 76.1%
EPS growth (1Y) – 116.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 79.4%
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
MetricPSOWLY
Gross margin – 74.6%
EBITDA margin – 22.6%
Operating margin – 14.9%
Pretax margin – 11.1%
Net margin – 11.9%
FCF margin – 14.4%
Operating cash flow margin – 17.4%
Return on equity – 24.1%
Return on assets – 6.9%
Return on invested capital – 13.7%
Return on capital employed – 11.4%
Asset turnover – 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.5x
Stock comp / revenue – 1.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricPSOWLY
Debt / assets 22.9% 41.2%
Debt / equity 0.4x 1.6x
Net debt / EBITDA – 3.1x
Debt / FCF – 5.4x
Liabilities / assets 43.3% 74.6%
Equity / assets 56.7% 25.4%
Interest coverage – 5.3x
Current ratio 2.0x 0.6x
Quick ratio 1.3x 0.5x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.2x
Altman Z-score – 2.16

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPSOWLY
Dividend yield 1.9% 2.7%
Net buyback yield – 3.7%
Shareholder yield 1.9% 6.4%
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.

ConsensusPSOWLY
Forward P/E 20.6xFY2026 10.8xFY2026
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
HoldersPSOWLY
Held by institutions 4.1% 99.1%
Institutions holding 213 264
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.0% -0.6%
Institutions buying 138 142
Institutions selling 36 77
Buyers to sellers 3.83 1.84

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.

PSOWLY
PSO 1.00 0.43
WLY 0.43 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, PSO and WLY?

Pearson (PSO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Pearson (PSO) $11.51B, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) $2.67B.

Which stock is cheaper, PSO and WLY?

John Wiley & Sons (WLY) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Pearson (PSO) 27.0x, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) 13.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) is cheapest (Pearson (PSO) 20.6x, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) 10.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year John Wiley & Sons (WLY) returned the most: Pearson (PSO) +22.5%, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) +44.3%. Over five years, Pearson (PSO) compounded fastest (Pearson (PSO) +17.0%/yr, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) +0.2%/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%. Pearson (PSO) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Pearson (PSO) has been the steadiest (Pearson (PSO) 25.5%, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) 36.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do PSO and WLY move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.43, a moderate positive relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, PSO and WLY?

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.