SCHL vs WLY vs PSO Stock Comparison

Scholastic, John Wiley & Sons and Pearson Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
SCHL Scholastic Corp
$38.84 +15.7% 1M +34.5% 1Y
Market cap
$739.37M
P/E
13.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.57B
Div. yield
0.03%
Publishing Communication Services
2 wins
WLY John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
$50.58 +6.2% 1M +34.1% 1Y
Market cap
$2.58B
P/E
13.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.67B
Div. yield
0.03%
Publishing Communication Services
7 wins
PSO Pearson Plc
$17.33 +8.7% 1M +18.5% 1Y
Market cap
$11.33B
P/E
25.6x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Publishing Communication Services
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

John Wiley & Sons leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (John Wiley & Sons 7, Pearson 3, Scholastic 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSCHLWLYPSOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $739.37M $2.58B $11.33B PSO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 13.1x 13.0x 25.6x WLY
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 29.2x 10.2x 19.5x WLY
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -2.5% -0.3% — WLY
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 3.6% 11.9% — WLY
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 1.2% 13.7% — WLY
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 3.1x — SCHL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.03% 0.03% 0.00% WLY
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +34.5% +34.1% +18.5% SCHL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +1.4%/yr -1.4%/yr +15.9%/yr PSO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 35.3% 37.0% 25.7% PSO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 54/100 74/100 43/100 WLY

Percentile Scorecard

SCHLWLYPSO

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

AxisSCHLWLYPSO
Valuation 56 #24 of 53 73 #15 of 53 42 #31 of 53
Growth 33 #30 of 44 98 #2 of 44 –
Profitability 51 #21 of 42 93 #4 of 42 –
Financial Health 67 #21 of 61 57 #27 of 61 72 #18 of 61
Shareholder Returns 64 #10 of 26 48 #14 of 26 16 #22 of 26
Overall 54 74 43
  • SCHL ranked among 61 companies in Advertising and Media
  • WLY ranked among 61 companies in Advertising and Media
  • PSO 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

PeriodSCHLWLYPSOSPY
1 month +15.7%+6.2%+8.7% +0.9%
3 months -5.3%-9.3%-1.8% +5.9%
6 months -3.5%+24.5%+19.9% +8.5%
Year to date +31.1%+65.1%+23.4% +13.3%
1 year +34.5%+34.1%+18.5% +12.4%
3 years +4.4%+68.1%+56.4% +88.1%
3 years, per year +1.4%+18.9%+16.1% +23.5%
5 years +7.3%-6.6%+109.3% +68.2%
5 years, per year +1.4%-1.4%+15.9% +11.0%
10 years +2.2%-0.1%+87.4% +263.4%
10 years, per year +0.2%0.0%+6.5% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureSCHLWLYPSOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 35.3%37.0%25.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 37.3%35.3%29.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.310.130.33 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.980.920.72 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -66.7%-50.0%-32.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -18.0%-9.3%-5.8% -0.9%
52-week high $47.34$55.74$18.40 $779.14
52-week low $27.00$28.79$12.06 $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.

MultipleSCHLWLYPSO
P/E now vs peer median 13.0xmedian 18.7x 13.0xmedian 18.7x 25.6xmedian 18.7x
P/S now vs peer median 0.4xmedian 0.6x 1.5xmedian 0.6x 2.3xmedian 0.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 7.8xmedian 10.6x 9.9xmedian 10.6x —median 10.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median -47.5xmedian 8.9x 10.7xmedian 8.9x 13.3xmedian 8.9x
P/B now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 1.6x 3.2xmedian 1.6x 2.2xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median 0.72median 0.49 0.16median 0.49 —median 0.49

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 monthsSCHLWLYPSO
Revenue $1.57B $1.67B –
Gross profit $888.70M $1.24B –
Operating income $15.20M $248.83M –
Net income $56.60M $198.19M –
Free cash flow -$14.40M $239.89M –
EPS (diluted) $2.99 $3.91 –
Cash & equivalents $106.80M $106.43M $448.46M
Total debt $184.80M $1.29B $1.99B
Shares (diluted) 18.90M 50.75M 660.30M
Enterprise value $293.77M $2.24B $8.44B

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
MetricSCHLWLYPSO
P/E 13.0x 13.0x 25.6x
P/FCF -47.5x 10.7x 13.3x
P/Operating cash flow 17.9x 8.8x –
P/S 0.4x 1.5x 2.3x
P/B 1.0x 3.2x 2.2x
P/Tangible book 1.2x -45.6x 2.9x
EV/EBITDA 7.8x 9.9x –
EV/EBIT 50.1x 15.1x –
EV/Revenue 0.5x 2.3x –
EV/FCF -52.9x 15.6x –
EV/Operating cash flow 20.0x 12.9x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.72 0.16 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSCHLWLYPSO
Revenue growth (1Y) -2.5% -0.3% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -2.0% – –
Gross profit growth (1Y) -1.2% 0.3% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -0.3% – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 25.6% 11.4% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -38.5% – –
Net income growth (1Y) 639.0% 103.7% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) -0.6% 76.1% –
EPS growth (1Y) 818.7% 116.6% –
EPS CAGR (3Y) 18.0% 79.4% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -54.8% 40.7% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -39.4% 0.6% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -134.2% 62.8% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -28.8% 6.0% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSCHLWLYPSO
Gross margin 56.5% 74.6% –
EBITDA margin 6.2% 22.6% –
Operating margin 1.0% 14.9% –
Pretax margin 5.6% 11.1% –
Net margin 3.6% 11.9% –
FCF margin -0.9% 14.4% –
Operating cash flow margin 2.4% 17.4% –
Return on equity 8.0% 24.1% –
Return on assets 3.3% 6.9% –
Return on invested capital 1.2% 13.7% –
Return on capital employed 1.3% 11.4% –
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.6x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.7x 1.5x –
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% 1.2% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSCHLWLYPSO
Debt / assets 10.7% 41.2% 22.9%
Debt / equity 0.3x 1.6x 0.4x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 3.1x –
Debt / FCF -12.8x 5.4x –
Liabilities / assets 61.9% 74.6% 43.3%
Equity / assets 38.1% 25.4% 56.7%
Interest coverage – 5.3x –
Current ratio 1.3x 0.6x 2.0x
Quick ratio 0.5x 0.5x 1.3x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.2x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 2.21 2.12 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSCHLWLYPSO
Dividend yield 2.2% 2.8% 2.0%
Net buyback yield 38.8% 4.0% –
Shareholder yield 41.0% 6.8% 2.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) 32.9% 37.1% –
Payout ratio (FCF) -129.2% 30.7% –
Dividend growth (1Y) -15.8% -3.0% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -11.7% -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.

ConsensusSCHLWLYPSO
Forward P/E 29.2xFY2026 10.2xFY2026 19.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.33FY2026 $4.95FY2026 $0.89FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -28.9%FY2026 +18.1%FY2026 +3.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +78.2% +4.4% +23.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.66BFY2026 $1.63BFY2026 $5.14BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +5.1%FY2026 -2.8%FY2026 +6.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +4.8% +13.6% +6.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSCHLWLYPSO
Held by institutions 73.2% 99.1% 4.1%
Institutions holding 226 264 213
Change in shares held, QoQ -8.2% -0.6% +3.0%
Institutions buying 109 142 138
Institutions selling 89 77 36
Buyers to sellers 1.22 1.84 3.83

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.

SCHLWLYPSO
SCHL 1.00 0.25 0.07
WLY 0.25 1.00 0.43
PSO 0.07 0.43 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SCHL, WLY and PSO?

Pearson (PSO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Scholastic (SCHL) $739.37M, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) $2.58B, Pearson (PSO) $11.33B.

Which stock is cheaper, SCHL, WLY and PSO?

John Wiley & Sons (WLY) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Scholastic (SCHL) 13.1x, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) 13.0x, Pearson (PSO) 25.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) is cheapest (Scholastic (SCHL) 29.2x, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) 10.2x, Pearson (PSO) 19.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

John Wiley & Sons (WLY) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Scholastic (SCHL) -2.5%, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) -0.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

John Wiley & Sons (WLY) has the highest net margin (Scholastic (SCHL) 3.6%, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) 11.9%). On return on invested capital, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) leads (Scholastic (SCHL) 1.2%, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) 13.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Scholastic (SCHL) returned the most: Scholastic (SCHL) +34.5%, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) +34.1%, Pearson (PSO) +18.5%. Over five years, Pearson (PSO) compounded fastest (Scholastic (SCHL) +1.4%/yr, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) -1.4%/yr, Pearson (PSO) +15.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

John Wiley & Sons (WLY) has the highest dividend yield: Scholastic (SCHL) 0.03%, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) 0.03%, Pearson (PSO) 0.00%. Pearson (PSO) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Pearson (PSO) has been the steadiest (Scholastic (SCHL) 35.3%, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) 37.0%, Pearson (PSO) 25.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 7. 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.