Buy Like Buffett
Watchlist

JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC.

WLY · Materials · FY2026 filings · Shallow moat ·

Doesn't clear the bar

Shallow moat
Share / Embed this score
Embed this score

The five investor questions

50

2022–2026 (latest 5 aligned FYs; v3 window cap 5): revenue $2.1B to $1.7B, decreasing; diluted EPS 2.62 to 4.16, increasing.

98

Median gross margin 69.1% over 10y, very stable.

25

Median ROIC 9.2%, above the 12% hurdle in 20% of years.

46

Net debt/EBITDA 1.4x, interest coverage 6x.

64

Owner earnings changed +7.4%/yr over up to the ten most recent annual observations, share count n/a.

Price vs. value if growth stopped today

A cautious baseline, not a price target: what the shares may support if normalized owner earnings simply hold steady.

Above value if growth stopped todayBelow value if growth stopped today
No price data
$170M
Unavailable — insufficient owner-earnings data
Unavailable — insufficient growth-model data
$49.55
No price data

This zero-growth estimate assumes trailing owner earnings persist — unreliable for declining businesses. Flag status unavailable — four adjacent recent FY revenue observations are required.

Model details under moat-index@3.0.0: zero-growth multiple 11.1×, capped-growth comparison at no more than 18×; 9% discount rate; high-end growth 0% (capped at 4%) using min(5y revenue CAGR, 5y diluted-EPS CAGR), clamped to 0%–4%; maintenance capex uses min(capex, D&A); abstain when D&A is unavailable. This is a disclosed model range, not intrinsic value as fact.

Fundamentals

We couldn't reach the fundamentals service just now, so we won't show a stale or guessed series for WLY. Try again shortly.

Flagship explainer

How JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC. makes its money

Start with a dollar of revenue and follow what the filing says remains.

revenueBranching filed flows with values and percentages directly labeled. Missing filing concepts are omitted rather than estimated.Revenue$1.7B · 100%Cost of revenue$432M · 26%Gross profit$1.2B · 74%Operating income$277M · 17%Income before tax$215M · 13%Income tax−$6.5M · −0%Net income$222M · 13%As of 2026-04-30 · 1 SEC filing sourceBuy Like Buffett · buylikebuffett.com

Honest partial: the filing did not provide a normalized tag for Research and development, Selling, general and administrative; those components are omitted, not plugged.

Table alternative
Filed lineValue% of revenueSource
$1.7B100%
Cost of revenue$432M26%
$1.2B74%
$277M17%
Income before tax$215M13%
Income tax−$6.5M−0%
$222M13%
Source: · event Apr 30, 2026 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set
Embed this chart

Flagship explainer

What JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC. owns — and owes

JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC.'s filing tags don't support a full breakdown — here's what is filed:

Table alternative
Filed lineValue% of assetsSource
Total assets$2.6B100%
Cash and equivalents$75.6M3%
$683M26%
Stockholders’ equity$848M33%
Source: · event Apr 30, 2026 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set

Flagship explainer

What drives JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC.’s return on equity?

ROE is five filed business factors multiplied together.

DuPont return on equity factor treeReturn on equity branches into tax burden, interest burden, operating margin, asset turnover, and the equity multiplier.Return on equity28%Tax burden103%net income ÷ pretax incomeInterest burden78%pretax ÷ operating incomeOperating margin17%operating income ÷ revenueAsset turnover0.63×revenue ÷ average assetsEquity multiplier3.30×average assets ÷ average equityAs of 2026-04-30 · 1 SEC filing sourceBuy Like Buffett · buylikebuffett.com
DuPont source inputs
InputValueFiscal yearSource
$222MFY2026
Income before tax$215MFY2026
Operating income$277MFY2026
$1.7BFY2026
Ending assets$2.6BFY2026
Beginning assets$2.7BFY2025
$848MFY2026
$752MFY2025
Source:
  • SEC filingFiling detailsAccession 0001628280-26-045111
· event Apr 30, 2026 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set
Embed this chart

Flagship explainer

Where JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC.'s cash went

JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC.’s filing does not supply enough provenance-matched cash-flow lines for a truthful flow chart — here’s what is filed:

Table alternative
Filed lineValue% of cash from operationsSource
Cash from operations$261M100%
Depreciation and amortization$143M55%
Source: · event Apr 30, 2026 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set

Curated 19-manager tier

Who reported holding JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC.

Delayed public 13F reports for 2026-Q1—not live positions, trades, or recommendations.

0 holding0 exited0 not holding0/19 resolved19 unavailable

Named manager positions and quarter-over-quarter changes
ManagerReported positionQuarter-over-quarterFiling accession
Abrams CapitalUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Akre CapitalUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Baupost GroupUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Berkshire HathawayUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Brave Warrior AdvisorsUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Dodge & CoxUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
First EagleUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
FundsmithUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Gardner Russo & QuinnUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Gates Foundation TrustUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Mairs & PowerUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Markel / Markel-GaynerUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Oakmark / Harris AssociatesUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Pershing SquareUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Polen CapitalUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Sequoia / Ruane CunniffUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Southeastern Asset ManagementUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Tweedy, BrowneUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Yacktman Asset ManagementUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable

Position size uses shares and filed value from each manager’s 13F. Portfolio weight uses the eligible long-share filing denominator. Changes compare only with the immediately preceding calendar quarter.

Source: Filing source unavailable · event Mar 31, 2026 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026

Flagship explainer

What JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC. insiders reported

Records still being gathered — partial as of retrieval Aug 11, 2026.

Partial coverage: the incomplete Form 4 walk cannot establish no activity, an activity date, or zero counts.

Moat Score history

16 logged readings since Jul 17, 2026 · append-only, never rewritten

Moat Score over timeLast scored reading of each day, on the 0–100 scale56.6 / 100
0406080100WideNarrowShallowNo moatJul 17, 2026Jul 26, 2026

Breaks in the line mark methodology or normalizer upgrades — readings across versions aren’t compared, so a level shift there isn’t a change in the business.

Tier changesSame-methodology and same-normalizer crossings of the Wide / Narrow / Shallow bars

  1. Normalizer upgraded unstamped (version unknown)moat-xbrl-normalizer@1.1.0 — readings across versions aren’t comparedJul 26, 2026
  2. Methodology upgraded moat-index@2.0.0moat-index@3.0.0 — readings across versions aren’t comparedJul 23, 2026
  3. Methodology upgraded moat-index@1.2.0moat-index@2.0.0 — readings across versions aren’t comparedJul 20, 2026

Scores are logged append-only and never overwritten — this record cannot be reconstructed retroactively, which is exactly why it’s worth keeping.

Insider activity

Form 4 reports mix P/S market or private transactions with compensation-plan mechanics. Activity casually described as “insider selling” can include compensation mechanics; awards, tax withholding, and option exercises are shown by their exact filed class here, never collapsed into “Bought” or “Sold.”

These are disclosed filing facts and arithmetic aggregates, not a signal or verdict.

This machine-readable surface covers SEC ownership filings from 2003; it does not represent earlier paper-era records.

Records still being gathered — partial as of retrieval Aug 11, 2026.

34 filings were skipped because the SEC primary document returned 404; the omission is disclosed and aggregates are withheld.

Trailing-12-month totals and the 90-day cluster result are withheld because this issuer walk is incomplete.

No reported Form 4 rows were captured for WLY; the incomplete walk cannot establish zero activity, zero counts, or a negative cluster result.

A filing source-event date will appear when a Form 4 row is captured.

Retrieved .

Materials context

#71 of 309 scored Materials companies, ranked by Moat Score.

Nearest peers by Moat Score

  1. #69CBT Cabot Corporation56.8Shallow moat
  2. #70SGI SOMNIGROUP INTERNATIONAL INC.56.7Shallow moat
  3. #72ATR AptarGroup, Inc56.3Shallow moat
  4. #73AMPY AMPLIFY ENERGY CORP.55.9Shallow moat

Compare WLY with its nearest peers →All Materials companies on the Index →

Common questions about WLY

Does JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC. have an economic moat?
Based on its FY2026 SEC filings, the Moat Index scores JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC. (WLY) 56.6 out of 100 — a Shallow moat. The five questions behind that score begin at 20% each; if exactly one genuinely lacks data, the other four weights are renormalized and disclosed. revenue and EPS trend 50, pricing power 98, returns on capital 25, balance-sheet safety 46, capital allocation 64.
How has WLY's Moat Score changed over time?
The record logs 16 readings since Jul 17, 2026; the latest reads 56.6 out of 100 (shallow moat). No tier changes on record yet. (Methodology or normalizer upgrades on Jul 20, 2026, Jul 23, 2026, Jul 26, 2026 re-based the score; readings across versions aren't compared.) The history is append-only — readings are only ever added, never rewritten.

Scored from primary SEC filings via the public methodology. Educational only — not a recommendation to buy or sell WLY. See the disclaimer.