Company-wide Revenue and Profit Growth
Total revenue rose 9% year-over-year to $2.2 billion; total segment EBITDA increased 18% to $343 million; margins expanded from 14.4% to 15.7% (+130 bps). Net income from continuing operations rose 13%.
News Corp
· NWSA
May 7th, 2026
Summary
- Earnings Call Date:
- 2026-05-07
- Change Since:
- -6.69%
- Next Earnings Date:
- 2026-08-06
Earnings Call Sentiment
PositiveThe call conveyed strong, broad-based operational momentum: double-digit profit growth, margin expansion, robust free cash flow, and accelerating buybacks. Dow Jones, Digital Real Estate Services and HarperCollins were standout performers, and strategic AI/IP partnerships offer upside. Headwinds are concentrated in News Media profitability (impact from California Post launch and print declines), housing-market cyclicality that could limit Real Estate upside in the near term, and some timing/adjustment effects on reported vs adjusted growth. On balance, the positives across high-margin digital businesses and cash deployment materially outweigh the highlighted challenges.
Company Guidance
The company said it expects to report strong fourth-quarter results and continued strong free cash flow for the fiscal year despite moderately higher capital expenditures, reiterating segment-level guidance: Dow Jones should deliver continued revenue growth and improved margins as it pursues a $1 billion annual segment EBITDA target within five years; Digital Real Estate Services now assumes lower operating cost growth and noted Australian residential new‑buy listings in April rose 19%, REA revenue growth was 20% (8% constant currency) with a 14% yield increase, realtor.com revenue rose 10% to $148M with visit share at 31% and lead volume up 6% (trailing‑12 month revenue per existing‑home‑sale >20% vs Q3 2022), and HarperCollins expects a stronger front‑list program; News Media expects incremental California Post costs offset in part by content licensing; management also flagged higher Q4 net adds at Dow Jones (digital‑only subs +9% in Q3; ~53k sequential net adds) and anticipated proceeds from the $1.5B Anthropic settlement beginning later this calendar year.
Sustained Profitability Streak
News Corp recorded its 12th consecutive quarter of year-over-year total segment EBITDA growth on a continuing operations basis; Dow Jones achieved 13 consecutive quarters of year-over-year EBITDA growth.
Strong Free Cash Flow and Capital Returns
Robust free cash flow and cash position supported an accelerated buyback program: $193 million repurchased in Q3 (up from $172 million in Q2) and $459 million fiscal year-to-date; benefit from ~$380 million Foxtel loan repayment.
Dow Jones: Healthy Growth and Margin Expansion
Dow Jones revenues increased 8% to $619 million and segment EBITDA rose 11% to $147 million; margin expanded to 23.7% (+70 bps). Risk & Compliance revenue surged 19% to $100 million and Energy revenue grew 12% to $77 million; digital represented 84% of Dow Jones revenue.
Digital Real Estate Services Outperformance
Segment revenues $473 million (reported +17%, adjusted +8%); segment EBITDA $155 million (reported +25%, adjusted +16%). REA revenues +20% (8% constant currency) with a 14% yield increase; realtor.com revenues +10% to $148 million and visit share rose to 31% (from 29%), with revenue per existing home-sales now ~20% higher vs Q3 2022.
Book Publishing Strength
HarperCollins revenues grew 8% to $555 million and segment EBITDA rose 14% to $73 million; margin expanded to 13.2% (+70 bps). Digital sales were a tailwind: e-books +17% and audiobooks +7%.
Improving Subscription and Advertising Trends at Dow Jones
Digital-only subscriptions grew 9% year-over-year with ~53,000 sequential net adds; digital advertising in Dow Jones grew 13% while total advertising rose to $91 million (+6%). Pricing initiatives for WSJ digital subscriptions underway supporting ARPU improvement.
Strategic Positioning Around AI and IP Monetization
Company highlighted partnerships with Meta and OpenAI, ongoing negotiations with other AI firms, and expected proceeds from the $1.5 billion Anthropic settlement later this calendar year—positioning News Corp as a key IP input provider for AI.
Operator
Welcome to News Corp's Third Quarter Fiscal 2026 Earnings Conference Call. Today's conference is being recorded. Media will be allowed on a listen-only basis. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Michael Florin, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Michael Florin
Thank you very much, operator. Hello, everyone, and welcome to News Corp's Fiscal Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. We issued our earnings press release about 30 minutes ago, and it's now posted on our website at newscorp.com. On the call today are Robert Thomson, Chief Executive; and Lavanya Chandrashekar, Chief Financial Officer. We'll have some prepared remarks, and we'll be happy to take questions from the investment community. This call may include certain forward-looking information with respect to News Corp's business and strategy. Actual results could differ materially from what is said. News Corp's Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings identify risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ and contain cautionary statements regarding forward-looking information.
Additionally, this call will include certain non-GAAP financial measurements such as total segment EBITDA, adjusted segment EBITDA and adjusted EPS. The definitions and GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations of such measures can be found in the earnings releases for the applicable periods posted on our website. With that, I'll pass it over to Robert Thomson for some opening comments.
Robert Thomson
Thank you, Mike. News Corp has again delivered resounding results this quarter, indeed marking the 12th straight q...
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