NWSA US S&P 500Russell 1000 Earnings call · transcribed from the recording
News Corp (Class A) (NWSA) · Q2 2026 results and valuation
Share price: $26.83 · 2026-11-11
News Corp is a global media and information services company that provides news, book publishing, and digital real estate services. It serves consumers and businesses through various digital and traditional platforms in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Source: 10-K annual report (2026-08-07)
Results Q2 2026 vs Q1 2026 · previous quarter · fiscal Q4 2026 · published 5 Aug 2026 and 7 May 2026
Net income up 292.1% on the previous quarter. Management sounded very upbeat, though noticeably less so answering analysts.
1 · Numbers
+292.1%
Net income vs Q1 2026
Net income 349.0M vs 89.0M
Revenue +7.0%
Against the same quarter last year (Q2 2025) it is −61.4%, so the move on last quarter looks seasonal or timing-related rather than a trend.
2 · How management spoke
Very upbeat
More upbeat than 96% of company calls
Answers to analysts: upbeat, but clearly less so than the script.
Last call it was different: the answers were more upbeat than the script.
3 · What stood out
News Corp's free cash flow improved in fiscal 2026 to $811 million, a 42% year-over-year increase, representing approximately a 50% conversion from EBITDA.
Valuation
Is News Corp (Class A) undervalued?
Reverse DCF. Free cash flow from the last full fiscal year (2026-06-30), grown for 10 years, discounted back, plus a terminal value. “Implied growth” is the rate the current price assumes.
At 4.1% growth a year (3-year revenue growth), the model's fair value is $22.42 a share — the stock trades 20% above it. Today's price assumes 6.5% growth a year.
Current price
$26.83
close of 2026-11-11
Market implies growth of iThe yearly free-cash-flow growth, for the next 10 years, that today’s share price already assumes. If you believe the company grows faster than this, the stock is cheap under this model; slower, and it is expensive.
+6.5% for 10 yrs
Fair value / share
$22.42
Buy below
$16.82
Price vs fair value
Overvalued 20%
Price vs buy-below price
Overvalued 60%
Read between the lines
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Figure
Revenue increased 11% to $2.3 billion and segment EBITDA rose 31% to $423 million over last year, resulting in record profitability for the fourth quarter.
Source quote
“We are delighted to report record profitability for our fourth quarter, with a sterling 11% increase in revenue to $2.3 billion, whilst we generated $423 million in total segment EBITDA, soaring 31% over last year.”
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Figure
Dow Jones fourth quarter revenues rose 7% to $644 million and EBITDA grew 20% to $191 million.
Source quote
“Dow Jones delivered impressive results to close the year, with fourth quarter revenues rising 7% to $644 million, and EBITDA growth of 20% to $191 million.”
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Figure
Revenue rose 19% to $553 million and EBITDA expanded 46% to $222 million in Q4, contributing to an emphatic performance.
Source quote
“Together, they posted an emphatic Q4 performance, with revenues rising 19% to $553 million, while EBITDA expanded 46% to $222 million.”
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Figure
The slides highlight how the company has been repositioned and transformed into a digital-first company with 61% of fiscal 2026 revenues now digital.
-
Figure
Revenues grew 15% to $566 million, outperforming recent industry trends.
4 more
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Figure
Free cash flow improved in fiscal 2026 to $811 million, up 42% year-over-year, representing approximately 50% conversion from EBITDA.
Source quote
“Finally, free cash flow, defined as cash from operations less CapEx, improved in fiscal 2026 to $811 million, up 42% year-over-year, and represented approximately 50% conversion from EBITDA.”
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Figure
The fiscal year margin rose from 16.7% to 18%, and the company expects further margin expansion in the current fiscal year.
Source quote
“It is particularly noteworthy that our margin for the fiscal year rose from 16.7% to 18%, and we are encouraged by the prospect of further margin expansion in the current fiscal year.”
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Figure
NWSA accelerated its share buyback to over four times the prior year's rate at $643 million for the fiscal year due to a stronger cash position.
Source quote
“That stronger cash position enabled us to aggressively return capital to shareholders, with the buyback accelerating to well over four times the prior year's rate at $643 million for the fiscal year.”
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Key theme
Management stated that free cash flow improvement remains a key focus for fiscal 2027 because they expect it to be a source of value expansion.
Source quote
“Looking forward into fiscal 2027, I would just say that free cash flow improvement remains a key focus for us, and we do expect it to be a source of value expansion.”
Tone
How upbeat the language was, compared with other companiesiTone counts positive minus negative finance words, adjusted for length. Executives mostly speak positively, so the labels compare each call with every company's latest call: “typical” is the middle third, “very upbeat” the top tenth, “cautious” the bottom tenth.. Dot: Q2 2026. Ring: Q1 2026.
Management sounded noticeably less positive answering analysts than in its prepared script — a bigger drop than in 96% of calls. Scripts are polished in advance; a drop under questioning often marks the topics analysts pressed on, so the answers deserve a closer read than the script.
Sentences that drove the tone
“Digital revenues at HarperCollins grew 12%, including 16% in audiobooks, exiting with the highest quarterly growth rate this year, driven by strong growth at both Spotify and Audible.”
“Fiscal 2026 marked another big step in the transformation of News Corp as we added new AI licensing revenues, accelerated the pace of product innovation, meaningfully improved profit margins and...”
“At Realtor.com, revenues increased 13%, marking the third straight quarter of double-digit growth and the seventh consecutive quarter of year-on-year expansion, even though mortgage rates rose in recent months.”
Full figures
USD · SEC EDGAR XBRL (10-Q, period end 2026-06-30)
| Metric | Q2 2026period end 2026-06-30 | Q1 2026period end 2026-03-31 | Change | Q2 2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 2.34B | 2.19B | +7.0% | 2.11B | +10.8% |
| Operating income | 278.0M | 189.0M | +47.1% | 132.0M | +110.6% |
| Net income | 349.0M | 89.0M | +292.1% | 903.0M | −61.4% |
| P/E today 23.6 | 24.1 | 12.5 | +11.6 | 14.4 | +9.7 |
Topics
Most discussed now
- Fiscal 2026 marked another big step in the transformation of News Corp as News added new AI licensing revenues, accelerated...
- News' focus on operational efficiency has driven meaningful margin expansion.
- As you've seen, News has experienced particularly rapid audiobook growth in recent years, its partnership with Spotify is leading to an...
- It's fair to say, by the way, that AI will certainly provide a role in helping bring books to life...
Faded since Q1 2026
- Fading News is now a digital-first company with a strong recurring revenue base, complemented by high-margin content licensing revenues.
- Fading It's worth noting that as of quarter 3, on a trailing 12-month basis, the ratio of realtor.com's revenue to existing...
- Dropped News is looking very much forward to the discovery process because it has full confidence that fascinating illuminating material will…
- Dropped The decline in EBITDA reflected modestly tougher trading conditions in Australia and the U.K.
Latest announcements
Official filings, newest first.
- Other events · SEC 8-K
- Shareholder vote results; Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
- Other events · SEC 8-K
- Results of operations · SEC 8-K
- Other events · SEC 8-K
- Other events · SEC 8-K
- Other events · SEC 8-K
- Other events · SEC 8-K
Balance sheet & ownership
From SEC filings; short interest is FINRA data via Yahoo. Collected 2026-11-08.
Cash & runway
Cash & equivalents
$1.78B
2026-09-30
Long-term investments
$1.05B
total liquidity $2.83B
Implied runway
—
operating cash flow positive over the TTM window
Dilution
weighted-average basic shares, per quarter. Change: -4.2% YoY.
| Quarter | Shares |
|---|---|
| Q4 2024 | 568.5M |
| Q1 2025 | 567.2M |
| Q3 2025 | 564.9M |
| Q4 2025 | 560.6M |
| Q1 2026 | 554.0M |
| Q3 2026 | 541.0M |
Insider transactions
Form 4 open-market trades (codes S/P), trailing 12 months. Coverage: newest 50 of 55 filings; 50 filings parsed.
Sold by insiders
110.8K shares
$3.2M · 5 transactions
Bought by insiders
0 shares
0 transactions
Net direction
net selling