Global media and publishing company News Corp (NASDAQ: NWSA) announced better-than-expected revenue in Q4 CY2025, with sales up 5.5% year on year to $2.36 billion. Its GAAP profit of $0.34 per share was in line with analysts’ consensus estimates.
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News Corp (NWSA) Q4 CY2025 Highlights:
- Revenue: $2.36 billion vs analyst estimates of $2.29 billion (5.5% year-on-year growth, 3% beat)
- EPS (GAAP): $0.34 vs analyst estimates of $0.34 (in line)
- Adjusted EBITDA: $517 million vs analyst estimates of $498.9 million (21.9% margin, 3.6% beat)
- Operating Margin: 10.2%, down from 16.3% in the same quarter last year
- Free Cash Flow Margin: 5.6%, down from 6.8% in the same quarter last year
- Market Capitalization: $14.33 billion
Company Overview
Established in 2013 after a restructuring, News Corp (NASDAQ: NWSA) is a multinational conglomerate known for its news publishing, broadcasting, digital media, and book publishing.
Revenue Growth
A company’s long-term sales performance is one signal of its overall quality. Any business can have short-term success, but a top-tier one grows for years. Unfortunately, News Corp struggled to consistently increase demand as its $8.62 billion of sales for the trailing 12 months was close to its revenue five years ago. This was below our standards and is a sign of poor business quality.
We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within consumer discretionary, a stretched historical view may miss a company riding a successful new product or trend. Just like its five-year trend, News Corp’s revenue over the last two years was flat, suggesting it is in a slump. 
We can better understand the company’s revenue dynamics by analyzing its three most important segments: Dow Jones, News Media, and Book Publishing, which are 27%, 25.8%, and 23.6% of revenue. Over the last two years, News Corp’s Dow Jones (media subsidiary) and News Media (general media) revenues averaged year-on-year growth of 6.2% and 1.6% while its Book Publishing revenue (general publishing) averaged 2.1% declines. 
This quarter, News Corp reported year-on-year revenue growth of 5.5%, and its $2.36 billion of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 3%.
Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 3% over the next 12 months. Although this projection implies its newer products and services will spur better top-line performance, it is still below average for the sector.
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Operating Margin
Operating margin is an important measure of profitability as it shows the portion of revenue left after accounting for all core expenses – everything from the cost of goods sold to advertising and wages. It’s also useful for comparing profitability across companies with different levels of debt and tax rates because it excludes interest and taxes.
News Corp’s operating margin has been trending down over the last 12 months and averaged 10.3% over the last two years. The company’s profitability was mediocre for a consumer discretionary business and shows it couldn’t pass its higher operating expenses onto its customers.
This quarter, News Corp generated an operating margin profit margin of 10.2%, down 6.1 percentage points year on year. This contraction shows it was less efficient because its expenses grew faster than its revenue.
Earnings Per Share
We track the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) for the same reason as long-term revenue growth. Compared to revenue, however, EPS highlights whether a company’s growth is profitable.
News Corp’s full-year EPS flipped from negative to positive over the last five years. This is encouraging and shows it’s at a critical moment in its life.
In Q4, News Corp reported EPS of $0.34, down from $0.38 in the same quarter last year. This print slightly missed analysts’ estimates. We also like to analyze expected EPS growth based on Wall Street analysts’ consensus projections, but there is insufficient data.
Key Takeaways from News Corp’s Q4 Results
It was encouraging to see News Corp beat analysts’ revenue expectations this quarter. We were also happy its EBITDA outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. On the other hand, its EPS was in line. Overall, this print had some key positives. The stock traded up 1.3% to $24.94 immediately following the results.
Should you buy the stock or not? The latest quarter does matter, but not nearly as much as longer-term fundamentals and valuation, when deciding if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).
