NWS · Q4 2025 Earnings
BullishNews Corp (Class B)
Reported August 5, 2025
30-second summary
Revenue of $2.11B grew just 1% YoY as Book Publishing and News Media each fell 4%, but Dow Jones (+7%) and Digital Real Estate (+4%) drove segment EBITDA to $322M at a 15.3% margin — and management said 94% of profits now come from those two pillars. The Foxtel divestiture closed, ~$380M of Foxtel shareholder loan repayments are coming, and management explicitly flagged that buyback "scale and pace" are stepping up in the coming weeks. The story is no longer the conglomerate — it's the two-segment compounder hidden inside it.
Headline numbers
EPS
Q4 FY2025
$0.19
Revenue
Q4 FY2025
$2.11B
+1.0% YoY
Key financials
Q4 FY2025| Metric | Q4 FY2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $2.11B | +1.0% |
| EPS | $0.19 | — |
Guidance
Prior quarter data unavailable — comparison not possible.
Segment performance
Q4 FY2025| Segment | Q4 FY2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Dow Jones | $0.604B | +7.0% |
| Digital Real Estate Services | $0.466B | +4.0% |
| Book Publishing | $0.494B | -4.0% |
| News Media | $0.545B | -4.0% |
| REA Group | $0.318B | +7.0% |
| Move | $0.148B | +3.0% |
Platform metrics
Q4 FY2025| Segment | Q4 FY2025 |
|---|---|
| Dow Jones Digital Revenue % | 83% |
| Wall Street Journal Total Subscriptions | 4.538 million |
| Wall Street Journal Digital-Only Subscriptions | 4.126 million |
| Dow Jones Consumer Digital-Only Subscriptions | 5.719 million |
| Realtor.com Monthly Unique Users | 72 million |
| News Corp Australia Digital Subscribers | 1.166 million |
Profitability
Q4 FY2025| Segment | Q4 FY2025 |
|---|---|
| Total Segment EBITDA | $322 million |
| Total Segment EBITDA Margin | 15.3% |
Management tone
Portfolio simplification, finally executed. For years the Foxtel question hung over every News Corp earnings call as an open strategic loop. This quarter it closed — Foxtel was sold to DAZN, ~$380M of Foxtel shareholder loan repayments are coming, and management is redirecting capital toward buybacks. CEO Thomson: "This quarter, 94% of profits were from Dow Jones and digital real estate, which we believe underscores the inherent value discount." The framing has moved from "we own diversified media assets" to "we own two high-margin compounders and some legacy."
IP rights as a combative platform, not a defensive footnote. AI-related content licensing has been a recurring topic on these calls, but typically in legal/process language. This quarter the language sharpened to ideological: "we will fight to protect the intellectual property of our authors and journalists and continue to woo and to sue companies that violate the most basic property rights." The shift from "woo" to "sue" — used in the same breath — signals that management views the OpenAI deal template as leverage, not a one-off, and is willing to litigate to set pricing power for content licensing.
Realtor reframed from drag to coiled spring. Move revenue grew only 3%, lead volumes are still down 13%, and the US housing market remains punitive. But management's framing flipped from "headwind" to "stored energy": "Realtor should thrive when the US housing market ultimately nears normalcy after a period of punitively high mortgage rates and remarkably low turnover." The supporting evidence — adjacencies at 24% of revenue and growing 40%, segment margin up 250bps — is real, not just rhetoric. The implicit pitch is that Realtor is now structurally profitable before the rate cycle turns.
Capital return moved from talking point to commitment. Management was unusually specific in Q&A about buyback acceleration: scale and pace "increasing in the coming weeks," Foxtel proceeds explicitly earmarked, balance sheet described as "extremely conservative." The repeated emphasis on the discount to NAV — "we believe the stock is trading at a significant discount to net asset value" — combined with confirmed cash inflows reads as a signal that the buyback pace investors saw in FY2025 was a floor, not a ceiling.
Recurring themes management leaned on this quarter:
Risks management surfaced:
Q&A highlights
David Karnofsky · JP Morgan
Asked about acceleration of share buyback program, quarterly repurchase activity levels, Foxtel debt paydown proceeds allocation, and target leverage ratio going forward.
Management confirmed buyback scale and pace are increasing in coming weeks, driven by improved free cash flow and belief in significant discount between share price and NAV. Foxtel sale proceeds will benefit fiscal 2026 pacing. No target leverage ratio provided; balance sheet described as extremely conservative.
Ensha Rakofsky · Evans and Partners
Asked about Dow Jones accelerating revenue growth (6% in 2H vs 3% in 1H), whether second-half trajectory will continue into fiscal 2026, primary drivers, and corresponding OPEX growth requirements.
Management expects growth to continue driven by professional information business (39% of revenues, ~50% of profits) and expansion in risk and compliance (21% Q4 growth) and energy (12% growth). OPEX cost growth was mid-single digits in second half; margins expanded from 24.2% to 25% in last quarter, benefiting from higher-margin professional information services mix.
Kane Hennon · Goldman Sachs
Asked about Realtor.com strategy, growth in adjacencies (rentals, new homes, seller), trajectory relative to current 24% contribution, and whether fiscal 2026 represents another investment year.
Management expressed optimism about Realtor.com despite sluggish property market. Three growth segments (rentals, new homes, seller) accounted for 24% of revenues (up 5 points), with overall revenues up ~40% year-over-year. Continued investment planned including Zenlist acquisition integration. Real estate margin improved to 32.6% in Q4 from 30.1% year-ago.
Craig Huber · Huber Research
Asked about further company simplification, any strategic moves in conjunction with simplification, and signs of U.S. housing market improvement to benefit Realtor.com.
Management characterized Foxtel sale as simplification reflecting realistic capital allocation. Stated Realtor.com poised to surge when interest rates decline and property market improves. Noted continued institutional introspection and constant evaluation of company trajectory to help investors appreciate portfolio value. Focused on capital returns via dividend and enhanced buyback.
David Joyce · Seaport Research
Asked what is driving strong Wall Street Journal subscription growth (digital and total) and what actions can sustain this growth.
Management attributed growth to unique excellence and content quality of WSJ as trusted source. Cited 9% digital subscription growth and 10% digital revenue growth. Referenced new LSEG partnership providing custom dashboard with WSJ, Barron's, MarketWatch, and IBD content with higher margins due to lower acquisition, churn, and retention costs.
What to watch into next quarter
Buyback pace — management telegraphed acceleration "in the coming weeks." Watch the Q1 FY2026 repurchase disclosure; anything materially above the FY2025 run-rate validates the capital-return pivot. Anything in-line or below would undercut the most concrete commitment made on this call.
Dow Jones segment EBITDA margin — held at 25.0% in Q4 vs. 24.2% prior. Watch whether the mix shift to professional information sustains margin expansion above 25% in Q1 FY2026, or whether OPEX catches up.
Realtor lead volume trajectory — down 13% in Q4, improved from -17% in Q3. Watch whether the sequential improvement continues into Q1 FY2026 (i.e. lead decline narrows to single digits) or stalls. This is the leading indicator for the housing-normalization thesis.
Australian residential listings — management flagged July new-buy listings down 8%. Watch whether REA Group revenue growth holds the +7% pace seen in Q4 despite the listings headwind, which would confirm pricing-power resilience.
Book Publishing recovery — management flagged July softness but cited a stronger FY2026 release slate (Daniel Silva, Ree Drummond). Watch whether segment revenue returns to growth by Q2 FY2026; persistent -4% would suggest structural rather than cyclical pressure.
Sources
- News Corp Q4 FY2025 press release, filed with SEC: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1564708/000156470825000416/release-q4fy2025.htm
- Q4 FY2025 earnings call commentary (management remarks and Q&A excerpts as referenced)
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