What happened
A great many investors turned the page on storied publishing house John Wiley & Sons (JW.A 1.05%) on Thursday. This was understandable, as their company published quarterly results that fell significantly short of both trailing and future estimates.
The story didn't have a happy ending, with the stock's price diving by more than 17% as a result.
So what
Thursday morning, Wiley released its fiscal third quarter of 2023 figures, which revealed that its revenue was $491 million for the period. This was down 5% on a year-over-year basis and came in lower than the average analyst estimate of over $494 million.
The plot was the same on the bottom line, with non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) adjusted net income sliding to under $53.5 million ($0.85 per share) from the year-ago profit of nearly $66.6 million. The consensus prognosticator forecast was notably higher, at $0.91 per share.
Revenue was down at both of Wiley's main income sources: research and academic publishing. The former saw a decline of 5% year over year in revenue, while the latter fell more steeply at a 10% clip.
Now what
It doesn't seem as if any relief is on the way. In its earnings release, Wiley reduced its guidance for 2023.
The company is now estimating that it's going to book just under $2.07 billion to $2.09 billion in revenue for the year, which is down from its previous guidance of $2.11 billion to $2.15 billion. It's also short of the average analyst projection of $2.19 billion.
As for profitability, Wiley now believes its adjusted, per-share net income figure will be $3.30 to $3.55; that's down from the preceding forecast of $3.70 to $4.05. Like revenue, it doesn't meet the consensus analyst expectation, which is $3.96.
