Did News Corp beat earnings in Q2 2026?

Yes. News Corp beat revenue estimates by 2.3% ($2.36B vs $2.31B expected) and beat adjusted EPS by 21.2% ($0.40 vs $0.33 expected), driven by 8% revenue growth at Dow Jones and continued momentum at Digital Real Estate Services.

What did News Corp say about Dow Jones growth?

Dow Jones delivered 8% revenue growth to $648M with segment EBITDA margins reaching nearly 30%. Risk & Compliance grew 20% to $96M, digital advertising hit a record, and Wall Street Journal digital subscriptions grew 13% to 4.3 million.

Did News Corp declare a dividend?

Yes. News Corp declared a semi-annual cash dividend of $0.10 per share for Class A and Class B Common Stock, payable on April 8, 2026 to stockholders of record as of March 11, 2026.

NEWS (NWSA)·Q2 2026 Earnings Summary

News Corp Beats on Revenue and EPS as Dow Jones Accelerates to 8% Growth

February 5, 2026 · by Fintool AI Agent

Banner

News Corp delivered a double beat in Q2 FY2026, with revenue of $2.36 billion exceeding consensus by 2.3% and adjusted EPS of $0.40 topping estimates by 21.2%. The results were driven by accelerating growth at Dow Jones (up 8% vs. 6% in Q1) and continued strength in Digital Real Estate Services, which together now represent 88% of the company's profitability. Stock initially closed down 2.3% on the day but rallied 3% in after-hours trading to $24.93 following the earnings release.

Did News Corp Beat Earnings?

Yes, News Corp beat on both revenue and EPS.

Metric	Actual	Estimate	Surprise	YoY Change
Revenue	$2.36B	$2.31B	+2.3%	+6%
Adjusted EPS	$0.40	$0.33	+21.2%	+21%
GAAP EPS	$0.34	$0.33	+3.0%	-15%
Total Segment EBITDA	$521M	—	—	+9%

The EPS beat was particularly notable given that the prior year quarter benefited from an $87 million one-time gain from REA Group's sale of PropertyGuru. Excluding that impact, underlying profit growth was even stronger than the headline numbers suggest.

GAAP EPS declined 15% year-over-year ($0.34 vs $0.40) due to the absence of last year's PropertyGuru gain, but adjusted EPS showed the true operating performance with 21% growth.

Ask Fintool AI Agent

What Changed From Last Quarter?

Growth accelerated. Revenue growth improved from 5% in Q1 to 6% in Q2, with Dow Jones accelerating from 6% to 8% growth. More importantly, profitability momentum continued with Total Segment EBITDA expanding 9% year-over-year.

Key quarter-over-quarter changes:

Dow Jones momentum: Revenue growth accelerated to 8% from 6% in Q1, with Risk & Compliance growth hitting 20% (up from double-digit growth last quarter)
Digital Real Estate inflection: Move (Realtor.com) delivered +10% revenue growth, the best performance in recent quarters, with lead volume up 13% after declines in prior periods
AI content licensing: New partnership with Bloomberg for Dow Jones AI rights, joining OpenAI as a major content licensing partner
Buyback acceleration: Share repurchases running at 4x the prior rate, reflecting management's confidence in valuation

How Did Each Segment Perform?

Segment Performance

Dow Jones — The Standout Performer

Dow Jones delivered another exceptional quarter, cementing its position as News Corp's growth engine:

Metric	Q2 FY2026	Q2 FY2025	YoY Change
Revenue	$648M	$600M	+8%
Segment EBITDA	$191M	$174M	+10%
EBITDA Margin	29.5%	29.0%	+50 bps
Digital Revenue %	82%	81%	+100 bps

Key drivers:

Risk & Compliance: +20% growth to $96M, driven by new customers, new products, and improved yield
Dow Jones Energy: +10% growth to $75M with customer retention above 90%
Digital advertising: Record quarter with digital ad revenue up 12%
WSJ subscriptions: Digital-only subs grew 13% to 4.3 million; total WSJ subs grew 11% to 4.7 million

CEO Robert Thomson emphasized Dow Jones's AI content value: "It is clear that expectations of AI's impact are continuing to evolve and that the more perceptive players have come to realize that provenance is paramount. We do believe an increasing number of insightful companies understand this content contradiction and will indeed pay a premium for our premium content."

Catalyst alert: News Corp will host a Dow Jones Investor Briefing on March 16th in New York City to highlight the segment's potential.

Digital Real Estate Services — Double-Digit EBITDA Growth Continues

Metric	Q2 FY2026	Q2 FY2025	YoY Change
Revenue	$511M	$473M	+8%
Segment EBITDA	$206M	$185M	+11%

REA Group (Australia): Revenue increased 7% to $368M despite Australian national residential buy listings down 3% year-over-year. Sydney listings were up 7% and Melbourne up 4%.

Move/Realtor.com (US): Revenue increased 10% to $143M, driven by:

Shift to premium offerings with higher revenue per lead
Lead volume up 13% — significant improvement from recent quarters' declines
Audience share gains relative to competing real estate portals
Monthly average visits of 241 million per Comscore

Book Publishing — Record Revenue, One-Time Headwind

Metric	Q2 FY2026	Q2 FY2025	YoY Change
Revenue	$633M	$595M	+6%
Segment EBITDA	$99M	$101M	-2%

HarperCollins posted a quarterly revenue record of $633 million. Growth was driven by recent acquisitions (+$15M impact), strength in Christian Publishing, and strong frontlist titles including Wicked: The Official Visual Companion and The Pioneer Woman Cooks.

Segment EBITDA declined 2% due to a $16 million one-time write-off primarily related to inventory at HarperCollins' international operations. Excluding this charge, underlying EBITDA would have been up solidly.

News Media — Flat Revenue, Digital Transition Continues

Metric	Q2 FY2026	Q2 FY2025	YoY Change
Revenue	$570M	$570M	0%
Segment EBITDA	$70M	$74M	-5%
Digital Revenue %	43%	39%	+400 bps

Circulation and subscription revenue increased 4% from cover price increases and digital subscriber growth, but advertising revenue declined 6% on print weakness. The segment invested in launching the California Post, impacting near-term profitability.

Ask Fintool AI Agent

How Did the Stock React?

NWSA shares closed down 2.3% at $24.21 on the regular session but rallied 3.0% in after-hours trading to $24.93 following the earnings release.

Price Metric	Value
Close (Feb 5)	$24.21
After-hours	$24.93 (+3.0%)
52-Week High	$31.61
52-Week Low	$23.38
vs. 50-day MA	-7.4%
Market Cap	$13.7B

The stock is trading near 52-week lows, which may explain management's accelerated buyback activity at "over four times the prior rate."

What Did Management Guide?

Management did not provide specific quantitative guidance but offered qualitative commentary:

Optimistic signals:

"Given the current trajectory of our core drivers, we believe prospects for the third quarter are auspicious."
Dow Jones and Digital Real Estate "started the calendar year strongly"
Confident enough to host a Dow Jones Investor Briefing on March 16th

Capital allocation:

$0.10 semi-annual dividend declared, payable April 8, 2026
Buyback program running at 4x prior rate
$264M in share repurchases in H1 FY2026 vs $78M in prior year period

Balance sheet:

Cash and equivalents: $2.05B
Total debt: $1.95B
Net cash position: ~$100M
Free cash flow H1 FY2026: $136M (vs $121M prior year)

Key Quotes From Management

"We are delighted to report excellent second quarter results with both revenue and profitability growth accelerating from the prior quarter, and we see favorable signs for the second half of our fiscal year." — Robert Thomson, CEO

"What is the point of acquiring cutting-edge semiconductors if they are being deployed to repurpose gormless, factless, feckless content sets?" — Robert Thomson on AI content quality

"This quarter we expanded our partnership with Bloomberg to include AI rights for our unique Dow Jones content and are progressing with other negotiations." — Robert Thomson on AI licensing

What Are the Forward Catalysts?

Dow Jones Investor Briefing (March 16, 2026): Management will highlight the "vast potential" of Dow Jones to investors
AI Content Licensing Expansion: Following deals with OpenAI and now Bloomberg, additional AI partnerships appear to be in progress
US Housing Market Recovery: Realtor.com is well-positioned for "when the housing market recovers" per prior management commentary
Risk & Compliance Growth: 20% growth trajectory in a recurring revenue business with strong retention
Capital Return: Accelerated buybacks at depressed valuations could provide EPS tailwind

Ask Fintool AI Agent

Beat/Miss History

News Corp has now beaten EPS estimates in 8 of the last 9 quarters:

Quarter	EPS Actual	EPS Est.	Surprise	Revenue YoY
Q2 FY26	$0.40	$0.33	+21.2%	+6%
Q1 FY26	$0.19*	$0.18	+5.6%	+1%
Q4 FY25	$0.21*	$0.15	+40.0%	+1%
Q3 FY25	$0.17*	$0.13	+30.8%	+1%
Q2 FY25	$0.33	$0.33	+1.4%	+5%
Q1 FY25	$0.17*	$0.16	+24.9%	+5%
Q4 FY24	$0.11*	$0.11	+7.9%	+1%
Q3 FY24	$0.07*	$0.07	-2.5%	-2%

*Values from S&P Global

Data sourced from News Corp Q2 FY2026 8-K filing, S&P Global estimates, and market data as of February 5, 2026.