News Corporation (Class B)
NWSBusiness Overview
ticker: NWS step: 01 generated: 2026-05-13 source: quick-research
News Corporation (NWS) — Business Overview
Business Description
News Corporation is a global media and information services company controlled by the Murdoch family, operating across five segments: Dow Jones (Wall Street Journal, Barron's, Factiva, Dow Jones Risk & Compliance), Digital Real Estate Services (REA Group, Realtor.com/Move), Book Publishing (HarperCollins), News Media (New York Post, The Times/Sun UK, Sky News Australia), and Other. NWS are Class B non-voting shares; NWSA are Class A voting shares — both are S&P 500 constituents. News Corp sold its 65% stake in Foxtel (Australian pay-TV) to DAZN in April 2025, sharpening focus on digital growth engines.
Revenue Model
News Corp generates revenue through digital and print subscriptions (Wall Street Journal, Barron's), property listing fees (REA Group in Australia, Realtor.com/Move in the US), book publishing advances and royalties (HarperCollins), advertising (print and digital across News Media), data/analytics products (Factiva, Dow Jones Risk & Compliance, Newswires), and a growing stream of AI content licensing deals (OpenAI $250M+ over 5 years, Meta ~$50M/year). Digital revenues grew from 32% of total (FY2018) to 62% (FY2025).
Products & Services
- Dow Jones — WSJ, Barron's, MarketWatch, IBD, Factiva, Risk & Compliance, Newswires, DJ Energy; 6.4M avg subscriptions (+8% YoY), 5.9M digital-only (+10%)
- REA Group — Australia's dominant property listings platform (~61% owned; ASX-listed)
- Move / Realtor.com — US digital real estate marketplace (100% owned)
- HarperCollins — one of the world's largest book publishers; 120+ years, 200M+ books sold annually
- News Media — New York Post (US), The Times and The Sun (UK), Sky News Australia, Herald Sun, Daily Telegraph
- AI licensing — content deals with OpenAI and Meta; litigation against Perplexity and unauthorized scrapers
Customer Base & Go-to-Market
News Corp's three growth pillars — Dow Jones, Digital Real Estate, and Book Publishing — serve: financial professionals/subscribers (Dow Jones), property buyers/sellers and agents (REA/Realtor.com), and consumer/trade book readers (HarperCollins). Legacy News Media serves broad consumer audiences in US, UK, and Australia. AI companies are an emerging paying customer class for premium journalism content.
Competitive Position
News Corp holds dominant positions in Australian real estate listings (REA Group), premium financial journalism (WSJ/Dow Jones), and English-language book publishing (HarperCollins). Its Dow Jones data infrastructure (Factiva, Risk & Compliance) provides sticky B2B revenue. The company is aggressively monetizing AI content licensing while pursuing litigation against scrapers — positioning itself as a content IP licensor rather than a passive AI training data source.
Key Facts
- Founded: 2013 (re-incorporated; roots to 1980 as Rupert Murdoch's global media company)
- Headquarters: New York, New York
- Employees: ~24,000
- Exchange: NASDAQ
- Sector / Industry: Communication Services / Publishing
- Market Cap: ~$14B combined (NWSA + NWS; ~$24/share × ~580M total shares)
- NWS: Class B non-voting shares; NWSA: Class A voting shares (both S&P 500)
Financial Snapshot
ticker: NWS step: 04 generated: 2026-05-13 source: quick-research
News Corporation (NWS) — Financial Snapshot
Income Statement Summary
| Metric | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ~$10.4B | $9.90B | $8.90B | -10.1% |
| Total Segment EBITDA | $1.67B | ~$1.55B | ~$1.60B | ~+3% |
| Net Income | ~$760M | ~$1.4B* | ~$700M | n/m |
| Adj. EPS | $1.20 | ~$1.10 | ~$0.90 | n/m |
FY2023 included gains from asset dispositions. Revenue decline in FY2024 largely reflects Foxtel deconsolidation and FX headwinds; underlying digital growth segments grew.
FY2025: Record profits expected; 11 consecutive quarters of EBITDA growth; FY2025 adj. EPS ~$0.89. FY2026E ~$0.97 (+9%).
Cash Flow & Balance Sheet (FY2024)
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Operating Cash Flow | ~$800M |
| Free Cash Flow | ~$500M |
| Cash & Equivalents | ~$2.0B |
| Total Debt | ~$3.0B |
Foxtel sale (April 2025) reduced debt and improved the balance sheet. $1B buyback plan underway.
Key Ratios (approximate)
- P/E: ~27x (FY2025 adj.) | EV/EBITDA: ~10x | FCF Yield: ~3.5%
- Digital revenue mix: 62% of total (vs. 32% in FY2018)
Growth Profile
News Corp's digital transformation is well advanced. Dow Jones subscription digital revenue accounts for 75% of circulation revenue; digital-only WSJ/Barron's subscriptions reached 5.9M (+10% YoY). REA Group (Australia) and Realtor.com drive Digital Real Estate growth. Q2 FY2025 (continuing operations ex-Foxtel): revenue +5%, net income +58%, Total Segment EBITDA +20%. AI licensing — OpenAI ($250M+ over 5 years) and Meta (~$50M/year) — is an emerging high-margin revenue line.
Forward Estimates
- FY2026E adj. EPS: ~$0.97 (+9% vs FY2025 ~$0.89)
- Digital Real Estate (Q2 FY2025): Revenue +17% to $473M; EBITDA +25% to $155M
- Dow Jones digital subs: 5.9M (+10% YoY); total 6.4M (+8%)
- AI licensing: OpenAI deal ~$250M/5yr + Meta ~$50M/yr; additional deals in negotiation
- $1B share buyback: ongoing
- Analyst avg. price target: ~$35.57 (Strong Buy consensus, 9 analysts; ~48% upside from ~$24)
Deeper Financial Analysis
The fundamental tier adds 9 additional research dimensions for $NWS.