John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) experienced a pre-market plunge of 5.84% on Tuesday following the release of its fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 results. The stock movement came as investors reacted to a mixed earnings report that showed both positive and negative aspects of the company's performance.

The publisher reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.67 for the quarter, beating analyst estimates of $1.65 by 1.21%. However, quarterly sales of $447.941 million fell short of the $450 million consensus estimate, missing by 0.46%. While the company highlighted strong performance in its Research segment with 5% revenue growth and significant AI momentum delivering $49 million in AI revenue (+23%), the Learning segment showed weakness with revenue declining 6-7% in the quarter due to macro headwinds and retail channel softness.

Despite the company's positive outlook for fiscal 2027 with adjusted EPS guidance of $4.60 to $5.05 and record margins in the fourth quarter, the sales miss and Learning segment challenges appear to have weighed on investor sentiment during pre-market trading. The mixed results prompted a negative reaction as the market focused on the revenue shortfall and segment weaknesses.