Forensic Analysis · Newspaper & Publishing · as of Nov 8, 2026

News Corp (NWSA)

A forensic read on News Corp built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.

B · Sound & dependable

Forensic grade

Grey Zone

Financial health

2.5

Distress distance

Clean

Earnings quality

Forensic signals

6.6%

ROE

6.8%

Revenue growth

This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (auditor quality, say on pay, board independence, going concern). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.

News Corp earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 2.5, placing it in the Grey zone. 3 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.

What the filings flag

7.0%

FY2026

Return on invested capital. Return on invested capital is 7.0% in the latest fiscal year and rising across FY2024–FY2026 from 3.2%. After-tax operating profit was $380M in FY2024 and $743M in FY2026. The capital base behind it went from $11.8B in FY2024 to $10.6B in FY2026 (-10%), while the revenue it carried went from $8.3B to $9.0B.

104% of FCF

FY2026

Shareholder returns. Returned $845M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2026 — 104% of free cash flow. That is $34M (4%) more than free cash flow covered. The balance sheet covered it: cash fell $308M and total debt rose $27M over FY2026. That ratio has been CLIMBING past free cash flow — 54% of free cash flow two years back — not just sitting there. Counting the $77M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 114%.

$9M

FY2024

Goodwill impairments. Took $9M of goodwill writedowns across 1 year (FY2024 ($9M)) — about 3% of net income over the span. Writedowns mean past acquisitions underperformed what was paid for them.

Key fundamentals

Latest Revenue$9.03B

Revenue Growth YoY+6.8%

Revenue CAGR (2yr)+4.6%

Net Margin6.3%

Free Cash Flow$811.0M

Return on Equity6.6%

Debt / Equity0.23x

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Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Nov 8, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.

See a wrong number? Report an error with the filing it should match.