Scholastic Corp (SCHL) stock analysis

P/E above its 5-year median

Scholastic's P/E of 27.2 is above its own 5-year median of 25.1.

P/E above the industry

Scholastic's P/E of 27.2 is above the Printing, Publishing, and Allied Industries median of 17.7.

EV/EBITDA above its 5-year median

Scholastic's EV/EBITDA of 13.0 is above its 5-year median of 9.3.

P/B below the industry

Scholastic's price-to-book of 1.07 is below the Printing, Publishing, and Allied Industries median of 2.39.

Trading above fair value

The share price of $38.02 is above our fair value estimate of $37.51.

Margin of safety under 20%

The price is 1.4% above fair value, so there is no margin of safety.

Revenue growing under 10% a year

Revenue grew -2.4% a year over the last three fiscal years, short of the 10% we look for.

EPS growing under 10% a year

Diluted EPS grew -2.0% a year over the last three fiscal years.

Earnings acceleration

Needs positive net income now, a year ago and five years ago.

Growing slower than the industry

Revenue grew -2.5% over the last twelve months; the Printing, Publishing, and Allied Industries median is 1.1%.

Guidance lowered

Scholastic lowered its full-year full-year Adjusted EBITDA outlook on Dec 18, 2025.

Gross margin improving

Gross margin was 56.5% over the last twelve months, against 55.8% a year earlier.

Return on equity under 15%

Return on equity was 7.4% over the last twelve months and averaged 4.3% over five years; we look for 15% on both.

Return on capital under 10%

Return on invested capital was 1.1%, below the 10% that usually covers the cost of capital.

Return on equity below the industry

Scholastic's return on equity of 7.4% is below the Printing, Publishing, and Allied Industries median of 7.4%.

Earnings over 5 years

Needs positive net income five years ago and in the latest year.

Net margin above its 5-year average

Net margin was 3.6% over the last twelve months, against a 5-year average of 2.8%.

Net margin below the industry

Scholastic's net margin of 3.6% is below the Printing, Publishing, and Allied Industries median of 3.6%.

Low debt

Debt is 26.7% of shareholders' equity, under the 40% we consider low.

Debt rising against equity

Debt to equity rose from 0.6% five years ago to 26.7%.

Debt covered by cash flow

Operating cash flow over the last twelve months equals 21.8% of total debt.

Interest coverage

Interest expense is not reported separately.

Short-term assets cover short-term debts

Current assets are 1.25 times current liabilities.

Bankruptcy risk in the grey zone

The Altman Z-score is 2.22; above 3 is the safe zone and below 1.8 the distress zone.

Pays a dividend

Scholastic paid dividends worth 2.4% of the share price over the last twelve months.

Yield below Treasuries

The 2.4% yield is below the 4.4% on a 1-year Treasury.

Yield below the top quarter

The top quarter of US dividend payers yield 3.8% or more; Scholastic yields 2.4%.

Dividend not cut

The dividend per share has not fallen by more than 10% in any of the last 10 fiscal years.

Covered by earnings

Dividends take 32.9% of net income.

Cash-flow cover

Needs dividends paid and free cash flow.