The company whiffed on both the top and bottom lines in its latest reported quarter.Academic publications specialist Scholastic (SCHL -12.02%) wasn't looking like a wise investment at the end of the trading week. On Friday in late-session action its shares were down by nearly 12% in value, at a point when the S&P 500 index was up by 0.4%. The market clearly didn't like what it saw in the company's freshly published quarterly earnings report.Booking a lossScholastic opened the book on its fiscal first quarte ...

Core Insights - Scholastic reported a revenue of $225.6 million for the quarter ended August 2025, reflecting a decline of 4.9% year-over-year and a surprise of -5.57% compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $238.91 million [1] - The company's EPS was -$2.52, worsening from -$2.13 in the same quarter last year, with an EPS surprise of -3.28% against the consensus estimate of -$2.44 [1] Revenue Breakdown - International revenues reached $59.4 million, exceeding the average estimate of $56.67 million from two analysts [4] - Entertainment revenues were reported at $13.6 million, falling short of the average estimate of $16.35 million from two analysts [4] - Education Solutions generated $40.1 million, significantly below the average estimate of $53.75 million from two analysts [4] - Children's Book Publishing and Distribution revenues were $109.4 million, closely aligning with the average estimate of $109.37 million from two analysts [4] Stock Performance - Scholastic's shares have returned +7.7% over the past month, outperforming the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +2.5% change [3] - The stock currently holds a Zacks Rank 5 (Strong Sell), indicating potential underperformance relative to the broader market in the near term [3]

Financial Performance - Scholastic's Q3 2025 revenues increased by 4% year-over-year, reaching $335.4 million compared to $323.7 million in Q3 2024 [8] - The company's operating loss improved by 32%, with a loss of $23.9 million in Q3 2025 compared to a loss of $34.9 million in Q3 2024 [8] - Adjusted EBITDA for Q3 2025 was $6.0 million, a 183% increase compared to $(7.2) million in Q3 2024 [8, 18] - Diluted loss per share improved by 86%, from $(0.91) in Q3 2024 to $(0.13) in Q3 2025 [8] Segment Performance - Children's Book Publishing and Distribution revenues increased by 5%, totaling $203.3 million in Q3 2025 compared to $193.1 million in Q3 2024 [6, 10] - Education Solutions revenues decreased by 16%, amounting to $57.2 million in Q3 2025 compared to $68.5 million in Q3 2024 [6, 10] - Entertainment revenues significantly increased, reaching $12.8 million in Q3 2025 compared to $0.5 million in Q3 2024, driven by the acquisition of 9 Story Media Group [6, 10] - International revenues increased by 5% excluding FX impact [6] Fiscal Year 2025 Outlook - The company refined its FY25 Adjusted EBITDA outlook to approximately $140 million [4, 14] - Modest revenue growth is expected year-over-year [4, 14] - Free cash flow outlook remains between $20 million and $30 million [14]