Item 1A | Risk Factors
Set forth below and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and in other documents that the Corporation files with the SEC are risks that should be considered in evaluating an investment in the Corporation’s common stock, as well as risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual future results of the Company to differ from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements contained in this Report and in other public statements the Company makes. Additionally, because of the following risks and uncertainties, as well as other variables which may affect the Company’s operating results in the conduct of its business, the Company’s past financial performance should not be considered an indicator of future performance.
Risks Related to Our Business and Operations
If we fail to maintain strong relationships with our authors, illustrators and other creative talent, as well as to develop relationships with new creative talent, our business could be adversely affected.
The Company’s business, in particular the trade publishing and entertainment portions of the business, is highly dependent on maintaining strong relationships with the authors, illustrators, animators and other creative talent who produce the products and services that are sold to its customers. Developing new relationships with creative talent is another important enabler of our business. Any overall weakening of our existing relationships, or the failure to develop successful new relationships, could have an adverse impact on the Company’s business and financial performance.
If we fail to adapt to new purchasing patterns or trends, our business and financial results could be adversely affected.
The Company’s business is affected significantly by changes in customer purchasing patterns or trends in, as well as the underlying strength of, the trade, educational and entertainment markets for children. In particular, the Company’s educational publishing business may be adversely affected by budgetary restraints and other changes in educational funding as a result of new policies which could be implemented at the federal level or otherwise resulting from new legislation or regulatory action at the federal, state or local level, or by changes in the procurement process, to which the Company may be unable to adapt successfully. In addition, there are many competing demands for educational funds, and there can be no guarantee that the Company will be successful in continuing to obtain sales of its educational programs and materials from any available funding. Further, changes in educational practices affecting structure or content of educational materials or requiring adaption to new learning approaches, particularly in grades pre-K through 6, as well as those which may arise from new legislation or policies at the state or local level directed at content or teaching practices and materials, to which the Company is unable to successfully adapt could result in a loss of business adversely affecting the Company's business and financial performance. In addition, in a highly politicized environment, the content of some of the products being sold by the Company could become controversial, negatively impacting sales made to schools, through partnerships with government agencies or through sponsorships and funding programs. Within the children's book publishing business, the Company's financial performance could be adversely impacted if its U.S. book clubs channel is unable to adapt to internal changes and the external market. The Company has recently taken a new holistic approach to serving its customers through the reorganization of the Company’s business conducted through the Trade group and its school book fairs and book clubs businesses previously conducted through its Scholastic Reading Events group into the new Children’s Book Group as noted under Item 1 – Business. The Children’s Book Group’s ability to execute on the new customer-centric strategies and obtain the operational improvements expected to be derived from the reorganization, if not aligned with its customer purchasing behaviors, or the benefits expected to be achieved from the reorganization are not otherwise realized, could result in the Company’s results being negatively impacted.
Increases in certain operating costs and expenses that are beyond our control and can significantly affect our profitability, could adversely affect our operating performance.
The Company’s major expense categories include employee compensation, printing, paper and distribution (such as postage, shipping and fuel) costs. Compensation costs are influenced by general economic factors, including those affecting the costs of health insurance, post-retirement benefits and any trends specific to the employee skill sets that the Company requires. Potential shortages for warehouse labor, driver labor and other required skills, as well as labor supply chain issues, such as the impact of union strikes, may cause the Company's costs to increase beyond increases normally expected.
Paper prices fluctuate based on worldwide demand and supply for paper in general, as well as for the specific types of paper used by the Company. The Company is also subject to inflationary pressures on printing, paper, transportation and labor costs. While the Company has taken steps to manage and budget for certain expected operating cost increases, if there is a significant disruption in the supply of paper or a significant increase in paper costs, or in its shipping or fuel costs, beyond those currently anticipated, which would generally be beyond the control of the
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Company, or if the Company’s strategies to try to manage these costs, including additional cost savings initiatives, are ineffective, the Company’s results of operations could be adversely affected. In addition, the bankruptcy of a supplier may result in unanticipated price increases for the Company.
We maintain an experienced and dedicated employee base that executes the Company’s strategies. Failure to attract, retain and develop this employee base could result in difficulty with executing our strategy.
The Company’s employees, notably its senior executives, editorial staff members, and creative talent, have substantial experience in the publishing, education and entertainment markets. In addition, the Company continues to implement a strategic information technology transformation process, requiring diverse levels of relevant expertise and experience. If the Company were unable to continue to adequately maintain and develop a workforce of this nature meeting the foregoing needs, including the development of new skills in the context of a rapidly changing business environment created by technology, involving new business processes and increased access to data and data analytics, it could negatively impact the Company’s operations and growth prospects. In order to develop and maintain its workforce, the Company must provide competitive salaries and benefits and the costs of such salaries and benefits are driven by employment market conditions over which the Company has no control. Additionally, high industry-wide demand for truck drivers may impact the Company's ability to hire and retain adequate staffing levels to deliver book fairs in the number anticipated. Further, the Company's entertainment business is dependent on writers, animators and other talent, who are essential to the development and production of its film and television programs. Any labor dispute, work stoppage, work slowdown, strike by, or a lockout of, one or more of these groups that provide personnel essential to the production of film and television content could delay or halt the Company’s ongoing production activities, or could cause a delay or interruption in the release of new film and television content.
The Company has also been engaged in a significant cost management exercise, which has included a reduction in its employee base. If the Company fails to maintain an appropriate employee base to meet the requirements of servicing its business units, including the ability to take advantage of growth opportunities which may present themselves, this could adversely affect the Company’s ability to meet its growth expectations as disclosed from time to time.
The failure of third-party providers to provide contracted outsourcing of business processes and information technology services could cause business interruptions and could increase the costs of these services to the Company.
The Company outsources certain business processes to reduce complexity and increase efficiency for activities such as distribution, manufacturing, product development, transactional processing, information technologies and various administrative functions. Increasingly, the Company is engaging third parties to provide software as a service ("SaaS"), which can reduce the Company’s internal execution risk, but increases the Company’s dependency upon third parties to execute business critical information technology tasks. If outsourced providers (including SaaS providers) are unable to provide these services, fail to execute their contracted functionality, or experience a substantial data breach, the Company could experience damage to its reputation and disruptions to its distribution and other business activities and may incur higher costs.
Failure to realize anticipated cost savings and benefits from the Company's continuous improvement efforts, or business disruptions as a result of these efforts, could adversely affect our business and financial performance.
The Company continues to explore opportunities to enhance the efficiency of its cost and organizational structure, which includes actions to restructure its cost base. The rapidly changing environment in which the Company operates increases the risk that not all of the Company's strategic initiatives will deliver the expected benefits within the anticipated timeframes. The Company's ability to achieve certain of the anticipated cost savings could be dependent on the use of AI and other technologies and the Company may not be successful implementing such technologies. In addition, these efforts may disrupt business activities or the ability of the Company to take advantage of potential growth opportunities, which could adversely affect the Company's business prospects, financial condition, and performance.
The Company's entertainment business depends on key relationships with buyers of film and television content and uncertainty with buyers or changes in demand for film and television content may impact the financial performance of the entertainment business.
The media and content industry in which the Company's entertainment business operates is rapidly evolving, including the market and demand for film and television content, with the entrance of new major streaming platforms and consolidation of traditional platforms, as well as the changing viewing habits of children and youth. While the Company believes that the demand for high-quality content will continue, industry trends may continue to change and the Company's entertainment business may be adversely affected by such changing industry trends, including potential impacts of mergers and acquisitions in the industry. There can be no certainty that demand for content will be sustained over the long term, that consumers will have an appetite for the programming produced by the
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Company's entertainment business or that the Company will be able to identify and be responsive to new content trends.
The Company may not be able to sustain, manage or effectively execute on its strategy with respect to its acquisition of 9 Story, which may impact the Company's financial performance.
The expected financial benefits of the Company's acquisition of 9 Story depend, among other things, on its ability to realize synergies with 9 Story and develop new programming utilizing Scholastic's current and future intellectual property that achieves market and audience acceptance. If the Company is unable to do this, the Company's business, financial condition, and performance could be materially and adversely affected.
A significant amount of goodwill and other identifiable intangible assets have been recorded as a result of acquisitions and the Company may never realize the full carrying value of these assets.
The Company has recorded a significant amount of goodwill and other identifiable intangible assets as a result of acquisitions. At May 31, 2025, there was $198.9 million of goodwill and $87.9 million of intangible assets on the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheet. The intangible assets are principally composed of customer lists, customer contracts/relationships, intellectual property, trade names and internally developed software. Failure to achieve business objectives and financial projections could result in asset impairments, which would result in noncash charges to the Company's Consolidated Statement of Operations. Goodwill and intangible assets with indefinite lives are tested for impairment on an annual basis and when events or changes in circumstances indicate that impairment may have occurred. Intangible assets with definite lives, which were $85.8 million at May 31, 2025, are tested for impairment only when events or changes in circumstances indicate that an impairment may have occurred. Determining whether an impairment exists can be difficult as a result of increased uncertainty and requires management to make significant estimates and judgments. A noncash intangible asset impairment charge could have a material adverse effect on the Company's financial position and results of operations. See Note 12, “Goodwill and Other Intangibles” of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8, “Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” for further information related to goodwill and intangible assets.
Risks Related to Competition
If we cannot anticipate technology trends and develop new products or adapt to new technologies responding to changing customer preferences, this could adversely affect our revenues or profitability.
The Company operates in highly competitive markets that are subject to rapid change, including, in particular, changes in customer preferences and changes and advances in relevant technologies, including rapid advances in artificial intelligence (“AI”). There are substantial uncertainties associated with the Company’s efforts to develop successful trade publishing, educational, and media products and services, including digital products and services, for its customers, as well as to adapt its print and other materials to new digital technologies, such as the internet cloud technologies, tablets, mobile and other devices and school-based technologies and uncertainties involving the use of AI in connection with the foregoing. The Company makes significant investments in new products and services that may not be profitable, or whose profitability may be significantly lower than the Company anticipates or has experienced historically. In particular, in the context of the Company’s current focus on key digital opportunities, the markets are continuing to develop and the Company may be unsuccessful in establishing itself as a significant factor in any relevant market segment which does develop. Many aspects of markets which could develop for children and schools, such as the nature of the relevant software and devices or hardware, the size of the market, relevant methods of delivery and relevant content, as well as pricing models, are still evolving and will, most likely, be subject to change on a recurring basis until a pattern develops and becomes more defined. This could specifically impact the Company's ability to execute on a digital and print literacy solution, which requires a multi-year investment, through internal development, third party providers and/or acquisitions. In addition, the Company faces market risks associated with systems development and service delivery in its evolving school ordering and ecommerce businesses, as well as in responding to changes in how schools plan to utilize technology for virtual or remote learning and the potential impact on the demand for printed materials in schools.
If we cannot develop new products or services that are accepted by the market as quickly or as efficiently as our competitors, we may experience a material adverse impact on our operating results.
Our financial results would suffer if we fail to successfully differentiate our offerings and meet market needs in school-based book fairs and book clubs, two of our core businesses.
The Company’s school-based book fairs and book clubs businesses, which comprise the Company's reading events business, produce a substantial amount of the Company’s revenues. The Company is subject to the risks that it will not successfully continue to develop and execute new promotional strategies for the school-based book fairs and book
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clubs components of the reading events business in response to future customer trends or technological changes or that it will not otherwise meet market needs in this newly combined business in a timely or cost-effective fashion. The book clubs component also relies on attracting and retaining new sponsor-teachers to promote and support the distribution of its offerings. If the Company cannot attract new millennial and younger teachers and meet the changing preferences and demands of these teachers, its revenues and cash flows could be negatively impacted.
The Company has differentiated itself from competitors by providing curated offerings in both of the book clubs and book fairs components of the reading events business designed to make reading attractive for children, in furtherance of its mission as a champion of literacy. Competition from mass market and online distributors using customer-specific curation tools could reduce this differentiation, posing a risk to the Company's results.
The competitive pressures we face in our businesses could adversely affect our financial performance and growth prospects.
The Company is subject to significant competition, including from other trade and educational publishers and media, entertainment and internet companies, as well as retail and internet distributors, many of which are substantially larger than the Company and have much greater resources. To the extent the Company cannot meet challenges from existing or new competitors and develop new product offerings at attractive price points to meet customer preferences or needs, the Company’s revenues and profitability could be adversely affected.
In its educational publishing business, the Company invests in various literacy program solutions, including both digital and print products, covering grades pre-K through 6 which can be in direct competition with traditional basal textbook offerings, as well as new digital instruction offerings with associated assessment tools, to meet the perceived needs of the modern curriculum. There can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in having school districts adopt the Company's literacy program solutions in preference to basal textbooks or new digital instruction products offered by others or be successful in state adoptions, nor, in the case of basal textbook publishers, that such publishers will not successfully adapt their business models to the development of new forms of core curriculum, which could have an adverse effect on the return on the Company’s investments in this area, as well as on its financial performance and growth prospects. Traditional basal textbook publishers also generally maintain larger sales forces than the Company, and sell across several academic disciplines, allowing them a larger presence than the Company. Additionally, demand for many of the Company’s product offerings, particularly books sold through school channels, is subject to price sensitivity. Failure to maintain a competitive pricing model could reduce revenues and profitability.
Changes in the mix of our major customers in our trade distribution channel or in their purchasing patterns may affect the profitability of our trade publishing business.
The Company’s distribution channels include online retailers and ecommerce sites, digital delivery platforms and expanding social media and other marketing platforms. An increased concentration of retailer power has also resulted in the increased importance of mass merchandisers as well as of publishing best sellers to meet consumer demand. Currently, the Company’s top five trade customers make up approximately 75% of the Company’s U.S. trade business and 16% of the Company’s total revenues. Adverse changes in the mix of the major customers of the trade business, including the type of customer, which may also be engaged in a competitive business, or in their purchasing patterns or financial condition or the nature of their distribution arrangements with the trade business including any requirements related to environmental sustainability with which the Company must comply could negatively affect the profitability of the Company’s trade business and the Company’s financial performance.
The inability to obtain and publish best-selling new titles could cause our future results to decline in comparison to historical results.
The Company invests in authors and illustrators for its trade publication business, and has a history of publishing hit titles. The inability to publish best-selling new titles in future years could negatively impact the Company.
In addition, competition among electronic and print book retailers, including the decrease in the number of independent booksellers, could decrease prices for new title releases, as well as the number of outlets for book sales. The growing use of self-publishing technologies by authors also increases competition and could result in the decreased use of traditional publishing services. The effects of any of the foregoing factors could have an adverse impact on the Company's business, financial condition or results of operation.
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Risks Related to Information Technology and Systems
Privacy breaches and other cyber security risks related to our business could negatively affect our reputation, credibility and business.
Like many businesses, the Company faces cybersecurity risks that include attempts to deploy malicious software to intrude on the Company’s networks to steal private information of the Company and its customers and other parties, to commence denial of service attacks or to cause other disruption. We have experienced cyberattacks in the past and it is possible that we or third-party service providers on whom we rely may experience such attacks in the future. None of the breaches we have suffered to date have resulted in any material adverse impact on our business. Notwithstanding the investments we have made in cybersecurity products, training and services, we cannot be assured that our cybersecurity measures will always be effective in preventing unauthorized access to our systems and other illegal intrusions or other cyberattacks. A successful cyberattack on the Company could have a material adverse affect on our operations and operating results.
In certain of its businesses the Company holds or has access to personal data, including that of customers or received from schools. Adverse publicity stemming from a data breach, whether or not valid, could reduce demand for the Company’s products or adversely affect its relationship with teachers or educators, impacting participation in the book fairs or book clubs components of the Company's reading events business or decisions to purchase educational materials or programs produced by the Company's Education Solutions segment. Further, a failure to adequately protect personal data, including that of customers or children, or other data security failure, such as cyber-attacks from third parties, could lead to legal actions, fines and penalties, significant remediation costs and reputational damage, including loss of future business.
Failure of one or more of our information technology platforms could affect our ability to execute our operating strategy.
The Company relies on a variety of information technology platforms to execute its operations, including human resources, payroll, finance, order-to-cash, procurement, vendor payment, inventory management, distribution and content management systems as well as its internal operating systems. Many of these systems are integrated via internally developed interfaces and modifications. Failure of one or more systems could lead to operating inefficiencies or disruptions and a resulting decline in revenue or profitability. As the Company continues the implementation of its enterprise-wide customer and content management systems and the migration to SaaS and cloud-based technology solutions, in its initiatives to integrate its separate legacy platforms into a cohesive enterprise-wide system, there can be no assurance that it will be successful in its efforts or that the implementation of the remaining stages of these initiatives in the Company's global operations will not involve disruptions in its systems or processes having a short term adverse impact on its operations and ability to service its customers.
While we have developed policies and controls to minimize the risks to our information technology platform, including the formulation of disaster recovery plans and business continuity plans, there can be no assurance that a failure of our information technology platform, in whole or in part, any disruption or any data security breach would not adversely affect our business and have an adverse impact on our operations and financial results.
Risks Related to Laws and Regulations
Our reputation is one of our most important assets, and any adverse publicity or adverse events, such as a violation of privacy laws or regulations, could cause significant reputational damage and financial loss.
The businesses of the Company focus on children’s reading, learning and education, and its key relationships are with educators, teachers, parents and children. In particular, the Company believes that, in selecting its products, teachers, educators and parents rely on the Company’s reputation for quality books and educational materials and programs appropriate for children. Negative publicity, either through traditional media or through social media, could tarnish this relationship.
In the ordinary course of our business, we collect and store in our internal and external data centers, cloud services and networks sensitive data, including but not limited to personal information of our customers, including information received from children. The Company is subject to privacy laws and regulations in the conduct of its business in the United States and in other jurisdictions in which it conducts its international operations, many of which vary significantly, relating to the collection and use of personal information, including the European Union General Data Protection Regulation, which became enforceable on May 25, 2018, and the California Consumer Privacy Act, which became effective in January 2020. Following California’s lead, similar consumer data privacy laws have been passed, and either are in effect or will become effective within the next 12 months in 17 other states.
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In addition, the Company is also subject to the regulatory requirements of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA") in the United States relating to access to, and the use of information received from, children in respect to the Company’s online offerings. Since the businesses of the Company are primarily centered on children, failures of the Company to comply with the requirements of COPPA and similar laws in particular, as well as failures to comply generally with applicable privacy laws and regulations, as referred to above, could lead to significant reputational damage, legal claims, fines and other penalties and costs, including loss of future business.
Failure to meet the demands of regulators, and the associated high cost of compliance with regulations, as well as failure to enforce compliance with our Code of Ethics and other policies, could negatively impact us.
The Company operates in multiple countries and is subject to different regulations throughout the world. In the United States, the Company is regulated by the Internal Revenue Service, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and other regulating bodies. Failure to comply with these regulators, including providing these regulators with accurate financial and statistical information that often is subject to estimates and assumptions, or the high cost of complying with relevant regulations, including a significant increase in new regulations resulting from changes in the regulatory environment, could negatively impact the Company. The Company is also subject to the risk that it is unable to comply with the unstandardized, rapidly-changing environmental requirements imposed internationally by local governments, including those related to measuring and reporting on the impact its business has on the environment, which could negatively impact the Company's ability to conduct business in the related country if not met.
In addition, the decentralized and global nature of the Company’s operations makes it more difficult to communicate and monitor compliance with the Company’s Code of Ethics and other material Company policies and to assure compliance with applicable laws and regulations, some of which have global applicability, such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in the United States and the UK Bribery Act in the United Kingdom. Failures to comply with the Company’s Code of Ethics and violations of such laws or regulations, including through employee misconduct, could result in significant liabilities for the Company, including criminal liability, fines and civil litigation risk, and result in damage to the reputation of the Company.
Changes in tax laws or a change in tax status may result in a loss of government tax credits in the Company's entertainment business.
The Company, through its economic control of 9 Story, presently benefits from significant Canadian government tax credits at both the federal and provincial level. The Company's entertainment business finances a significant portion of its production budgets from such government tax credits and certain anticipated government tax credits are used as collateral for the production loans. Pursuant to an opinion issued by the Minister of Canadian Heritage with respect to the Company’s investment in 9 Story, the Company anticipates that 9 Story will continue to be eligible for such tax credits. The Company could lose its Canadian government tax credits and incentives if the Canadian regulated business into which the Company has invested (9 Story) ceases to be controlled by Canadian nationals. In order to preserve the benefits, the Company's voting equity ownership of 9 Story is limited to 25% of the total voting equity shares outstanding. Further, 9 Story’s business is managed by a board of directors, a majority of whose members are Canadian nationals who are not otherwise affiliated with the Company, consistent with the Company’s representations to the Canadian Ministry of Heritage. There can be no assurance that the individual tax incentive programs currently available to the Company will not be reduced, amended, or eliminated or that the Company or any specific production will continue to qualify for them, any of which may have an adverse effect on the Company’s entertainment business, results of operations, or financial condition.
Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property
The loss of or failure to obtain rights to intellectual property material to our businesses would adversely affect our financial results.
The Company’s products generally comprise intellectual property delivered through a variety of media. The ability to achieve anticipated results depends in part on the Company’s ability to defend its intellectual property against infringement, as well as the breadth of rights obtained. The Company’s ability to do so is subject to the legal protections available under intellectual property laws in the U.S. and other applicable jurisdictions. Unauthorized parties may attempt to illegally use the Company’s intellectual property and the measures that are available for us to enforce our proprietary rights may not be sufficient to fully address or prevent all third-party infringement. Further, it is possible that AI and other advanced technologies will make unauthorized use of the Company’s intellectual property more feasible and enforcement of our intellectual property rights more difficult as intellectual property becomes easier to replicate or use without authorization.
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The Company’s operating results could be adversely affected by inadequate legal and technological protections for its intellectual property and proprietary rights in some jurisdictions, markets and media, as well as by the costs of dealing with claims alleging infringement of the intellectual property rights of others, including claims involving business method patents in the ecommerce and internet areas and the licensing of photographs in the trade and educational publishing areas.
The Company’s revenues could be constrained by limitations on the rights that the Company is able to secure to exploit its intellectual property in different media and distribution channels, as well as geographic limitations on the exploitation of such rights.
Risks Related to External Factors
Because we procure products and sell our products and services in foreign countries, changes in currency exchange rates, changes in applicable laws and regulations as well as other risks and uncertainties, could adversely affect our operations and financial results.
The Company has various operating subsidiaries domiciled in foreign countries. In addition, the Company sells products and services to customers located in foreign countries where it does not have operating subsidiaries, and a significant portion of the Company’s revenues are generated from outside of the United States. The Company’s business processes, including distribution, sales, sourcing of content, marketing and advertising, are, accordingly, subject to multiple national, regional and local laws, regulations and policies. The Company could be adversely affected by noncompliance with existing foreign laws, regulations and policies, including those pertaining to foreign rights and exportation. In addition, changes in foreign laws, regulations, or government policies, including tax regulations and accounting standards, may adversely affect our operations and financial results. The Company is also exposed to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates and to business disruption caused by political, financial or economic instability or the occurrence of war or natural disasters or pandemics in foreign countries. In addition, the Company and its foreign operations could be adversely impacted by a downturn in general economic conditions on a more global basis caused by general political instability or unrest or changes in global economic affiliations or conditions, such as inflation.
Since the beginning of 2025 there have been significant increases in tariffs on certain goods imported into or exported from the U.S., and adverse responses by foreign governments arising from these tariffs. Depending upon the course of future negotiations among the United States and certain of its major trading partners, including Canada, Mexico, the EU and China, more tariffs may be added in the future. These tariffs (existing or future) could have an adverse impact on our results of operations and if we are not able to pass the price increases resulting from such tariffs through to our customers, our cost of sales will likely rise, decreasing our margins, operating income, and net income.
Certain of our activities are subject to weather and natural disaster risks as well as other events outside our control, which could disrupt our operations or otherwise adversely affect our financial performance.
The Company conducts certain of its businesses and maintains warehouse and office facilities in locations that are at risk of being negatively affected by severe weather and natural disaster events, including those caused by climate change, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, snowstorms, heat waves or earthquakes. Notably, much of the Company’s domestic distribution facilities are located in central Missouri. A disruption of these or other facilities could impact the Company’s school-based reading events business, as well as its trade and education businesses. Additionally, disruptions due to weather, natural disaster, epidemics or pandemics could result in school closures, resulting in reduced demand for the Company’s products in its school channels during the affected periods. Further, the Company may not be able to achieve its book fair count goals and may be materially impacted if widespread pandemic-related closures occur this coming school year. Increases in school security associated with high profile school shootings and other tragic incidents could impact the accessibility to schools for the school book fairs component of the Company's reading events business.
We own certain significant real estate assets which are subject to various risks related to conditions affecting the real estate market.
The Company has direct ownership of certain significant real estate assets, in particular the Company’s headquarters location in New York City, its primary distribution center in Jefferson City, Missouri and the UK facility in Warwickshire. The New York headquarters location serves a dual purpose as it also contains premium retail space that is or will be leased to retail tenants in order to generate rental income and cash flow. Accordingly, the Company is sensitive to various risk factors such as changes to real estate values and property taxes, pricing and demand for high end retail spaces in Soho, New York City, interest rates, cash flow of underlying real estate assets, supply and demand, and the
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credit worthiness of any retail tenants. There is also no guarantee that investment objectives for the retail component of the Company’s real estate will be achieved.
Risks Related to Stock Ownership
Control of the Company resides in the Estate of our former Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer through The Estate's ownership of Class A Stock, and the holders of the Common Stock generally have no voting rights with respect to transactions requiring stockholder approval.
The voting power of the Corporation's capital stock is vested exclusively in the holders of Class A Stock, except for the right of the holders of Common Stock to elect one-fifth of the Board of Directors and except as otherwise provided by law or as may be established in favor of any series of preferred stock that may be issued. The Estate of Richard Robinson, the former Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, beneficially owns a majority of the outstanding shares of Class A Stock and is able to elect up to four-fifths of the Corporation's Board of Directors and, without the approval of the Corporation's other stockholders, to effect or block other actions or transactions requiring stockholder approval, such as a merger, sale of substantially all assets or similar transaction. Iole Lucchese, Chair of the Board of Directors, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of the Company and President of Scholastic Entertainment, in her capacity as Scholastic special executor of the Estate under Mr. Robinson's will and revocable trust, controls the voting of the Estate's Class A Stock.
The Company's common stock price may be subject to significant fluctuations.
The Company's stock price may be subject to significant fluctuations, which could have an adverse effect on its business and the value of an investment in its common stock. The trading price of the Company's common stock has been and may continue to be subject to significant fluctuations and volatility in response to a variety of factors, including general economic and market conditions, changes in the Company's operating performance and financial results, industry trends and competitive pressures, and changes in analyst recommendations and perceptions.
Note
The risk factors listed above should not be construed as exhaustive of all possible risks that the Company may face. Additional risks not currently known to the Company or that the Company does not consider to be significant at the present time could also impact the Company's consolidated financial position and results of operations.
Forward-Looking Statements:
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements relating to future periods. Additional written and oral forward-looking statements may be made by the Company from time to time in SEC filings and otherwise. The Company cautions readers that results or expectations expressed by forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, those relating to the Company’s future business prospects and strategic plans, ecommerce and digital initiatives, new product introductions, strategies, new education standards and policies, goals, revenues, improved efficiencies, general costs, manufacturing costs, medical costs, potential cost savings, merit pay, operating margins, working capital, liquidity, capital needs, the cost and timing of capital projects, interest costs, cash flows and income, are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements, due to factors including those noted in this Annual Report and other risks and factors identified from time to time in the Company’s filings with the SEC. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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Item 1B | Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
Item 1C | Cybersecurity
Risk Management and Strategy
The Company is dedicated to upholding strong cybersecurity measures to protect its operations, data, and stakeholders' interests. By keeping a close eye on the cybersecurity landscape, the Company is able to adjust its strategies and governance practices to minimize risks in this rapidly changing area.
The Company has embraced the NIST-CSF as a blueprint for its cybersecurity program since 2018. This framework's key domains guide the establishment and continuous improvement of processes to identify, assess, and manage cyber risks and threats. The Company's controls are routinely monitored by its Security Operations Center. Its cybersecurity program, security posture, incident response, and security awareness training are tested by an external party to evaluate their effectiveness and maturity rating.
The Company maintains a comprehensive cybersecurity risk management program designed to identify, assess, manage, and mitigate cybersecurity risks. This program provides a framework for addressing threats and incidents, including those associated with third-party service providers. To secure its technology environment, the Company leverages the latest software and security capabilities, employing a defense-in-depth and layered strategy. This includes deploying next-gen endpoint detection and response, network anomaly detection, and multi-factor authentication across most of its environment. Additionally, the Company engages with third-party consultants and utilizes threat intelligence services to assist in its oversight and risk identification efforts. Furthermore, all employees and consultants with access to the Company's information systems are required to complete annual data protection and cybersecurity training, as well as ongoing phishing simulation exercises, as part of a broader training. Based on the information known as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the Company does not believe that any cybersecurity incident experienced has materially affected or is reasonably likely to materially affect the Company, including its business strategy, results of operations or financial condition. For additional information about cybersecurity risks, see Item 1A. “Risk Factors.”
Governance
The Board of Directors is responsible for the overall oversight of the Company's enterprise risk management.The Board of Directors has delegated oversight of cybersecurity risks to the Technology, Data and Supply Chain Committee.The Technology, Data and Supply Chain Committee receives quarterly cybersecurity updates from the Company’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), which include updates on the Company’s cybersecurity policies and strategies, cyber risk posture, improvements and threats, the status of projects designed to continuously improve the Company’s information security systems, assessments of the Company’s security program, employee training and awareness programs, emerging threat landscape and engagement with external cybersecurity experts and advisors, as needed.
Management’s Role
Management is responsible for day-to-day risk management activities, including identifying and assessing cybersecurity risks, establishing processes to ensure that potential cybersecurity risk exposures are monitored, implementing appropriate mitigation or remediation measures and maintaining cybersecurity programs. Risk mitigation strategies and key performance indicators are defined, and tracked, as part of the quarterly internal reporting. The Information Security & Compliance team consists of subject matter experts in the field on Information Security, Risk Management, Compliance and Data Protection. The Information Security & Compliance team monitor the prevention, detection, mitigation, and remediation of cybersecurity incidents through a variety of technical and operational measures, and regularly report to the CISO. The CISO is part of the senior management team and regularly updates the Technology, Data and Supply Chain Committee on the Company’s cybersecurity program, including cybersecurity risks, incidents, and mitigation strategies.
The Information Security & Compliance team is led by the Executive Director, Information Security and Compliance, who has 27 years of experience in IT and Security, including business risk management and cybersecurity, and reports to the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), who has over 26 years in information technology and security roles. The Information Security & Compliance team has established processes and procedures that guide and enable
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continuous monitoring, detection, prevention, mitigation, and remediation of cybersecurity incidents. These processes are carried out using various security platforms tools, capabilities and strategies including tests of the Company's information security program, tabletop exercises, penetration and vulnerability testing, disaster recovery (DR) simulations, and other exercises to evaluate the effectiveness of the information security program and improve the security measures and planning. The Incident Response team utilizes procedures that identify escalation paths when security events are identified. Incident priorities dictate the escalation of events and how an Incident manager reports them to the executive leadership team within the Company and to the Board of Directors.
Cybersecurity risks remain a persistent challenge, as the threat landscape continues to evolve alongside technological advancements. While diligent efforts are made, complete risk elimination or incident assurances are not feasible.
Item 2 | Properties
As of May 31, 2025, the Company operated the following facilities:
Location Primary Purpose Owned Square Footage Leased Square Footage
U.S. Various Locations (1) Book Fairs warehouses — 2,302,000
Jefferson City, MO Area Primary warehouse and distribution facility 1,459,000 —
(1)Consists of approximately 40 book fairs warehouses.
(2)Consists of approximately 60 facilities in Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Asia.
In fiscal 2025, the Company ceased use of certain leased office space in the U.S., Canada and Ireland as part of the Company's efforts to rightsize its real estate footprint to reduce occupancy costs.
In regards to the Jefferson City, MO facility located at 6336 Algoa Road, the Company owns the warehouse, including office space, and related land of approximately 86 acres, in addition to two smaller warehouses in the vicinity, including office space, and related land of approximately 76 acres. In regards to the Company's headquarters in SoHo, New York City, the Company owns the land and buildings located at 555/557 Broadway with entrances facing Broadway and Mercer Street. There is leasable space within the Company's headquarters which is detailed in the table below.
Floor Primary Use Square Footage
3 Occupied by Scholastic; available for lease 37,800
4 Occupied by Scholastic; available for lease 37,100
(2) Approximately 3,000 sq ft is leased to a tenant as of May 31, 2025.
During fiscal 2025, the Company incurred capital expenditures of $7.2 million directly related to its headquarters location, which represents approximately 14% of total capital expenditures. During fiscal 2025, the Company recognized rental income of $11.2 million. The lease terms with the Company's tenants typically range from 10 to 15 years.
Subsequent to May 31, 2025, the Company entered into a 15-year lease for the remaining portion of the second floor. The Company expects annualized straight-line rental income of approximately $2 million related to this lease.
The Company considers its properties adequate for its current needs. With respect to the Company’s leased properties, no difficulties are anticipated in negotiating renewals as leases expire or in finding other satisfactory space, if current premises become unavailable. For further information concerning the Company’s obligations under its leases, see Note 1, "Description of the Business, Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies,"
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and Note 10, "Leases," of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8, “Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Item 3 | Legal Proceedings
Various claims and lawsuits arising in the normal course of business are pending against the Company. The Company accrues a liability for such matters when it is probable that a liability has occurred and the amount of such liability can be reasonably estimated. When only a range can be estimated, the most probable amount in the range is accrued unless no amount within the range is a better estimate than any other amount, in which case the minimum amount in the range is accrued. Legal costs associated with litigation loss contingencies are expensed in the period in which they are incurred. The Company does not expect, in the case of those claims and lawsuits where a loss is considered probable or reasonably possible, after taking into account any amounts currently accrued, that the reasonably possible losses from such claims and lawsuits would have a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated financial position or results of operations. See Note 6, "Commitments and Contingencies," of Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8, "Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" for further discussion.
Item 4 | Mine Safety Disclosures
Not Applicable.
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Part II
Item 5 | Market for the Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Market Information: Scholastic Corporation’s Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share (the "Common Stock"), is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market (the "NASDAQ") under the symbol SCHL. Scholastic Corporation’s Class A Stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Class A Stock”), is convertible, at any time, into Common Stock on a share-for-share basis. There is no public trading market for the Class A Stock.
Holders: The number of holders of record of Class A Stock and Common Stock as of July 16, 2025 were 3 and approximately 22,065, respectively.
Dividends: On a quarterly basis, the Board of Directors considers the payment of cash dividends based upon its review of Company earnings, cash position and other relevant factors. On July 16, 2025, the Board of Directors declared a regular cash dividend of $0.20 per Class A and Common share in respect of the first quarter of fiscal 2026. The dividend is payable on September 15, 2025 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on August 29, 2025. All dividends have been in compliance with the Company’s debt covenants.
Share Purchases: During fiscal 2025, the Company repurchased 3,482,280 of its Common shares at an average price paid per share of $20.10 for a total cost of approximately $70.9 million, inclusive of excise tax. During fiscal 2024, the Company repurchased 3,993,576 of its Common shares at an average price paid per share of $39.00 for a total cost of approximately $156.8 million, inclusive of excise tax. This included a privately negotiated transaction with a related party for 400,000 Common shares at a 3.8% discount to market prices. See Note 22, "Related Party Transactions," of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8, “Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” for further details regarding this transaction. As of May 31, 2025, approximately $70.0 million remains available for future purchases of Common shares, which represents the amount remaining under the Board authorization for Common share repurchases on March 20, 2024 and the current $53.4 million Board authorization for Common share repurchases announced on March 19, 2025, which is available for further repurchases, from time to time as conditions allow, on the open market or through negotiated private transactions.
The following table provides information with respect to repurchases of shares of Common Stock by the Corporation during the three months ended May 31, 2025:
(i) Total represents the amount remaining under the Board authorization for Common share repurchases on March 20, 2024 and the current $53.4 million additional Board authorization for Common share repurchases announced on March 19, 2025, which is available for further repurchases, from time to time as conditions allow, on the open market or through negotiated private transactions.
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Stock Price Performance Graph
The graph below matches the Corporation’s cumulative 5-year total shareholder return on Common Stock with the cumulative total returns of the NASDAQ Composite index and a customized peer group of three companies that includes Pearson PLC, John Wiley & Sons Inc. and Stride, Inc. The graph tracks the performance of a $100 investment in the Corporation’s Common Stock, in the index and in the peer group (with the reinvestment of all dividends) from June 1, 2020 to May 31, 2025.
COMPARISON OF 5 YEAR CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN*
Among Scholastic Corporation, the NASDAQ Composite Index
and a Peer Group
*$100 invested on 5/31/20 in stock or index, including reinvestment of dividends
Fiscal year ending May 31,
The stock price performance included in this graph is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.
Item 6 | [Reserved]
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Item 7 | Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
General
The Company categorizes its businesses into four reportable segments: Children’s Book Publishing and Distribution; Education Solutions; Entertainment; and International.
The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial position and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements and the related Notes included in Item 8, “Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Overview and Outlook
Overview
Revenues from operations for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 increased by $35.8 million, or 2.3%, to $1,625.5 million, compared to $1,589.7 million in the prior fiscal year. The Company reported net loss per basic and diluted share of Class A and Common Stock of $0.07 for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025, compared to net income per basic and diluted share of Class A and Common Stock of $0.41 and $0.40, respectively, in the prior fiscal year.
During fiscal 2025, the Company successfully integrated 9 Story into its Entertainment segment, which significantly contributed to the Company's revenue growth year over year. Fiscal 2025 results also reflected new releases in the Company's bestselling series, including Sunrise on the Reaping, the latest installment in Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games series and Dav Pilkey's Dog Man #13: Big Jim Begins, which benefited the Company's trade channels globally and helped to offset softness in the overall retail market. Education Solutions continued to be negatively impacted by the continuing headwinds in the supplemental curriculum market and the Company is repositioning the business focused on long-term growth and improved profitability under its new leadership. Operating income in fiscal 2025 was $15.8 million compared to $14.5 million in the prior fiscal year, representing an increase of $1.3 million, as the Company successfully executed on a cost management strategy.
Outlook
During fiscal 2026, the Company expects to continue to expand the reach and monetization of Scholastic’s intellectual property, which includes the release of the next title in the best-selling Dog Man series and a growing slate of content development and production commitments. While there continues to be significant near-term uncertainty about school funding, the Company is focusing its product development and go-to-market strategies in EducationSolutions to better align with the evolving needs of educators, schools, and families. The Company has also made progress on its strategic and operational initiatives, which include streamlining the Company's organizational structure, strengthening leadership, reducing costs and evaluating options to optimize its real estate assets, all of which are intended to enhance the Company's ability to drive long-term growth and deliver greater value to shareholders.
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Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
General:
The Company’s discussion and analysis of its financial condition and results of operations is based upon its Consolidated Financial Statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. The preparation of these financial statements involves the use of estimates and assumptions by management, which affects the amounts reported in the Consolidated Financial Statements and accompanying notes. The Company bases its estimates on historical experience, current business factors, future expectations and various other assumptions believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, all of which are necessary in order to form a basis for determining the carrying values of assets and liabilities. Actual results may differ from those estimates and assumptions. On an ongoing basis, the Company evaluates the adequacy of its reserves and the estimates used in calculations, including, but not limited to: collectability of accounts receivable; variable consideration related to anticipated returns; allocation of transaction price to contractual performance obligations; amortization periods; stock-based compensation expense; pension and other postretirement obligations; tax rates; recoverability of inventories; deferred income taxes and tax reserves; the timing and amount of future income taxes and related deductions; recoverability of prepublication costs; recoverability of investment in film and television programs; royalty advance reserves; customer reward programs; and the impairment assessment of long-lived assets, goodwill and other intangibles. For a complete description of the Company’s significant accounting policies, see Note 1, "Description of Business, Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies," of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8, “Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.” The following policies and account descriptions include all those identified by the Company as critical to its business operations and the understanding of its results of operations:
Revenue recognition:
The Company has identified the allocation of the transaction price to contractual performance obligations related to revenues within the school-based book fairs channel, as described below, as a critical accounting estimate.
Revenues associated with school-based book fairs relate to the sale of children's books and other products to book fair sponsors. In addition, the Company employs an incentive program to encourage the sponsorship of book fairs and increase the number of fairs held each school year. The Company identifies two potential performance obligations within its school-based book fair contracts, which include the fulfillment of book fairs product and the fulfillment of product upon the redemption of incentive program credits by customers. The Company allocates the transaction price to each performance obligation and recognizes revenue at a point in time. The Company utilizes certain estimates based on historical experience, redemption patterns and future expectations related to the participation in the incentive program to determine the relative fair value of each performance obligation when allocating the transaction price. Changes in these estimates could impact the timing of the recognition of revenue. Revenue allocated to the book fairs product is recognized at the point at which product is delivered to the customer and control is transferred. The revenue allocated to the incentive program credits is recognized upon redemption of incentive credits and the transfer of control of the redeemed product. Incentive credits are generally redeemed within 12 months of issuance. Payment for school-based book fairs product is due at the completion of a customer's fair. Revenues associated with virtual fairs are recognized upon shipment of the products and related incentive program credits are expensed upon issuance.
Estimated returns:
For sales that include a right of return, the Company estimates the transaction price and records revenues as variable consideration based on the amounts the Company expects to ultimately be entitled. In order to determine estimated returns, the Company utilizes historical return rates, sales patterns, types of products and expectations and recognizes a corresponding reduction to Revenues and Cost of goods sold. Management also considers patterns of sales and returns in the months preceding the fiscal year, as well as actual returns received subsequent to the fiscal year, available customer and market specific data and other return rate information that management believes is relevant. In addition, a refund liability is recorded within Other accrued expenses for the consideration to which the Company believes it will not ultimately be entitled and a return asset is recorded within Prepaid expenses and other current assets for the expected inventory to be returned. Actual returns could differ from the Company's estimate. A one percentage point change in the estimated reserve for returns rate would have resulted in an increase or decrease in operating income for the year ended May 31, 2025 of approximately $5.0 million.
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Inventories:
Inventories, consisting principally of books, are stated at the lower of cost, using the first-in, first-out method, or net realizable value. The Company records a reserve for excess and obsolete inventory based upon a calculation using the expected future sales of existing inventory driven by estimates around forecasted purchases, inventory consumption costs, and the sell-through rate of current fiscal year purchases. In accordance with the Company's inventory retention policy, expected future sales of existing inventory are compared against historical usage by channel for reasonableness and any specifically identified excess or obsolete inventory, due to an anticipated lack of demand, will also be reserved. The impact of a one percentage point change in the obsolescence reserve rate would have resulted in an increase or decrease in operating income for the year ended May 31, 2025 of approximately $3.5 million.
Royalty advances:
Royalty advances are initially capitalized and subsequently expensed as related revenues are earned or when the Company determines future recovery through earndowns is not probable. The Company has a long history of providing authors, illustrators, licensors and other publishers with royalty advances, and it tracks each advance earned with respect to the sale of the related publication. Historically, the longer the unearned portion of the advance remains outstanding, the less likely it is that the Company will recover the advance through the sale of the publication, as the related royalties earned are applied first against the remaining unearned portion of the advance. The Company applies this historical experience to its existing outstanding royalty advances to estimate the likelihood of recovery. Additionally, the Company’s editorial staff regularly reviews its portfolio of royalty advances to determine if individual royalty advances are not recoverable through earndowns for discrete reasons, such as the death of an author prior to completion of a title or titles, a Company decision to not publish a title, poor market demand or other relevant factors that could impact recoverability.
Business combinations:
The Company allocates the purchase price in a business combination to the underlying tangible and identifiable intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their estimated fair values, with any excess recorded as goodwill. Determining the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed requires judgment and often involves the use of significant estimates and assumptions, including assumptions with respect to future cash flows, discount rates, estimated useful lives and market multiples, among other items.
With respect to the 9 Story acquisition, the Company was required to make significant judgments and estimates, particularly in the identification and valuation of identifiable intangible assets. The Company utilized a third-party valuation specialist in determining the fair values. The assets acquired primarily include intellectual property ("IP") related to 9 Story's existing and recognized program titles, customer contracts/relationships related to licensing, distribution and service arrangements, and the trade names associated with 9 Story and Brown Bag Films, its animation studio. The intellectual property and customer contracts/relationships were valued using the multi-period excess earnings valuation method and the tradename was valued using the relief-from-royalty valuation method. The significant underlying assumptions used in these methods included the projected revenue and revenue attributable to the individual intangible assets, as well as the discount and royalty rate. These assumptions are inherently subjective and sensitive to changes in market conditions and the future performance of the acquired business. Refer to Note 11, "Acquisitions," of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8, “Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” for further details regarding this acquisition.
Evaluation of Goodwill impairment:
Goodwill is not amortized and is reviewed for impairment annually or more frequently if impairment indicators arise.
The Company compares the estimated fair values of its identified reporting units to the carrying values of their net assets. The Company first performs a qualitative assessment to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair values of its identified reporting units are less than their carrying values. If it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, the Company performs the quantitative goodwill impairment test. The Company measures goodwill impairment by the amount the carrying value exceeds the fair value of a reporting unit. For each of the reporting units, the estimated fair value is determined utilizing the expected present value of the projected future cash flows of the reporting unit, in addition to comparisons to similar companies. The Company reviews its definition of reporting units annually or more frequently if conditions indicate that the reporting units may change. The Company evaluates its operating segments to determine if there are components one level below the operating segment level. A component is present if discrete financial information is available and segment management regularly reviews the operating results of the business. If an operating segment only contains a single
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component, that component is determined to be a reporting unit for goodwill impairment testing purposes. If an operating segment contains multiple components, the Company evaluates the economic characteristics of these components. Any components within an operating segment that share similar economic characteristics are aggregated and deemed to be a reporting unit for goodwill impairment testing purposes. Components within the same operating segment that do not share similar economic characteristics are deemed to be individual reporting units for goodwill impairment testing purposes.
The Company has seven reporting units with goodwill subject to impairment testing. The determination of the fair value of the Company’s reporting units involves a number of assumptions, including the estimates of future cash flows, discount rates and market-based multiples, among others, each of which is subject to change. Accordingly, it is possible that changes in assumptions and the performance of certain reporting units could lead to impairments in future periods, which may be material.
Income taxes:
The Company uses the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes. Under this method, for purposes of determining taxable income, deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on differences between financial reporting and tax basis of such assets and liabilities and are measured using enacted tax rates and laws that will be in effect when the differences are expected to be realized.
The Company believes that its taxable earnings, during the periods when the temporary differences giving rise to deferred tax assets become deductible or when tax benefit carryforwards may be utilized, should be sufficient to realize the related future income tax benefits. For those jurisdictions where the expiration date of the tax benefit carryforwards or the projected taxable earnings indicate that realization is not likely, the Company establishes a valuation allowance.
In assessing the need for a valuation allowance, the Company estimates future taxable earnings, with consideration for the feasibility of ongoing tax planning strategies and the realizability of tax benefit carryforwards, to determine which deferred tax assets are more likely than not to be realized in the future. Valuation allowances related to deferred tax assets can be impacted by changes to tax laws, changes to statutory tax rates and future taxable earnings. In the event that actual results differ from these estimates in future periods, the Company may need to adjust the valuation allowance.
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Results of Operations - Consolidated
(Amounts in millions, except per share data)For fiscal years ended May 31,
$ % (1) $ % (1)
Revenues:
Asset impairments and write downs 2.9 0.2 10.0 0.6
Other components of net periodic benefit (cost) (1.1) (0.1) (1.0) (0.1)
Earnings (loss) before income taxes (1.3) (0.1) 16.2 1.0
Provision (benefit) for income taxes 0.6 0.0 4.1 0.2
Basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share of Class A and Common Stock
(1) Represents percentage of total revenues.
(2) The Entertainment segment includes the operations of Scholastic Entertainment Inc. ("SEI"), which were included in the Children’s Book Publishing and Distribution segment in prior periods, and 9 Story, as acquired on June 20, 2024. The financial results for SEI for the prior fiscal year presented have been reclassified to Entertainment to reflect this change.
(3) Represents rental income related to leased space in the Company's headquarters which was not allocated to a segment.
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Results of Operations – Consolidated
The section below is a discussion of the Company's fiscal year 2025 results compared to fiscal year 2024. A discussion of the Company's fiscal year 2024 results compared to fiscal year 2023 is not included in this Form 10-K and can be found in the "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" for the year ended May 31, 2024, filed as part of the Company's Form 10-K dated July 19, 2024.
Fiscal 2025 compared to fiscal 2024
Revenues from operations for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 increased by $35.8 million, or 2.3%, to $1,625.5 million, compared to $1,589.7 million in the prior fiscal year. Children’s Book Publishing and Distribution, Entertainment and International segment revenues increased $10.6 million, $59.1 million and $6.0 million, respectively, partially offset by lower revenues from the Education Solutions segment of $41.4 million.
Children’s Book Publishing and Distribution segment revenues increased $10.6 million, primarily driven by the school reading events business on higher fair count in the book fairs channel and higher revenue per sponsor in the book clubs channel. Trade channel revenues were relatively consistent with the prior year as increased sales from the Hunger Games and Dog Man series, driven by the latest releases, Sunrise on the Reaping and Dog Man #13: Big Jim Begins, respectively, were largely offset by lower sales of backlist titles reflecting continued softness in the retail book market.
Education Solutions segment revenues decreased $41.4 million, primarily driven by the continued impact of market conditions as school districts focus on adopting and implementing new evidence-based core programs and decrease spending on supplemental materials.
Entertainment segment revenues increased $59.1 million, reflecting the addition of 9 Story.
International segment revenues increased $6.0 million, primarily driven by increased revenues from the Company's Major Markets, which benefited from the new releases in the Hunger Games and Dog Man series. International segment revenues were also impacted by unfavorable foreign currency exchange of $1.6 million.
Components of Cost of goods sold for fiscal years 2025 and 2024 are as follows:
($ amounts in millions)
Postage, freight, shipping, fulfillment and all other costs 138.4 8.4 141.7 8.9
Cost of goods sold as a percentage of revenue for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 was 44.2%, compared to 44.4% in the prior fiscal year. Cost of goods sold benefited from favorable product mix in the trade channels, driven in particular by the higher priced hardcover sales of Sunrise on the Reaping. This was largely offset by higher royalty costs as a result of an increase in the mix of higher-royalty bearing titles sold in the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 and the addition of production costs as a result of the 9 Story acquisition. The Company expects cost of good sold to increase in fiscal 2026 due to the newly imposed tariffs.
Selling, general and administrative expenses for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 were $822.3 million, compared to $803.0 million in the prior fiscal year. The $19.3 million increase was primarily attributable to the addition of 9 Story, which resulted in higher operating expenses in the period ended May 31, 2025, partially offset by lower commission expense and external labor costs within Education Solutions. In addition, amortization expense related to cloud computing arrangements for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 increased by $2.5 million compared to the prior fiscal year as a result of new assets placed into service.
Depreciation and amortization expenses for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 were $65.7 million, compared to $57.1 million in the prior fiscal year. The $8.6 million increase in Depreciation and amortization was primarily driven by the intangible assets acquired as a result of the 9 Story acquisition. The Company also continues to shift spending to cloud
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computing arrangements in which the amortization expense is included in Selling, general and administrative expenses rather than Depreciation and amortization.
Asset impairments and write downs for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 were $2.9 million, compared to $10.0 million in the prior year. In fiscal 2025, the Company recognized asset impairments of $1.2 million related to certain digital products in Children's Book Publishing and Distribution and Education Solutions, $1.1 million related to certain inventory and other assets in Asia, and $0.6 million related to the early exit of leased office space in the U.S., Canada and Ireland. In fiscal 2024, the Company recognized asset impairments of $6.1 million related to certain education products as a result of the shift to evidence-based approaches to literacy instruction in the education market and $3.9 million related to the early exit of leased office space in the U.S. and Canada.
Interest income for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 was $2.2 million, compared to $4.6 million in the prior fiscal year. The decrease in interest income was attributable to lower average short term investment balances as compared to the prior fiscal year. The Company invests excess cash in short term investments which earn competitive interest rates that change directionally in relation to the Federal Funds rate.
Interest expense for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 was $18.2 million, compared to $1.9 million in the prior fiscal year. The increase in interest expense was due to borrowings under the U.S. Credit Agreement incurred during the first quarter of fiscal 2025 to fund the 9 Story acquisition. The Company expects to maintain these borrowings into the next fiscal year resulting in comparable to slightly higher interest expense in fiscal 2026. Any potential asset monetization strategies executed by the Company could result in repayments of the outstanding borrowings and reduce interest expense.
The Company’s effective tax rate for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 was (46.2)%, compared to 25.3% in the prior fiscal year. The effective tax rate varies from the statutory rate primarily due to expected state and local income taxes and non-deductible compensation for covered executive employees. The tax provision on the global consolidated loss before income taxes was due to the Company's domestic taxable income generating tax expense.
Net loss for fiscal 2025 was $1.9 million compared to net income of $12.1 million in fiscal 2024, a decrease of $14.0 million. The basic and diluted loss per share of Class A Stock and Common Stock was $0.07 in fiscal 2025, compared to basic and diluted income per share of Class A Stock and Common Stock of $0.41 and $0.40, respectively, in fiscal 2024. Outstanding shares decreased 11% from 28.2 million to 25.0 million as of May 31, 2025 which is expected to benefit earnings per share calculations in fiscal 2026.
Results of Operations – Segments
CHILDREN’S BOOK PUBLISHING AND DISTRIBUTION
($ amounts in millions) 2025 compared to 2024
Asset impairments and write downs 0.6 0.5 0.1 20.0
* Other operating expenses include selling, general and administrative expenses and depreciation and amortization.
Fiscal 2025 compared to fiscal 2024
Revenues for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 increased by $10.6 million to $963.9 million, compared to $953.3 million in the prior fiscal year. The increase in segment revenues was primarily driven by increased revenues from School Reading Events of $8.2 million. Book fairs channel revenues increased $6.7 million, driven by higher fair count, partially offset by slightly lower revenue per fair as compared to the prior year. Book clubs channel revenues increased $1.5 million as a result of higher revenue per sponsor and an increase in events. Trade channel revenues were relatively consistent with the prior year, increasing $2.4 million, or 1%, as increased sales from the Hunger Games and Dog Man series, driven by the latest releases, Sunrise on the Reaping and Dog Man #13: Big Jim Begins, respectively, were largely offset by lower sales of backlist titles reflecting continued softness in the retail book market. The retail book
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market is expected to remain soft in fiscal 2026 and, similar to fiscal 2025, the Company is anticipating its proprietary school market channels to outpace this softness.
Cost of goods sold for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 was $410.2 million, or 42.6% of revenues, compared to $412.0 million, or 43.2% of revenues, in the prior fiscal year. The improvement in Cost of goods sold as a percentage of revenues was primarily attributable to the mix of product sold in the trade channel in fiscal 2025, driven in particular by the higher priced hardcover sales of Sunrise on the Reaping, partially offset by higher royalty costs as a result of an increase in the mix of higher-royalty bearing titles sold in the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025. In addition, the book fairs channel had lower excess inventory reserves as a result of better inventory utilization. The Company expects an increase in cost of product as a result of increased tariffs, especially in the book fairs channel beginning in the peak selling season in the upcoming second fiscal quarter.
Other operating expenses were $422.4 million for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025, compared to $417.5 million in the prior fiscal year. The $4.9 million increase in Other operating expenses was primarily attributable to the book fairs channel to support the increased fair count, in addition to inflationary pressures.
Asset impairments were $0.6 million for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025, compared to $0.5 million in the prior fiscal year. In fiscal 2025, the Company recognized an asset impairment of $0.6 million related to certain digital products. In fiscal 2024, the Company early exited leased office space, as a result of which the Company recognized an impairment expense of $0.5 million, primarily related to the right-of-use asset associated with the operating lease.
Segment operating income for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 was $130.7 million, compared to $123.3 million in the prior fiscal year. The $7.4 million increase in operating income was attributable to higher revenues, primarily from School Reading Events, driven by higher fair count in the book fairs channel, coupled with favorable cost of product in the trade channel driven by higher margins on Sunrise on the Reaping. This was partially offset by increased operating costs in the book fairs channel to support the increased fair count.
EDUCATION SOLUTIONS
($ amounts in millions) 2025 compared to 2024
Operating income (loss) $ 6.3 $ 15.8 $ (9.5) (60.1) %
Operating margin 2.0 % 4.5 %
* Other operating expenses include selling, general and administrative expenses and depreciation and amortization.
Fiscal 2025 compared to fiscal 2024
Revenues for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 decreased by $41.4 million to $309.8 million, compared to $351.2 million in the prior fiscal year. The decrease in segment revenues was primarily driven by the continued impact of market conditions as school districts focus on adopting and implementing new evidence-based core programs and decrease spending on supplemental materials. In addition, subscription revenues from Magazines+ and revenues from community literacy programs decreased from the prior fiscal year. Partially offsetting the decline, the segment benefited from increased revenues from sponsored programs as a result of an increase in participants and increased sales of the Company's Ready4ReadingTM phonics curriculum. The Company expects the revenues to remain consistent in fiscal 2026 due to the on-going headwinds in the education market.
Cost of goods sold for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 was $122.8 million, or 39.6% of revenue, compared to $137.6 million, or 39.2% of revenue, in the prior fiscal year. Cost of goods sold as a percentage of revenues was impacted by higher outbound freight costs related to sponsored programs, which was largely offset by lower prepublication amortization as a result of the impairment of certain education products in fiscal 2024.
Other operating expenses were $180.1 million for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025, compared to $191.7 million in the prior fiscal year. The $11.6 million decrease in Other operating expenses was primarily attributable to lower commission expense driven by the lower revenues, in addition to lower external labor and marketing costs.
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Asset impairments were $0.6 million for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025, compared to $6.1 million in the prior fiscal year. In fiscal 2025, the Company recognized an asset impairment of $0.6 million related to certain digital products. In fiscal 2024, the Company recognized an asset impairment of $6.1 million related to certain education products that were not aligned with evidence-based approaches to literacy instruction.
Segment operating income for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 was $6.3 million, compared to $15.8 million in the prior fiscal year. The $9.5 million decrease in operating income was attributable to lower revenues, primarily due to continued market conditions which resulted in decreased spending on supplemental materials. This was partially offset by lower external labor and marketing costs and lower impairment expense in the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025.
ENTERTAINMENT
($ amounts in millions) 2025 compared to 2024
Asset impairments and write downs 0.5 — 0.5 NM
Operating income (loss) $ (12.1) $ (11.2) $ (0.9) (8.0)%
Operating margin NM NM
* Other operating expenses include selling, general and administrative expenses and depreciation and amortization.
NM Not meaningful
The Entertainment segment includes the operations of 9 Story, as acquired on June 20, 2024, and Scholastic Entertainment Inc. ("SEI"). SEI was reported in the Children's Book Publishing and Distribution segment in prior periods. The financial results for SEI for fiscal 2024 have been reclassified to Entertainment to reflect this change. Refer to Note 11, "Acquisitions," of Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8, "Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" for further details regarding the acquisition of 9 Story.
Revenues for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 were $61.0 million compared to $1.9 million in the prior fiscal year period. The increase reflected the addition of 9 Story from the date of acquisition on June 20, 2024 through May 31, 2025 in which a majority of the revenues were driven by production revenue related to episodic deliveries, production services provided to third parties and, to a lesser extent, revenues from royalties and distribution. Entertainment revenues have been negatively impacted by delays in production greenlights from major platforms which are expected to improve in fiscal 2026.
Cost of goods sold for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 was $33.4 million, or 54.8% of revenues. Cost of goods sold primarily consists of production costs and amortization, participation expenses and interest on film related obligations.
Other operating expenses for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 were $39.2 million, which included costs of $3.0 million related to the 9 Story acquisition and severance expense of $1.4 million related to cost-saving initiatives. Other operating expenses for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2024 were $13.0 million, which included transaction costs of $9.3 million related to the 9 Story acquisition.
Asset impairments for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 were $0.5 million. The Company early exited certain leased office space as a result of which the Company recognized an impairment expense of $0.5 million in fiscal 2025, primarily related to the right-of-use asset associated with the operating leases.
Segment operating loss for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 was $12.1 million compared to $11.2 million in the prior fiscal year.
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INTERNATIONAL
($ amounts in millions) 2025 compared to 2024
Asset impairments and write downs 1.1 1.1 — —
Operating income (loss) $ (1.0) $ (6.9) $ 5.9 85.5%
Operating margin NM NM
* Other operating expenses include selling, general and administrative expenses and depreciation and amortization.
NM Not meaningful
Fiscal 2025 compared to fiscal 2024
Revenues for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 increased by $6.0 million to $279.6 million compared to $273.6 million in the prior fiscal year. Local currency revenues in the Company's ongoing foreign operations increased $7.6 million when compared to the prior fiscal year, excluding unfavorable foreign exchange impact of $1.6 million. In the UK, local currency revenues increased $8.4 million, driven by higher trade channel sales which benefited from several current year releases including the latest Hunger Games title, Sunrise of the Reaping, Jonty Gentoo: The Adventures of a Penguin by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler and Dog Man #13: Big Jim Begins by Dav Pilkey, in addition to higher book fairs channel sales driven by higher fair count. In Canada, local currency revenues increased $4.2 million, primarily driven by higher sales from the trade channel, which benefited from the new releases in the Hunger Games and Dog Man series and lower sales returns from its major customers, coupled with higher sales from the book clubs channel. In Australia and New Zealand, local currency revenues increased $1.9 million, driven by increased sales of education products in New Zealand and higher trade channel sales in both markets, partially offset by lower school channel revenues in Australia. The increase in revenues from the Major Markets was partly offset by lower local currency revenues in Asia of $5.5 million. This was primarily attributable to lower sales within the trade and education channels, partially offset by growth in India. Export channel sales also decreased $1.4 million as compared to the prior fiscal year.
Cost of goods sold for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 was $159.3 million, or 57.0% of revenues, compared to $162.2 million, or 59.3% of revenues, in the prior fiscal year. Cost of goods sold as a percentage of revenues decreased as a result of the mix of product sold in Canada and the U.K. in fiscal 2025, driven in particular by the higher priced hardcover sales of Sunrise on the Reaping. This was partially offset by increased fulfillment costs in Australia on lower revenues.
Other operating expenses were $120.2 million for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025, compared to $117.2 million in the prior fiscal year. Other operating expenses increased $3.0 million primarily due to higher general overhead costs in the Major Markets, partially offset by lower costs in Asia driven by operational efficiencies as a result of the Company's reorganization efforts. In the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025, the Company incurred severance expense from its cost-saving initiatives and reorganization efforts in Asia, Canada and Australia of $2.8 million, compared to $2.7 million in the prior fiscal year related to reorganization efforts in Canada and its exit from the franchise business in China.
Asset impairments and write downs were $1.1 million for the fiscal years ended May 31, 2025 and 2024. In fiscal 2025, the Company recognized an asset impairment of $1.1 million related to certain inventory and other assets that were not recoverable as a result of the reorganization in China. In fiscal 2024, the Company early exited certain leased office space in Canada as part of the Company's efforts to rightsize its real estate footprint to reduce occupancy costs, resulting in an impairment expense of $1.1 million related to the right-of-use assets associated with the operating leases.
Segment operating loss for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 was $1.0 million, compared to $6.9 million in the prior fiscal year. The $5.9 million improvement was primarily attributable to higher revenues in the Major Markets, coupled with favorable cost of product in the trade channels driven by higher margins on Sunrise on the Reaping. In addition, operating efficiencies in Canada and Asia drove improved profitability, coupled with lower trade sales returns in Canada. This improvement was partially offset by increased general overhead costs in the Major Markets in the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025.
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Overhead
Fiscal 2025 compared to fiscal 2024
Unallocated overhead expense for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025 increased by $1.6 million to $108.1 million, compared to $106.5 million in the prior fiscal year. The increase was primarily attributable to higher employee-related expenses driven by higher medical costs. This was partly offset by lower severance expense of $0.6 million related to the Company's cost-savings initiatives and lower impairment expense of $2.2 million. The Company early exited certain leased office space as part of the Company's efforts to rightsize office space in fiscal years 2025 and 2024, resulting in an impairment expense of $0.1 million and $2.3 million, respectively, related to the right-of-use assets associated with the operating leases. In addition, the Company recognized higher rental income of $1.5 million as a result of a new tenant leasing space in the Company's headquarters.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Fiscal 2025 compared to fiscal 2024
Cash provided by operating activities was $124.2 million for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025, compared to cash provided by operating activities of $154.6 million for the prior fiscal year, representing a decrease in cash provided by operating activities of $30.4 million. The decrease in cash provided was primarily driven by lower customer remittances, increased inventory purchases and royalty advance payments, as well as increased medical claim payments, interest payments related to the Company's borrowings and higher spending in Entertainment due to the acquisition of 9 Story in fiscal 2025. This was partially offset by lower tax payments and lower discretionary spending in the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025.
Cash used in investing activities was $252.9 million for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025, compared to cash used in investing activities of $89.7 million for the prior fiscal year, representing an increase in cash used in investing activities of $163.2 million. The increase in cash used was driven by the cash paid for the 9 Story acquisition of $176.2 million, net of cash acquired, during the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025, as compared to the prior fiscal year in which the Company acquired certain amortizable intangible assets related to educational programs and a U.S.-based children's book publishing business for $6.0 million and purchased the remaining noncontrolling interest related to Make Believe Ideas Limited for $2.1 million. This was partially offset by lower capital expenditures of $6.2 million.
Cash provided by financing activities was $137.3 million for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025, compared to cash used in financing activities of $176.1 million for the prior fiscal year, representing an increase in cash provided by financing activities of $313.4 million. The increase in cash provided was primarily attributable to net borrowings of $250 million under the U.S. Credit Agreement incurred during fiscal 2025 to fund the 9 Story acquisition. In addition, the Company repurchased common stock of $70.0 million, compared to repurchases of $158.2 million in the prior fiscal year, which also resulted in lower dividends of $2.1 million. This was partially offset by $18.3 million of net repayments of film related obligations in the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025.
Cash Position
The Company’s cash and cash equivalents totaled $124.0 million at May 31, 2025 and $113.7 million at May 31, 2024. Cash and cash equivalents held by the Company’s U.S. operations totaled $48.7 million at May 31, 2025 and $54.9 million at May 31, 2024.
The Company’s operating philosophy is to use cash provided by operating activities to create value by paying down debt, reinvesting in existing businesses and, from time to time, making acquisitions that will complement its portfolio of businesses or acquiring other strategic assets, as well as engaging in shareholder enhancement initiatives, such as share repurchases or dividend declarations. During fiscal 2025, the Company repurchased $70.0 million of its common stock on the open market. See Note 15, "Treasury Stock," of Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8, "Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" for further details. Under the Company's open-market buy-back program, $70.0 million remained available for future purchases of common shares as of May 31, 2025.
The Company has maintained, and expects to maintain for the foreseeable future, sufficient liquidity to fund ongoing operations, including working capital requirements, pension contributions, postretirement benefits, debt service, planned capital expenditures and other investments, as well as dividends and share repurchases. As of May 31, 2025, the Company’s primary sources of liquidity consisted of cash and cash equivalents of $124.0 million, cash from
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operations and the Company's U.S. Credit Agreement. The Company expects the U.S. Credit Agreement to provide it with an appropriate level of flexibility to strategically manage its business operations. The U.S. Credit Agreement has a borrowing limit of $400 million and a maturity date of November 26, 2029. See Note 5, "Debt," of Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8, "Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" for more information regarding the U.S. Credit Agreement. As of May 31, 2025, the Company's U.S. Credit Agreement, less borrowings of $250.0 million and commitments of $0.4 million, had $149.6 million of availability. Additionally, the Company has short-term credit facilities of $32.0 million, less current borrowings of $6.2 million and commitments of $3.6 million, resulting in $22.2 million of current availability under these facilities at May 31, 2025. Accordingly, the Company believes these sources of liquidity are sufficient to finance its currently anticipated ongoing operating needs, as well as its financing and investing activities.
The following table summarizes, as of May 31, 2025, the Company’s contractual cash obligations by future period (see Notes 5, 6, 10 and 16 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8, “Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data”):
$ amounts in millions
Payments Due By Period
Contractual Obligations 1 Year or Less Years 2-3 Years 4-5 After Year 5 Total
Minimum print quantities $ 0.4 $ 0.6 $ 0.3 $ — $ 1.3
Lines of credit and short-term debt 6.2 — — — 6.2
(1) Film related obligations are due on demand. Outstanding borrowings are presented by fiscal year maturity based on expected repayment dates per loan agreements.
(2) Includes principal and interest.
(3) Excludes expected Medicare Part D subsidy receipts.
Financing
Loan Agreement
The Company is party to the U.S. Credit Agreement and certain credit lines with various banks, including those related to film related obligations. For a more complete description of the U.S. Credit Agreement, as well as the Company's other debt obligations, reference is made to Note 5, "Debt," of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8, “Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Acquisitions
In the ordinary course of business, the Company explores domestic and international expansion opportunities, including potential niche and strategic acquisitions. As part of this process, the Company engages with interested parties in discussions concerning possible transactions. The Company will continue to evaluate such expansion opportunities and prospects. See Note 11, "Acquisitions," of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8, “Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Item 7A | Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
The Company conducts its business in various foreign countries, and as such, its cash flows and earnings are subject to fluctuations from changes in foreign currency exchange rates. The Company sells products from its domestic operations to its foreign subsidiaries, creating additional currency risk. The Company manages its exposures to this market risk through internally established procedures and, when deemed appropriate, through the use of short-term forward exchange contracts which were not significant as of May 31, 2025. The Company does not enter into derivative transactions or use other financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes.
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The Company is subject to the risk that market interest rates and its cost of borrowing will increase and thereby increase the interest charged under its variable-rate debt.
Additional information relating to the Company’s derivative transactions and outstanding financial instruments is included in Note 20, "Derivatives and Hedging," and Note 5, "Debt," respectively, of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8, “Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data,” which is included herein.
The following table sets forth information about the Company’s debt instruments as of May 31, 2025:
$ amounts in millions
Fiscal Year Maturity Fair Value
Debt Obligations
Average interest rate 4.5 % — — — — —
Average interest rate — — — — 6.1 % —
Average interest rate 5.7 % 6.6 % 5.7 % 5.5 % — —
(1) Film related obligations are due on demand. Outstanding borrowings are presented by fiscal year maturity based on expected repayment dates per loan agreements.
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Item 8 | Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
Page
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements 42
Reports of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID: 42) 85
Schedule II — Valuation and Qualifying Accounts and Reserves S-1
All other schedules have been omitted since the required information is not present or is not present in amounts sufficient to require submission of the schedule, or because the information required is included in the Consolidated Financial Statements or the Notes thereto.
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Consolidated Statements of Operations
(Amounts in millions, except per share data)For fiscal years ended May 31,
Operating costs and expenses
Selling, general and administrative expenses 822.3 803.0 756.6
Asset impairments and write downs 2.9 10.0 —
Other components of net periodic benefit (cost) (1.1) (1.0) 0.3
Earnings (loss) before income taxes (1.3) 16.2 112.4
Provision (benefit) for income taxes 0.6 4.1 25.9
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest — — 0.2
Net income (loss) attributable to Scholastic Corporation $ (1.9) $ 12.1 $ 86.3
Basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share of Class A and Common Stock
Basic:
Net Income (loss) attributable to Scholastic Corporation $ (0.07) $ 0.41 $ 2.56
Diluted:
Net Income (loss) attributable to Scholastic Corporation $ (0.07) $ 0.40 $ 2.49
Dividends declared per share of Class A and Common Stock $ 0.80 $ 0.80 $ 0.80
See accompanying notes
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Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss)
(Amounts in millions)For fiscal years ended May 31,
Other comprehensive income (loss), net:
Foreign currency translation adjustments 10.9 3.1 (5.4)
Pension and postretirement adjustments, net of tax 0.1 0.2 (5.0)
Total other comprehensive income (loss) $ 11.0 $ 3.3 $ (10.4)
Comprehensive income (loss) 9.1 15.4 76.1
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest — — 0.2
See accompanying notes
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Consolidated Balance Sheets
(Amounts in millions)Balances at May 31,
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents $ 124.0 $ 113.7
Income tax receivable 8.8 15.2
Tax credit receivable 21.0 —
Prepaid expenses and other current assets 47.9 48.8
Noncurrent Assets:
Property, plant and equipment, net 516.3 511.9
Prepublication costs, net 49.7 49.5
Investment in film and television programs, net 42.1 —
Operating lease right-of-use assets, net 103.9 99.1
Royalty advances, net 78.1 57.8
Other intangible assets, net 87.9 10.3
Noncurrent deferred income taxes 34.7 23.1
Other assets and deferred charges 113.2 109.8
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Current Liabilities:
Lines of credit and current portion of long-term debt $ 6.2 $ 6.0
Film related obligations 18.3 —
Accrued income taxes 3.7 1.9
Operating lease liabilities 26.8 22.4
Noncurrent Liabilities:
Long-term debt 250.0 —
Operating lease liabilities 91.5 89.2
Other noncurrent liabilities 35.7 29.2
Commitments and Contingencies: — —
Stockholders’ Equity:
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) (41.5) (52.5)
Treasury stock at cost: 18.7 and 15.5 shares, respectively (619.2) (558.1)
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $ 1,950.1 $ 1,671.2
See accompanying notes
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Consolidated Statement of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity
(Amounts in millions)
Shares Amount Shares Amount
Foreign currency translation adjustment — — — — — (5.4) — — (5.4) — (5.4)
Stock-based compensation — — — — 10.5 — — — 10.5 — 10.5
Purchases of treasury stock at cost — — (3.3) — — — — (135.1) (135.1) — (135.1)
Dividends — — — — — — (27.2) — (27.2) — (27.2)
Net Income (loss) — — — — — — 12.1 — 12.1 — 12.1
Foreign currency translation adjustment — — — — — 3.1 — — 3.1 — 3.1
Stock-based compensation — — — — 11.0 — — — 11.0 — 11.0
Proceeds pursuant to stock-based compensation plans — — — — 6.5 — — — 6.5 — 6.5
Purchases of treasury stock at cost — — (4.0) — — — — (156.8) (156.8) — (156.8)
Dividends — — — — — — (24.0) — (24.0) — (24.0)
Other (share conversion) (0.9) — 0.9 — (28.6) — — 28.6 — — —
Other (noncontrolling interest) — — — — (0.5) — — — (0.5) (1.6) (2.1)
Net Income (loss) — — — — — — (1.9) — (1.9) — (1.9)
Foreign currency translation adjustment — — — — — 10.9 — — 10.9 — 10.9
Stock-based compensation — — — — 9.3 — — — 9.3 — 9.3
Purchases of treasury stock at cost — — (3.5) — — — — (70.9) (70.9) — (70.9)
Dividends — — — — — — (22.1) — (22.1) — (22.1)
See accompanying notes
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Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(Amounts in millions)Years ended May 31,
Cash flows - operating activities:
Net income (loss) attributable to Scholastic Corporation $ (1.9) $ 12.1 $ 86.3
Provision for losses on accounts receivable 5.0 5.2 3.3
Provision for losses on inventory 16.1 20.4 26.5
Provision for losses on royalty advances 5.7 2.7 4.2
Amortization of prepublication costs 21.9 26.2 25.1
Amortization of film and television programs 9.9 — —
Amortization of pension and postretirement plans 0.5 0.4 (0.4)
Deferred income taxes (19.7) (1.9) (0.7)
Income from equity method investments (0.5) (0.5) (0.9)
Non cash write off related to asset impairments and write downs 2.9 10.0 —
Changes in assets and liabilities, net of amounts acquired:
Income tax receivable 6.8 (6.3) 17.7
Tax credit receivable 10.6 — —
Prepaid expenses and other current assets 4.1 (1.7) 21.5
Investment in film and television programs (12.5) — —
Deferred revenue 7.5 (8.1) (2.9)
Other accrued expenses (1.5) (10.3) (15.3)
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities 124.2 154.6 148.9
Cash flows - investing activities:
Prepublication expenditures (24.5) (22.8) (26.9)
Additions to property, plant and equipment (52.2) (58.4) (62.0)
Acquisition-related payments (176.2) (6.4) (10.7)
Purchase of noncontrolling interests — (2.1) —
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities (252.9) (89.7) (99.6)
See accompanying notes
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Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(Amounts in millions)Years ended May 31,
Cash flows - financing activities:
Borrowings under film related obligations 16.5 — —
Repayments of film related obligations (including interests) (34.8) — —
Repayment of capital lease obligations (1.7) (2.3) (2.3)
Proceeds pursuant to stock-based compensation plans 1.2 9.1 20.7
Other, net 0.2 — —
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities 137.3 (176.1) (139.5)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents 1.7 0.4 (1.9)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 10.3 (110.8) (92.1)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 113.7 224.5 316.6
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 124.0 $ 113.7 $ 224.5
Supplemental Information:
Income tax payments (refunds) $ 2.0 $ 23.7 $ 2.5
See accompanying notes
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Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
(Amounts in millions, except share and per share data)
1. DESCRIPTION OF THE BUSINESS, BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Description of the business
Scholastic Corporation (the “Corporation” and together with its subsidiaries, “Scholastic” or the “Company”) is the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, a leading provider of print and digital instructional materials for grades pre-kindergarten ("pre-K") to grade 12 and a producer of entertaining literary and educational children’s media. The Company creates quality books and ebooks, print and technology-based learning materials and programs, classroom magazines and other products that, in combination, offer schools, as well as parents and children, customized and comprehensive solutions to support children’s learning and reading both at school and at home. Since its founding in 1920, Scholastic has emphasized quality products and a dedication to reading, learning and literacy. The Company is the leading operator of school-based book club and book fair proprietary channels. It distributes its products and services through these channels, as well as directly to schools and libraries, through retail stores and through the internet. The Company’s website, scholastic.com, is a leading site for teachers, classrooms and parents and an award-winning destination for children. Scholastic has operations in the United States and throughout the world including Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Asia and, through its export business, sells products in approximately 130 international locations.
Basis of presentation
Principles of consolidation
The Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of Scholastic Corporation (the “Corporation”) and all wholly-owned and majority-owned subsidiaries (collectively, “Scholastic” or the “Company”). The Company reviews its relationships with other entities to identify whether it is the primary beneficiary of a variable interest entity (“VIE”). If the determination is made that the Company is the primary beneficiary, then the entity is consolidated. Intercompany transactions are eliminated in consolidation.
The Company’s fiscal year is not a calendar year. Accordingly, references in this document to fiscal 2025 relate to the twelve-month period ending May 31, 2025. Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform with the current year presentation.
Noncontrolling Interest
On June 1, 2023, the Company acquired the remaining shares of Make Believe Ideas Limited ("MBI"), a UK-based children's book publishing company, which represented a 5.0% noncontrolling interest, increasing the Company's total ownership from 95.0% to 100%.
Prior to June 1, 2023, the founder and chief executive officer of MBI retained a 5.0% noncontrolling ownership interest in MBI. The Company fully consolidated MBI as of the acquisition date and the 5.0% noncontrolling interest was classified within stockholder's equity.
Use of estimates
The Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("U.S. GAAP"). The preparation of these financial statements involves the use of estimates and assumptions by management, which affects the amounts reported in the Consolidated Financial Statements and accompanying notes. The Company bases its estimates on historical experience, current business factors and various other assumptions believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, all of which are necessary in order to form a basis for determining the carrying values of assets and liabilities. Actual results may differ from those estimates and assumptions. On an ongoing basis, the Company evaluates the adequacy of its reserves and the estimates used in calculations, including, but not limited to:
•Accounts receivable allowance for credit losses
•Pension and postretirement benefit plans
•Uncertain tax positions
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•The timing and amount of future income taxes and related deductions
•Inventory reserves
•Cost of goods sold from book fair operations during interim periods based on estimated gross profit rates
•Sales tax contingencies
•Royalty advance reserves and royalty expense accruals
•Expected economic useful life and recoverability of film and television program assets
•Impairment testing for goodwill, intangibles and other long-lived assets and investments
•Assets and liabilities acquired in business combinations
•Variable consideration related to anticipated returns
•Allocation of transaction price to contractual performance obligations
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Revenue recognition
The Company’s revenue recognition policies for its principal businesses are as follows:
School-Based Book Clubs– Revenue from school-based book clubs is recognized upon shipment of the products.
School-Based Book Fairs – Revenues associated with school-based book fairs relate to the sale of children's books and other products to book fair sponsors. In addition, the Company employs an incentive program to encourage the sponsorship of book fairs and increase the number of fairs held each school year. The Company identifies two potential performance obligations within its school-based book fair contracts, which include the fulfillment of book fairs product and the fulfillment of product upon the redemption of incentive program credits by customers. The Company allocates the transaction price to each performance obligation and recognizes revenue at a point in time. The Company utilizes certain estimates based on historical experience, redemption patterns and future expectations related to the participation in the incentive program to determine the relative fair value of each performance obligation when allocating the transaction price. Changes in these estimates could impact the timing of the recognition of revenue. Revenue allocated to the book fairs product is recognized at the point at which product is delivered to the customer and control is transferred. The revenue allocated to the incentive program credits is recognized upon redemption of incentive credits and the transfer of control of the redeemed product. Incentive credits are generally redeemed within 12 months of issuance. Payment for school-based book fairs product is due at the completion of a customer's fair. Revenues associated with virtual fairs are recognized upon shipment of the products and related incentive program credits are expensed upon issuance.
Trade – Revenue from the sale of children’s books for distribution in the retail channel is primarily recognized when performance obligations are satisfied and control is transferred to the customer, or when the product is on sale and available to the public. For newly published titles, the Company, on occasion, contractually agrees with its customers when the publication may be first offered for sale to the public, or an agreed upon “Strict Laydown Date." For such titles, the control of the product is not deemed to be transferred to the customer until such time that the publication can contractually be sold to the public, and the Company defers revenue on sales of such titles until such time as the customer is permitted to sell the product to the public. Revenue for ebooks, which is generally the net amount received from the retailer, is recognized upon electronic delivery to the customer by the retailer. The sale of trade product generally includes a right of return.
Education – Revenue from the sale of educational materials is recognized upon shipment of the products, or upon acceptance of product by the customer, depending on individual contractual terms. Revenue from digital products is deferred and recognized ratably over the subscription period. Revenue from professional development services is recognized when the services have been provided to the customer. Revenue from contracts with multiple deliverables are recognized as each performance obligation is satisfied in which the transaction price is allocated on a relative standalone selling price basis.
Magazines – Revenue is deferred and recognized ratably over the subscription period, as the magazines are delivered.
Film and TV production – Revenue is deferred during production and recognized at a point in time when the film or episodes have been delivered and are available for showing or exploitation.
Production services – Revenue is recognized over time using the percentage-of-completion method based on the proportion of costs incurred in the current period to total expected costs as this depicts the transfer of control of the promised services or goods to the customer.
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Licensing and royalty income – Revenue from the sale or granting of broadcast license rights to third parties is recognized when the licensed content is available to the customer and the customer has the contractual right to broadcast or stream the content. Revenue from sales and usage-based royalties related to licenses is generally recognized when the subsequent sale or usage occurs.
Export – Revenue from the export channel is recognized upon acceptance of the physical product by the customer.
The Company has elected to present sales and other related taxes on a net basis, excluded from revenues, and as such, these are included within Other accrued expenses until remitted to taxing authorities.
Cash equivalents
Cash equivalents consist of short-term investments with original maturities of three months or less.
Accounts receivable
Accounts receivable are recognized net of an allowance for credit losses. In the normal course of business, the Company extends credit to customers that satisfy predefined credit criteria. The Company recognizes an allowance for credit losses on trade receivables that are expected to be incurred over the lifetime of the receivable. Reserves for estimated credit losses are established at the time of sale and are based on relevant information about past events, current conditions, and supportable forecasts impacting its ultimate collectability, including specific reserves on a customer-by-customer basis, creditworthiness of the Company’s customers and prior collection experience. At the time the Company determines that a receivable balance, or any portion thereof, is deemed to be permanently uncollectible, the balance is then written off. Accounts receivable allowance for credit losses was $11.0 and $14.9 as of May 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.
Estimated returns
For sales that include a right of return, the Company estimates the transaction price and records revenues as variable consideration based on the amounts the Company expects to ultimately be entitled. In order to determine estimated returns, the Company utilizes historical return rates, sales patterns, types of products and expectations and recognizes a corresponding reduction to Revenues and Cost of goods sold. Management also considers patterns of sales and returns in the months preceding the fiscal year, as well as actual returns received subsequent to the fiscal year, available customer and market specific data and other return rate information that management believes is relevant. In addition, a refund liability is recorded within Other accrued expenses for the consideration to which the Company believes it will not ultimately be entitled and a return asset is recorded within Prepaid expenses and other current assets for the expected inventory to be returned. Actual returns could differ from the Company's estimate.
Inventories
Inventories, consisting principally of books, are stated at the lower of cost, using the first-in, first-out method, or net realizable value. The Company records a reserve for excess and obsolete inventory based upon a calculation using the expected future sales of existing inventory driven by estimates around forecasted purchases, inventory consumption costs, and the sell-through rate of current fiscal year purchases. In accordance with the Company's inventory retention policy, expected future sales of existing inventory are compared against historical usage by channel for reasonableness and any specifically identified excess or obsolete inventory, due to an anticipated lack of demand, will also be reserved.
Property, plant and equipment
Property, plant and equipment are stated at cost. Depreciation and amortization are recognized on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful lives of the assets. Buildings have an estimated useful life, for purposes of depreciation, of forty years. Building improvements are depreciated over the life of the improvement which typically does not exceed twenty-five years. Capitalized software, net of accumulated amortization, was $51.8 and $54.6 at May 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. Capitalized software is amortized over a period of three to ten years. Amortization expense for capitalized software was $23.0, $25.1 and $25.3 for the fiscal years ended May 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Furniture, fixtures and equipment are depreciated over periods not exceeding ten years. Leasehold improvements are amortized over the life of the lease or the life of the assets, whichever is shorter. The Company evaluates the depreciation periods of property, plant and equipment to determine whether events or circumstances indicate that the asset’s carrying value is not recoverable or warrant revised estimates of useful lives.
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Cloud Computing Arrangements
The Company incurs costs to implement cloud computing arrangements that are hosted by a third party vendor. Implementation costs incurred during the application development stage are capitalized and amortized over the term of the hosting arrangement on a straight-line basis. The Company capitalized $9.8 and $14.4 of costs incurred in fiscal 2025 and 2024, respectively, to implement cloud computing arrangements, primarily related to digital and consumer data platforms. These amounts are included within Other assets and deferred charges on the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheets.
Leases
The Company's lease arrangements primarily relate to corporate offices and warehouse facilities, and to a lesser
extent, certain equipment and other assets. The Company's leases generally have initial terms ranging from 3 to 10 years and certain leases include renewal or early-termination options, rent escalation clauses, and/or lease incentives. Lease renewal rent payment terms generally reflect adjustments for market rates prevailing at the time of renewal. The Company's leases require fixed minimum rent payments and also often require the payment of certain other costs that do not relate specifically to its right to use an underlying leased asset, but are associated with the asset, such as real estate taxes, insurance, common area maintenance fees and/or certain other costs (referred to collectively herein as "non-lease components"), which may be fixed or variable in amount depending on the terms of the respective lease agreement. The Company's leases do not contain significant residual value guarantees or restrictive covenants.
The Company determines whether an arrangement contains a lease at the inception of the arrangement. If a lease is determined to exist, the term of such lease is assessed based on the date on which the underlying asset is made available for the Company's use by the lessor. The Company's assessment of the lease term reflects the non-cancelable term of the lease, inclusive of any rent-free periods and/or periods covered by early-termination options which the Company is reasonably certain of not exercising, as well as periods covered by renewal options which the Company is reasonably certain of exercising. The Company also determines lease classification as either operating or finance at lease commencement, which governs the pattern of expense recognition and the presentation reflected in the Consolidated Statements of Operations over the lease term.
For leases with a term exceeding 12 months, a lease liability is recorded on the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheet at lease commencement reflecting the present value of its fixed minimum payment obligations over the lease term. A corresponding right-of-use ("ROU") asset equal to the initial lease liability is also recorded, adjusted for any prepaid rent and/or initial direct costs incurred in connection with execution of the lease and reduced by any lease incentives received. The Company includes fixed payment obligations related to non-lease components in the measurement of ROU assets and lease liabilities, as it elects to account for lease and non-lease components together as a single lease component. ROU assets associated with finance leases are presented separate from ROU assets associated with operating leases and are included within Property, plant and equipment, net on the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheet. For purposes of measuring the present value of its fixed payment obligations for a given lease, the Company uses its incremental borrowing rate, determined based on information available at lease commencement, as rates implicit in its leasing arrangements are typically not readily determinable. The Company's incremental borrowing rate reflects the rate it would pay to borrow on a secured basis, and incorporates the term and economic environment of the associated lease.
For operating leases, fixed lease payments are recognized as lease expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term. For finance leases, the initial ROU asset is depreciated on a straight-line basis over the lease term, along with recognition of interest expense associated with accretion of the lease liability, which is ultimately reduced by the related fixed payments. For leases with a term of 12 months or less, any fixed lease payments are recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term, and are not recognized on the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheet. Variable lease costs for both operating and finance leases, if any, are recognized as incurred.
Sublease rental income is recognized on a straight-line basis over the duration of each lease term. To the extent expected sublease income is less than expected rental payments, the Company recognizes a loss on the difference based on the present value of the minimum lease payments under each lease.
Lease payments received are presented as Revenues for fiscal 2025 and 2024 and as a reduction to rent expense in Selling, general and administrative expenses in fiscal year 2023 in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.
Prepublication costs
Prepublication costs are incurred in all of the Company’s reportable segments. Prepublication costs include costs incurred to create the art, prepress, editorial, digital conversion and other content required for the creation of the master copy of a book or other media. Prepublication costs are amortized on a straight-line basis over a two-to-five-
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year period based on expected future revenues. The Company regularly reviews the recoverability of these capitalized costs based on expected future cash flows.
Investment in film and television programs
Investments in film and television programs are stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Investment in film and television programs includes all direct production and financing costs incurred during production and minimum guarantee payments made to acquire distribution rights. Interest costs are capitalized to the cost of the film or television program until substantially all of the activities required for delivery are complete. Investments in film and television programs are amortized using the declining-balance method with rates ranging from 50% to 90% at the time of initial episodic delivery and at rates ranging from 10% to 25% annually thereafter. The determination of the rates is based on the expected economic useful life of the film or television program and includes factors such as rights retained by the Company, the availability of rights to renew licenses for episodic television programs in various territories, and the availability of secondary market revenue. The Company regularly reviews the recoverability of these capitalized costs based on expected future cash flows for an individual film or television program.
Government financing and assistance
The Company has access to government programs and tax credits that are designed to assist film, television and digital media production and distribution. Amounts received and amounts receivable which relate to the Company's film and television program assets are recorded as a reduction in the production costs of the related asset.
Long-lived assets
Long-lived assets, including operating lease right-of-use assets, property, plant, and equipment, prepublication costs and definite-lived intangible assets are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of any such asset may not be recoverable. For the purposes of impairment testing, long-lived assets are grouped at the lowest level of identifiable cash flows. If impairment indicators are present, the Company performs a recoverability test by comparing the sum of the estimated undiscounted future cash flows attributable to the asset to its carrying amount. If it is determined that a long-lived asset is not recoverable, an impairment loss is recognized based on the excess of the carrying amount over the fair value of the asset. The fair values determined by the Company require significant judgment and include certain assumptions regarding future sales and expenses, discount rates and real estate market conditions.
Royalty advances
Royalty advances are incurred in all of the Company’s reportable segments except the Entertainment segment, but are most prevalent in the Children’s Book Publishing and Distribution segment and enable the Company to obtain contractual commitments from authors, illustrators, licensors and other publishers to produce content. The Company regularly provides these content providers advances against expected future royalty payments, often before the books are written. Upon publication and sale of the books or other media, the content providers will not receive further royalty payments until the contractual royalties earned from sales of such books or other media exceed such advances.
Royalty advances are initially capitalized and subsequently expensed as related revenues are earned or when the Company determines future recovery through earndowns is not probable. The Company has a long history of providing authors, illustrators, licensors and other publishers with royalty advances and it tracks each advance earned with respect to the sale of the related publication. The royalties earned are applied first against the remaining unearned portion of the advance. Historically, the longer the unearned portion of the advance remains outstanding, the less likely it is that the Company will recover the advance through the sale of the publication. The Company applies this historical experience to its existing outstanding royalty advances to estimate the likelihood of recoveries through earndowns. Additionally, the Company’s editorial staff regularly reviews its portfolio of royalty advances to determine if individual royalty advances are not recoverable through earndowns for discrete reasons, such as the death of an author prior to completion of a title or titles, a Company decision to not publish a title, poor market demand or other relevant factors that could impact recoverability. The reserve for royalty advances was $86.9 and $83.2 as of May 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.
Business combinations
The Company allocates the purchase price in a business combination to the underlying tangible and identifiable intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their estimated fair values, with any excess recorded as goodwill. Determining the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed requires judgment and often involves the use of significant estimates and assumptions, including assumptions with respect to future cash flows, discount rates, estimated useful lives and market multiples, among other items.
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With respect to the 9 Story acquisition, the Company was required to make significant judgments and estimates, particularly in the identification and valuation of identifiable intangible assets. The Company utilized a third-party valuation specialist in determining the fair values. The assets acquired primarily include intellectual property ("IP") related to 9 Story's existing and recognized program titles, customer contracts/relationships related to licensing, distribution and service arrangements, and the trade names associated with 9 Story and Brown Bag Films, its animation studio. The intellectual property and customer contracts/relationships were valued using the multi-period excess earnings valuation method and the tradename was valued using the relief-from-royalty valuation method. The significant underlying assumptions used in these methods included the projected revenue and revenue attributable to the individual intangible assets, as well as the discount and royalty rate. These assumptions are inherently subjective and sensitive to changes in market conditions and the future performance of the acquired business. Refer to Note 11, "Acquisitions," for further details regarding this acquisition.
Goodwill and intangible assets
The Company records intangible assets based on their fair value on the date of acquisition. Goodwill is recorded as the difference between the fair value of the purchase consideration and the fair value of the net identifiable tangible and intangible assets acquired.
Goodwill and other intangible assets with indefinite lives are not amortized and are reviewed for impairment annually as of May 31 or more frequently if impairment indicators arise.
With regard to goodwill, the Company compares the estimated fair values of its identified reporting units to the carrying values of their net assets. The Company first performs a qualitative assessment to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair values of its identified reporting units are less than their carrying values. If it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, the Company performs the quantitative goodwill impairment test. The Company measures goodwill impairment by the amount the carrying value exceeds the fair value of a reporting unit. For each of the reporting units, the estimated fair value is determined utilizing the expected present value of the projected future cash flows of the reporting unit, in addition to comparisons to similar companies. The Company reviews its definition of reporting units annually or more frequently if conditions indicate that the reporting units may change. The Company evaluates its operating segments to determine if there are components one level below the operating segment level. A component is present if discrete financial information is available and segment management regularly reviews the operating results of the business. If an operating segment only contains a single component, that component is determined to be a reporting unit for goodwill impairment testing purposes. If an operating segment contains multiple components, the Company evaluates the economic characteristics of these components. Any components within an operating segment that share similar economic characteristics are aggregated and deemed to be a reporting unit for goodwill impairment testing purposes. Components within the same operating segment that do not share similar economic characteristics are deemed to be individual reporting units for goodwill impairment testing purposes. The Company has seven reporting units with goodwill subject to impairment testing.
With regard to other intangibles with indefinite lives, the Company first performs a qualitative assessment to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of the identified asset is less than its carrying value. If it is more likely than not that the fair value of the asset is less than its carrying amount, the Company performs a quantitative test. The estimated fair value is determined utilizing the expected present value of the projected future cash flows of the asset.
Intangible assets with definite lives consist principally of customer lists, customer contracts/relationships, intellectual property, and trade names and are amortized over their expected useful lives. Customer lists, customer contracts/relationships, intellectual property and trade names are typically amortized on a straight-line basis over five to ten years.
Income taxes
The Company uses the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes. Under this method, for purposes of determining taxable income, deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on differences between the financial reporting and the tax basis of such assets and liabilities and are measured using enacted tax rates and laws that will be in effect when the differences are expected to be realized.
The Company believes that its taxable earnings, during the periods when the temporary differences giving rise to deferred tax assets become deductible or when tax benefit carryforwards may be utilized, should be sufficient to realize the related future income tax benefits. For those jurisdictions where the expiration date of the tax benefit carryforwards or the projected taxable earnings indicates that realization is not likely, the Company establishes a valuation allowance.
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In assessing the need for a valuation allowance, the Company estimates future taxable earnings, with consideration for the feasibility of ongoing tax planning strategies and the realizability of tax benefit carryforwards, to determine which deferred tax assets are more likely than not to be realized in the future. Valuation allowances related to deferred tax assets can be impacted by changes to tax laws, changes to statutory tax rates and future taxable earnings. In the event that actual results differ from these estimates in future periods, the Company may need to adjust the valuation allowance.
The Company accounts for uncertain tax positions using a two-step method. Recognition occurs when an entity concludes that a tax position, based solely on technical merits, is more likely than not to be sustained upon examination. If a tax position is more likely than not to be sustained upon examination, the amount recognized is the largest amount of benefit, determined on a cumulative probability basis, which is more likely than not to be realized upon settlement. The Company assesses all income tax positions and adjusts its reserves against these positions periodically based upon these criteria. The Company also assesses potential penalties and interest associated with these tax positions, and includes these amounts as a component of income tax expense.
The Company assesses foreign investment levels periodically to determine if all or a portion of the Company’s investments in foreign subsidiaries are indefinitely invested. Any required adjustment to the income tax provision would be reflected in the period that the Company changes this assessment. The Company elects to recognize the tax on Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income (GILTI) earned by foreign subsidiaries as a period expense in the period the tax is incurred.
Non-income Taxes
The Company is subject to tax examinations for sales-based taxes. A number of these examinations are ongoing and, in certain cases, have resulted in assessments from taxing authorities. Where a sales tax liability with respect to a jurisdiction is probable and can be reliably estimated, the Company has made accruals for these matters which are reflected in the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements. These amounts are included in the Consolidated Financial Statements in Selling, general and administrative expenses. Future developments relating to the foregoing could result in adjustments being made to these accruals.
Employee Benefit Plan Obligations
The rate assumptions discussed below impact the Company’s calculations of its UK pension and U.S. postretirement obligations. The rates applied by the Company are based on the UK pension plan asset portfolio's past average rates of return, discount rates and actuarial information. Any change in market performance, interest rate performance, assumed health care cost trend rate and compensation rates could result in significant changes in the Company’s UK pension plan and U.S. postretirement obligations.
Pension obligations – Scholastic Corporation's UK subsidiary has a defined benefit pension plan covering the majority of its employees who meet certain eligibility requirements. The Company’s pension plan and other postretirement benefits are accounted for using actuarial valuations.
The Company’s UK Pension Plan calculations are based on three primary actuarial assumptions: the discount rate, the long-term expected rate of return on plan assets and the anticipated rate of compensation increases. The discount rate is used in the measurement of the projected, accumulated and vested benefit obligations and interest cost component of net periodic pension costs. The long-term expected return on plan assets is used to calculate the expected earnings from the investment or reinvestment of plan assets. The anticipated rate of compensation increase is used to estimate the increase in compensation for participants of the plan from their current age to their assumed retirement age. The estimated compensation amounts are used to determine the benefit obligations.
Other postretirement benefits – The Company provides postretirement benefits, consisting of healthcare and life insurance benefits, to eligible retired United State-based employees. The postretirement medical plan benefits are funded on a pay-as-you-go basis, with the employee paying a portion of the premium and the Company paying the remainder. The existing benefit obligation is based on the discount rate and the assumed health care cost trend rate. The discount rate is used in the measurement of the projected and accumulated benefit obligations and the interest cost component of net periodic postretirement benefit cost. The assumed health care cost trend rate is used in the measurement of the long-term expected increase in medical claims.
Foreign currency translation
The Company’s non-United States dollar-denominated assets and liabilities are translated into United States dollars at prevailing rates at the balance sheet date and the revenues, costs and expenses are translated at the weighted average
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rates prevailing during each reporting period. Net gains or losses resulting from the translation of the foreign financial statements and the effect of exchange rate changes on long-term intercompany balances are accumulated and charged directly to the foreign currency translation adjustment component of stockholders’ equity until such time as the operations are substantially liquidated or sold. The Company assesses foreign investment levels periodically to determine if all or a portion of the Company’s investments in foreign subsidiaries are indefinitely invested.
Shipping and handling costs
Amounts billed to customers for shipping and handling are classified as revenue. Costs incurred in shipping and handling are recognized in Cost of goods sold.
Advertising costs
Advertising costs are expensed by the Company as incurred. Total advertising expense was $61.4, $61.7 and $76.9 for the twelve months ended May 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
Stock-based compensation
The Company recognizes the cost of services received in exchange for any stock-based awards. The Company recognizes the cost on a straight-line basis over an award’s requisite service period, which is generally the vesting period, except for the grants to retirement-eligible employees, based on the award’s fair value at the date of grant.
The fair values of stock options granted by the Company are estimated at the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. The Company’s determination of the fair value of stock-based payment awards using this option-pricing model is affected by the price of the Common Stock as well as by assumptions regarding highly complex and subjective variables, including, but not limited to, the expected price volatility of the Common Stock over the terms of the awards, the risk-free interest rate, and actual and projected employee stock option exercise behaviors. Estimates of fair value are not intended to predict actual future events or the value that may ultimately be realized by those who receive these awards.
Forfeitures are estimated at the time of grant and revised, if necessary, in subsequent periods if actual forfeitures differ from those estimates, in order to derive the Company’s best estimate of awards ultimately expected to vest. In determining the estimated forfeiture rates for stock-based awards, the Company annually conducts an assessment of the actual number of equity awards that have been forfeited previously. When estimating expected forfeitures, the Company considers factors such as the type of award, the employee class and historical experience. The estimate of stock-based awards that will ultimately be forfeited requires significant judgment and, to the extent that actual results or updated estimates differ from current estimates, such amounts will be recognized as a cumulative adjustment in the period such estimates are revised.
The table set forth below provides the estimated fair value of options granted by the Company during fiscal years 2025, 2024 and 2023 and the significant weighted average assumptions used in determining such fair value under the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. The average expected life represents an estimate of the period of time stock options are expected to remain outstanding based on the historical exercise behavior of the option grantees. The risk-free interest rate was based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve corresponding to the expected life in effect at the time of the grant. The volatility was estimated based on historical volatility corresponding to the expected life.
Estimated fair value of stock options granted $ 11.92 $ 11.53 $ 11.62
Assumptions:
Expected dividend yield 2.2 % 2.2 % 1.9 %
Expected stock price volatility 38.8 % 37.4 % 32.8 %
Risk-free interest rate 4.3 % 4.7 % 3.8 %
Average expected life of options 5 years 4 years 5 years
Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements
In November 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2023-07, “Segment Reporting (Topic 280) - Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures.” This ASU improves reportable segment disclosure requirements, primarily through enhanced disclosures about significant segment expenses that are regularly provided to the chief operating decision maker and included within each reported measure of segment profit or loss. The amendments in this ASU have been applied retrospectively to all prior periods presented
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in the financial statements. Refer to Note 3, "Segment Information," for the Company's disclosures related to this update.
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
In December 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2023-09, "Income Taxes (Topic 740)." The amendments in this update enhance the transparency and decision usefulness of income tax disclosures to provide information to better assess how an entity’s operations and related tax risks and tax planning and operational opportunities affect its tax rate and prospects for future cash flows. The amendments in this ASU require more transparency about income tax information through improvements to income tax disclosures primarily related to the rate reconciliation and income taxes paid information. This ASU will be effective for the Company's annual disclosures for fiscal year 2026. The amendments are to be applied prospectively, but may be applied retrospectively to all prior periods presented in the financial statements. The Company is currently assessing the impact of the disclosure requirements on its consolidated financial statements.