Pearson plc (PSO)

NYSE: PSO · Books: Publishing or Publishing & Printing · London England, GB · filing with the SEC since 2000

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Grade5.3

◀ Past 5.2● Present 5.6▶ Future 4.8

1 est.

Overview Business Financials Grade Forecast Sentiment Ownership People Filings Patents Chart

The grade of Pearson plc

Nine metrics read from its own filings, by tense

Headline grade

5.3/10

◀ Past5.230% of the headline

● Present5.640% of the headline

▶ Future4.830% of the headline

All three tenses have at least two readings, so the archetype blend applies as printed.

Of the nine metrics, 8 read as filed from the record and 1 is an SI estimate, each with its reasoning, its confidence and what would change it on its card.

◀ Past

What did they actually do?

5.2/1030% of the headline grade · 3 of 3 filed

Surviving crises

as filed

7.4/10

Has it survived what it has been through?

No warning events in its filings since 2017.

weight 33% of this tense · 74th percentile among 23 sector filers · read for itself

From the record

Pearson plc's filings since 2017 show no warning events in the scan: no bankruptcy or receivership notice, no debt default notice, no exchange listing notice, no restatement warning, no auditor change, no material cyber incident and no late-report notice (its current reports).

A production reading, recomputed from the filings on every data build, read from EDGAR Nov 13, 2026.

Track record

as filed

3.5/10

What has it actually done, year after year?

-2.6% a year over 10 filed years; profitable in 9 of 10.

weight 45% of this tense · 35th percentile among 21 sector filers · read for its customers

From the record

Pearson plc's 10 filed years say what it did: revenue went from GBP 4.6 billion in fiscal 2016 to GBP 3.6 billion in fiscal 2025, down 2.6% a year; it rose in 3 of 9 years; the deepest fall was 25% from fiscal 2016 to fiscal 2020; net income was positive in 9 of 10 of those years (its annual reports).

What it rests on

revenue growth over the filed span-2.6%bottom 18% of its family
the share of years revenue rosebottom 17% of its family
the share of filed years with a profittop 19% of its family
the deepest fall from a revenue peak25.4%bottom 26% of its family

A production reading, recomputed from the filings on every data build, read from EDGAR Nov 13, 2026.

Shareholder treatment

as filed

5.1/10

How has it treated the people who own it?

Share count shrank 3.8% a year. 0% of cash flow returned. Insiders: 0 sales, 0 purchases.

weight 22% of this tense · 51st percentile among 18 sector filers · read for its shareholders

From the record

Over the 3 fiscal years to 2025-12-31, Pearson plc's diluted share count shrank about 3.8% a year, and dividends and buybacks returned about 0% of its operating cash flow over 3 years (its filed statements). Its officers and directors filed 0 sales and 0 purchases of their own stock on the open market in the year to 2026-09-30 (their Form 4 filings).

What it rests on

the share count over the yearstop 11% of its family
cash returned against operating cash flowbottom 14% of its family

A production reading, recomputed from the filings on every data build, read from EDGAR Nov 13, 2026.

● Present

What are they doing right now?

5.6/1040% of the headline grade · 2 of 3 filed, 1 estimated

Financial health

as filed

6.0/10

Is it financially healthy right now?

ROE 9%: 9¢ of profit per shareholder dollar. Leverage 43%: owes 43¢ per asset dollar.

weight 45% of this tense · 60th percentile among 22 sector filers · read for itself

From the record

Return on equity: in the fiscal year ended 2025-12-31, Pearson plc earned about 9 cents of profit for every dollar of shareholders' money, and gross profitability: its products earned about 29 cents per dollar of everything the company owns. Leverage: it owed about 43 cents per dollar of assets, and net share issuance: its share count shrank 3.5% over the year (the filed statements).

What it rests on

what it owes per dollar of assetstop 43% of its family
return on equitytop 45% of its family
gross profit against assetsbottom 34% of its family
the share count against the year beforetop 7% of its family

A production reading, recomputed from the filings on every data build, read from EDGAR Nov 13, 2026.

Industry position

as filed

5.7/10

How strong is its position in its industry?

top 43% of 21 in its family; net margin 9.4%.

weight 33% of this tense · 57th percentile among 21 sector filers · read for its customers

From the record

Pearson plc's standing among 21 graded names in its industry family: revenue of GBP 3.6 billion in fiscal 2025 is not ranked by size, since the family reports in another currency; a net margin of 9.4% ranks in the top 26%; revenue growth of -2.3% a year over the last 3 filed years ranks in the bottom 40% (its annual reports).

What it rests on

net margin9.4%top 26% of its family
three-year revenue growth-2.3%bottom 40% of its family

A production reading, recomputed from the filings on every data build, read from EDGAR Nov 13, 2026.

Leadership

SI estimate

4.8/10

What are the people in charge doing?

SI estimate 4.8/10, confidence 20 of 100 (family median).

weight 22% of this tense · 50th percentile among 15 sector filers · read for its shareholders

SI estimate Inferred, not read as filed

Why it is an estimate: It files no Form 8-K (a foreign issuer reports on Form 6-K), so officer and director changes cannot be read there; no officer or director has filed a Form 3, 4 or 5 for it in the last fifteen months, so the years in charge cannot be read, so the desk assumes the typical reading of its industry family, the median of 15 members with one.
What the record cannot read: It files no Form 8-K (a foreign issuer reports on Form 6-K), so officer and director changes cannot be read there; no officer or director has filed a Form 3, 4 or 5 for it in the last fifteen months, so the years in charge cannot be read.
How it was reasoned: family median, 15 readings behind it.
Confidence: 20 of 100
What would change it: Its next annual report on file with the inputs replaces this estimate with the filed reading.

From the record

SI estimate, not a filed reading: Pearson plc's leadership is put at 4.8 of 10 with a confidence of 20 of 100, because it files no Form 8-K (a foreign issuer reports on Form 6-K), so officer and director changes cannot be read there; no officer or director has filed a Form 3, 4 or 5 for it in the last fifteen months, so the years in charge cannot be read, so the desk assumes the typical reading of its industry family, the median of 15 members with one. Its next annual report on file with the inputs replaces this estimate with the filed reading.

▶ Future

What are they set up to do next?

4.8/1030% of the headline grade · 3 of 3 filed

Room to expand

as filed

5.4/10

How much room does it have to grow?

top 46% of 21 in its family for room to expand.

weight 45% of this tense · 54th percentile among 21 sector filers · read for itself

From the record

Pearson plc's room to grow, from the newest filed statements (fiscal 2025): cash of GBP 333 million against debt of GBP 1.5 billion leaves -17.8% of its assets as net cash, bottom 43% of its family; cash from operations less capital spending is 18.3% of revenue (top 12%); a gross margin of 52% (top 37%); research spending of 0.2% of revenue (bottom 21%) (its annual report).

What it rests on

cash less debt against assets-17.8%bottom 43% of its family
cash from operations less capital spending against revenue18.3%top 12% of its family
gross margin52.0%top 37% of its family
research spending against revenue0.2%bottom 21% of its family

A production reading, recomputed from the filings on every data build, read from EDGAR Nov 13, 2026.

Growth drivers

as filed

4.4/10

What could actually drive growth from here?

bottom 44% of 21 in its family for growth drivers.

weight 33% of this tense · 44th percentile among 21 sector filers · read for its customers

From the record

Pearson plc's growth drivers, from the filed years to fiscal 2025: revenue grew -2.3% a year over the last three filed years against -2.6% over all 10, speeding up (top 22% of its family); the newest year grew 0.7% (top 50%); research spending grew -7.2% a year (bottom 21%); capital spending grew -2.9% a year (bottom 28%) (its annual reports). Pearson plc tags no split of its revenue by line in the annual report on file, so growth by line cannot be read here; research and capital spending are on the trend.

What it rests on

three-year growth against the whole span+0.3 points a yeartop 22% of its family
the newest year's revenue growth0.7%top 50% of its family
three-year growth of research spending-7.2%bottom 21% of its family
three-year growth of capital spending-2.9%bottom 28% of its family

A production reading, recomputed from the filings on every data build, read from EDGAR Nov 13, 2026.

Expectations vs reality

as filed

4.3/10

Did its newest year beat what its own record pointed to?

bottom 43% of 20 in its family for expectations against reality.

weight 22% of this tense · 43rd percentile among 20 sector filers · read for its shareholders

From the record

Pearson plc's newest year against its own record: revenue of GBP 3.6 billion in fiscal 2025 came in 4.7% above the GBP 3.4 billion its prior three years' pace pointed to (top 27% of its family); net income of GBP 336 million against a prior three-year average of GBP 353 million (bottom 28%); a net margin of 9.4% against 9.6% before (bottom 28%) (its annual reports).

What it rests on

revenue against the prior three years' pace4.7%top 27% of its family
net income against the prior three years' average-5%bottom 28% of its family
net margin against its prior average-0.3 pointsbottom 28% of its family

A production reading, recomputed from the filings on every data build, read from EDGAR Nov 13, 2026.

The grade is the company against its own industry, from its filings. It is not a view on the share price. How the grade is made

SI Assistanton PSO · research, not advice