London, March 13, 2026, 16:25 GMT
- On Friday, Pearson shares finished at 988.6 pence in London, a rise of 0.67% for the session, according to delayed data.
- Pearson released its audited 2025 annual report and U.S. annual filing, while also announcing the cancellation of 1,225,869 shares through a buyback.
- Two recent buyback filings showed 2.42 million shares repurchased, while 398,115 new shares were issued Friday for employee plans.
Pearson shares ticked higher Friday, with the British education firm posting its audited 2025 annual report and flagging another round of buybacks. Late market numbers pegged the stock at 988.6 pence. Pearson also confirmed it had filed its Form 20-F with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the standard annual filing for foreign issuers.
The decision lands at a critical juncture for Pearson, which is still clawing back trust after stumbling in early 2026. As Reuters noted on Feb. 27, the stock slid roughly 30% over the past year amid concerns that generic AI could start chipping away at parts of the business. In January, AJ Bell’s Dan Coatsworth pointed to scant guidance and the hit from losing a New Jersey student-assessment contract, factors he said left the shares “punished in early trading.” Reuters
Pearson disclosed in a Friday buyback filing that it snapped up 1,225,869 ordinary shares on March 12, paying an average price of 988.97 pence apiece. These shares are set for cancellation, contributing to the initial £175 million segment of its £350 million share repurchase program.
Pearson reported buying 1,194,877 shares at an average price of 984.51 pence a day ago. Add that to the previous filing, and the company bought back a total of 2,420,746 shares during the last two sessions.
Pearson on Friday issued 398,115 new shares for its Save for Shares and Employee Stock Purchase Plans, bringing the total shares outstanding to 628,294,945. That figure is well below the number of shares earmarked for cancellation in the company’s most recent buyback announcements.
Pearson has handed back around £74 million to shareholders so far and scooped up 7.9 million shares in its current buyback, leaving about £101 million yet to deploy in this first phase. The company anticipates wrapping up this leg by April 2 or earlier.
Pearson’s preliminary results, posted Feb. 27, pegged 2025 sales at £3.577 billion, with adjusted operating profit coming in at £614 million and free cash flow reaching £527 million. The company is projecting mid-single-digit underlying sales growth for 2026, and says it expects adjusted operating profit between £640 million and £685 million.
Chief Executive Omar Abbosh said in a Feb. 27 interview with Reuters that assessments and virtual schools accounted for 80% of 2025 operating profit—calling that segment “very defensible and robust.” Digital courseware made up about 10%, an area that draws more scrutiny from investors concerned over generic AI tools. Reuters
That context remains relevant. On Feb. 4, Reuters pointed out that Pearson, plus other UK-listed data and information names like RELX and Experian, dropped anywhere from 6% to 12% after Anthropic rolled out new AI tools—setting off a wider selloff in data and professional-services stocks.
Whether buybacks can offer more than just a floor for Pearson’s stock remains up in the air, with growth concerns unresolved. The shares have fallen roughly 30% over the past year, as of late February. Back in January, CFO Sally Johnson put the value of the lost New Jersey contract between 20 million and 30 million pounds.
Capital returns aren’t over just yet. Pearson is set to go ex-dividend on March 19, so investors picking up shares after that won’t qualify for the 17.4-pence final dividend, which lands on May 8.
