At a glance
Warner Music Group is worth $11.10B, about 30 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue grew 4.4% to $6.71B in fiscal 2025, with 5.4% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 8.5% a year. It pays a 2.6% dividend yield, raised every year for at least 4 years, and returned $1.68B to shareholders in dividends and buybacks over FY2021–FY2025. The stock returned −5.4% over the past year with dividends reinvested and −7.8% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 49.0% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and is still below its earlier high.
The business in plain English
Warner Music Group earns money from recordings and from songs. Its Recorded Music business, home to labels such as Atlantic Records, Warner Records, Elektra Records and Parlophone Records, finds, signs and markets artists including Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Cardi B and Dua Lipa. It earns money when their recordings are streamed, bought or licensed, and streaming is the largest source. The segment brought in $5.408 billion in the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025, about 81% of the company's $6.707 billion in revenue.
Its Music Publishing arm, Warner Chappell Music, deals in the songs themselves (the melodies and lyrics) rather than specific recordings. Its catalog covers more than two million compositions by over 190,000 songwriters and composers, including Twenty One Pilots, Lizzo and Katy Perry. It collects fees when those songs are used in streams, broadcasts, films and other media. Publishing brought in $1.306 billion, about 19% of revenue.
The United States supplied about 43% of fiscal 2025 revenue, the United Kingdom about 13% and Germany about 8%, with the remaining 37% from other countries. Access Industries, which acquired the company in 2011, holds about 98% of the voting power, so holders of the Nasdaq-listed Class A shares have little say in how it is run.
Price history
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WMG -5.4% over the year to Oct 28, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
How it makes money
By business segment
| Recorded Music | $5.41B | 80.6% |
| Music Publishing | $1.31B | 19.5% |
By geography
| United States | $2.87B | 42.9% |
| All other territories | $2.46B | 36.7% |
| United Kingdom | $857.0M | 12.8% |
| Germany | $515.0M | 7.7% |
Latest results
- In Q3 FY2026 (ended Jun 30, 2026), revenue was $1.86B, up 10.4% from a year earlier, and net income was $204.0M.
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $6.71B (+4.4% year over year; +8.5% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 5.4% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2020–FY2025) | +8.5% good |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 10.3% watch |
| Free cash flow margin | 8% watch |
| Return on equity (FY2025) | 56.4% (lifted by a small equity base, often the result of years of buybacks) good |
| Return on assets (FY2025) | 3.7% watch |
| Net cash (cash minus debt) | $-4.09B weak |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $4.46B | $-475.0M | $378.0M |
| FY2021 | $5.30B | $304.0M | $545.0M |
| FY2022 | $5.92B | $551.0M | $607.0M |
| FY2023 | $6.04B | $430.0M | $560.0M |
| FY2024 | $6.43B | $435.0M | $638.0M |
| FY2025 | $6.71B | $365.0M | $539.0M |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $11.10B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 30.4 |
| Dividend yield | 2.6% |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WMG price data to Oct 28, 2026 | -1.7% | -5.4% | +1.0% | -7.8% | — |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | -1.7% |
| 2025 | +1.3% |
| 2024 | -11.5% |
| 2023 | +4.4% |
| 2022 | -17.2% |
| 2021 | +15.3% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Before this security existed |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Before this security existed |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 44.1% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 49%, not recovered by the end of the data |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-29 to 2026-10-29 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 0 sales ($0.00).
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| Access Industries Holdings LLC | 72.1% | Dec 31, 2024 |
| Independent Franchise Partners, LLP | 9.23% | Mar 31, 2025 |
| JPMORGAN CHASE & CO | 9.2% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Darsana Capital Partners LP | 8.1% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| BARROW HANLEY MEWHINNEY & STRAUSS LLC | 6.1% | Jun 30, 2026 |
| JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. | 5.5% | Sep 30, 2026 |
| DARSANA CAPITAL PARTNERS LP | 5.5% | Oct 28, 2025 |
| Darlington Partners Capital Management, LP | 5.1% | Mar 25, 2026 |
| Mawer Investment Management Ltd. | 0.22% | Sep 30, 2025 |
ETFs with the most weight in WMG
| MUSQ MUSQ Global Music Industry Index ETF | 5.05% |
| PEXL Pacer US Export Leaders ETF | 1.03% |
| FPX First Trust US Equity Opportunities ETF | 0.79% |
| UPSD Aptus Large Cap Upside ETF | 0.66% |
| OUSM ALPS | O’Shares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend ETF | 0.57% |
| FNY First Trust Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund | 0.43% |
| SIXL ETC 6 Meridian Low Beta Equity ETF | 0.38% |
| CSA VictoryShares US Small Cap Volatility Wtd ETF | 0.27% |
What could go wrong
- One shareholder controls nearly every vote. Access Industries holds about 98% of voting power through Class B shares. It can decide corporate matters, may have conflicting interests, and could sell control without Class A holders receiving a premium.
- Heavy debt load. As of June 30, 2026, total debt was $4.71 billion against $618 million of cash and investments. Servicing it takes significant cash, loan terms limit flexibility, and a rating downgrade could raise borrowing costs.
- A few streaming services hold power. The company relies on a limited number of digital music services to distribute its music. They can heavily influence pricing and may miscalculate the royalties they owe under license agreements.
- Results depend on hits and stars. The company must find, sign and keep artists and songwriters on affordable terms, competing with rivals, investment funds and artists who self-release. Results swing with whether superstar releases land in a given period.
- Streaming growth could slow. Streaming makes up the substantial majority of the business and has offset falling download and physical sales. Global streaming revenue growth slowed in 2024; a further leveling off would weigh on results.
- AI, piracy and fake streams. The 10-K flags generative AI as a threat to results. Piracy and streaming manipulation, such as artificially inflated play counts, have already hurt the business and may continue to.
Recent events
- Major agreement signed
- Executive or board change
- Executive or board change
- Quarterly results released; Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released; Investor presentation or announcement
- Executive or board change
- Quarterly results released
- Major agreement signed; New debt or financial obligation
- Shareholder vote results
- Investor presentation or announcement
For income and retirement investors
Warner Music Group pays a regular dividend. Dividends per share rose from $0.51 in fiscal 2021 to $0.73 in fiscal 2025, about 9.4% a year, for at least four straight annual increases. The yield was 2.6% as of October 28, 2026. In fiscal 2025, net income fell 16.1% but the dividend still rose; dividends paid equaled about 105% of net income and 71% of free cash flow (cash left after running and investing in the business). Buybacks have been small, at $16 million in fiscal 2025 and none in the two prior years.
The current shares began trading on Nasdaq in June 2020, so they have no record in the 2008 crisis or the early-2020 COVID crash. In the 2022 bear market they fell 49% from their February 2022 high to their October low and had not regained that high as of October 28, 2026. As a single stock, WMG carries more risk than a diversified fund.
Questions investors ask
How does Warner Music Group make money?
Mostly by selling and licensing recorded music. In the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025, its Recorded Music business, which includes Atlantic Records, Warner Records, Elektra Records and Parlophone Records, earned $5.408 billion, about 81% of revenue, with streaming the largest source. The Music Publishing arm, Warner Chappell Music, earned $1.306 billion, about 19%, by collecting fees when songs from its catalog of more than two million compositions are used. Total revenue was $6.707 billion.
Does Warner Music Group raise its dividend every year?
Yes, it raised its dividend per share every year between fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2025. Dividends per share rose from $0.51 to $0.73 over that span, about 9.4% a year, for at least four straight increases. The yield was 2.6% as of October 28, 2026. In fiscal 2025, dividends paid equaled about 105% of net income and 71% of free cash flow, which leaves less cushion if profits fall further.
Who owns Warner Music Group?
Access Industries controls it. Access acquired the company in 2011 and, after the June 2020 IPO, kept all the Class B shares, carrying about 98% of the voting power and about 72% of the economic interest. A 13G filing (a report large holders file with the SEC) listed Access Industries Holdings LLC at 72.1% as of December 31, 2024. Public investors hold Nasdaq-listed Class A shares with little say, and WMG uses "controlled company" exemptions from some Nasdaq governance rules.
How much debt does Warner Music Group have?
About $4.71 billion as of June 30, 2026, against $618 million of cash and investments, or net debt of roughly $4.09 billion. Shareholders' equity was only $854 million. The 10-K calls the company's leverage substantial and warns that servicing it takes significant cash, that debt agreements limit its flexibility, and that a credit rating downgrade could raise borrowing costs. For scale, free cash flow was $539 million in fiscal 2025.
How has Warner Music Group stock performed?
The share price fell over the five years to October 28, 2026: down 33% in total, about 7.8% a year. It was down 5.4% over one year and up about 3% in total over three years. Calendar-year price returns were 15.3% in 2021, -17.2% in 2022, 4.4% in 2023, -11.5% in 2024 and 1.3% in 2025. The deepest drop since the June 2020 listing was 54%. The shares traded at about 30 times fiscal 2025 earnings.