The takeaway
John Wiley & Sons shows a moderate seasonal pattern over 10 years of data — strongest in November (+3.2%) and softest in February (−1.9%).
Right now
In July, the stock has risen 60% of years, averaging +1.9% — essentially in line with the S&P 500.
The full picture
John Wiley & Sons's most dependable month has been November, higher in 6 of 10 years; February has been its least reliable, up just 20% of the time.
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Month by month
The stock's clearest edge over the S&P 500 lands in March (+1.3 pts); it has trailed the market most in September (−3.8 pts).
“vs S&P” is John Wiley & Sons’s average for a month minus the S&P 500’s average for that same month — isolating John Wiley & Sons’s own seasonal edge from broad market drift.
Reality check
Over the last 5 years, November has closed higher 40% of the time versus 60% across the last 10 years — the pattern is weakening.
Figures are the typical (median) November return and how often it rose — the last 5 years versus the last 10(the heatmap’s default window). This verdict stays anchored to that 10-year window even if you zoom the chart, so it never disagrees with the badges above.
In plain English
There's a real but measured seasonal tilt here, toward November — the firmest corner of the calendar, higher in 6 of 10 Novembers.
The strength looks broad-based rather than freakish: its average (+3.2%) and median (+2.7%) sit close together, so no single blow-out year is flattering the figure. Few months are steadier: November's returns vary by just 5.5% year to year, and even its worst November in 10 years lost only 4.6% — the gentlest downside anywhere on its calendar. Better still, that strength is the stock's own and not just a buoyant market — November has outpaced the S&P 500 by +0.9 points on average. Some of that is a strong month market-wide, mind — November rises for about 62% of stocks — so the tendency is real if not unique.
It doesn't stand entirely alone — March, April, and July have leaned firm as well, if less emphatically. On the other side of the ledger, February has been the soft spot — the weakest of 4 months that average a loss (−1.9%), and the edge isn't year-round — the stock has trailed the S&P 500 in September, October, and February. Its roughest month on record was a −18.5% September in 2022 — a reminder of how hard even a seasonal name can fall.
The pattern has softened of late, November's last five years slipping below its longer-run record.
Treat it as a tendency rather than a rule — seasonality describes the past, not a promise.
Short answers on the stock's best month (November), its worst (February), and whether it really trades seasonally.
Yes, to a moderate degree. Since 2016 its best month (November, +3.2%) has run well ahead of its worst (February, −1.9%) — the heatmap above shows how steady that gap has been year to year.
November has been the strongest, averaging +3.2% and closing higher in 6 of 10 years since 2016.
It's the weakest, averaging −1.9% — historically a soft spot, though it still varies from year to year.
Explore
These names have the strongest July track records on record — a starting point for comparison.
Before you trade