Higher education company Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ: LOPE) will be reporting earnings this Wednesday after market close. Here’s what investors should know.
Grand Canyon Education beat analysts’ revenue expectations by 2.8% last quarter, reporting revenues of $247.5 million, up 8.8% year on year. It was a very strong quarter for the company, with an impressive beat of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates and EPS guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations. It reported 117,283 students, up 10.3% year on year.
Is Grand Canyon Education a buy or sell going into earnings? Read our full analysis here, it’s free for active Edge members.
This quarter, analysts are expecting Grand Canyon Education’s revenue to grow 9.1% year on year to $259.9 million, improving from the 7.4% increase it recorded in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $1.78 per share.
Analysts covering the company have generally reconfirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting they anticipate the business to stay the course heading into earnings. Grand Canyon Education has only missed Wall Street’s revenue estimates once over the last two years, exceeding top-line expectations by 1.1% on average.
Looking at Grand Canyon Education’s peers in the education services segment, some have already reported their Q3 results, giving us a hint as to what we can expect. Bright Horizons delivered year-on-year revenue growth of 11.6%, beating analysts’ expectations by 2.9%, and Laureate Education reported revenues up 8.6%, topping estimates by 3.7%. Bright Horizons traded up 18.2% following the results while Laureate Education’s stock price was unchanged.
Read our full analysis of Bright Horizons’s results here and Laureate Education’s results here.
The outlook for 2025 remains clouded by potential trade policy changes and corporate tax discussions, which could impact business confidence and growth. While some of the education services stocks have shown solid performance in this choppy environment, the group has generally underperformed, with share prices down 5.4% on average over the last month. Grand Canyon Education is down 14.3% during the same time and is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $239 (compared to the current share price of $185).
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