What Happened?
Shares of higher education company Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ: PRDO) fell 5.8% in the afternoon session after the sector experienced a broad sell-off, dragged down by a steep decline in a rival company. Perdoceo's stock was caught in a wider industry downturn, with the education and training services group of stocks falling by about 3.1%. The negative sentiment appeared to be driven by peer company Adtalem Global Education, whose shares plummeted by about 28%. Perdoceo's shares were down about 4.9% amidst the sector-wide weakness, suggesting that investors were reacting to weakness across the industry rather than news specific to the company itself.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy Perdoceo Education? Access our full analysis report here.
What Is The Market Telling Us
Perdoceo Education’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 8 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 24 days ago when the stock dropped 3.8% on the news that a confluence of negative economic data pointed to a weak economy. The latest Survey of Consumer Expectations from the New York Fed revealed that households' short-term inflation expectations rose, while their outlook on the labor market deteriorated. Consumers expressed greater concern about potential job losses and expected lower earnings growth, factors that directly impact discretionary spending. Adding to the unease, Chief Economist at Moody’s Analytics, Mark Zandi, warned that 22 states demonstrated clear signs of a recession, placing the broader U.S. economy in a precarious position. The U.S. government shutdown further dampened sentiment, threatening to weigh on incomes and purchasing power.
Perdoceo Education is up 22.3% since the beginning of the year, but at $31.96 per share, it is still trading 15.1% below its 52-week high of $37.66 from September 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Perdoceo Education’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,777.
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