Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The health services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.23), FiscalAI reports. Strategic Education had a return on equity of 8.98% and a net margin of 10.46%. The company had revenue of $325.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $326.55 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. Strategic Education’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Here are the key takeaways from Strategic Education’s conference call:

• Education Technology Services continued to grow strongly: revenue rose 12%, Sophia Learning subscribers increased 22%, and Workforce Edge had 83 corporate agreements covering about 4 million employees. Management plans to invest further in ETS in 2027, while warning that those investments will reduce its segment margin.
• U.S. healthcare remained a key growth engine. Healthcare enrollment grew 9% and reached 54% of U.S. higher education enrollment; employer-affiliated enrollment also increased. Retention hit a record 89.2%, and early demand for new nursing and radiologic technology programs exceeded expectations.
• Australia’s international student headwinds worsened: total enrollment fell 9% and revenue declined 7% amid sharply slower visa approvals and new transfer restrictions. The company recorded a $134 million non-cash impairment and lowered its near-term growth expectations for the segment.
• Management expects consolidated revenue to be flat in 2027 and said full-year 2026 results are unlikely to meet its notional outlook. Planned growth investments will cost about $50 million, though productivity savings are expected to limit operating expense growth to 2%; management expects these investments to support a return to its notional growth rates in 2028 and beyond.
• Third-quarter results were mixed: revenue was essentially flat at $320 million and operating income declined 2%, while EPS rose 4% partly due to share repurchases. Nine-month free cash flow increased 8% to $137 million, and the company ended the quarter with $139 million in cash and marketable securities and no debt.

Strategic Education Trading Down 10.7%

NASDAQ STRA traded down $6.27 on Friday, hitting $52.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 716,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 290,447. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.19. Strategic Education has a 52-week low of $51.01 and a 52-week high of $89.73. The firm has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.70, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.51.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 30th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 30th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on STRA. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Strategic Education from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. William Blair downgraded shares of Strategic Education to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Strategic Education from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings lowered Strategic Education from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Strategic Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $87.00.

Strategic Education News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Strategic Education this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strategic Education declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, equivalent to $2.40 annually and a reported yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is November 30, and payment is scheduled for December 7.
• Neutral Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue rose 1.6% year over year to $325.1 million, supported by Education Technology Services and higher U.S. Higher Education revenue per student, but was slightly below analyst expectations. Strategic Education Q3 results
• Negative Sentiment: Adjusted expectations were not met: Q3 EPS of $1.72 fell short of consensus estimates around $1.92–$1.95. Coverage also highlighted a $134 million Torrens writedown, a significant drag on the results and a likely source of investor concern. Strategic Education Q3 earnings and writedown
• Negative Sentiment: Barrington Research lowered its rating on STRA from “outperform” to “market perform,” signaling less optimism about the shares. Barrington Research ratings
• Negative Sentiment: Ademi LLP said it is investigating potential securities-fraud claims involving the company. This is an investigation announcement, not a finding of wrongdoing, but it adds a legal and reputational uncertainty for investors. Ademi LLP investigation announcement

Strategic Education Company Profile

Strategic Education, Inc (NASDAQ: STRA) is an education services company that provides postsecondary programs through Strayer University and Capella University. Its institutions serve working adults and other nontraditional students through online and campus-based learning options.

Strayer University offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs, professional certificates and other career-focused educational programs in areas such as business, information technology, health services and criminal justice.