Laureate Education vs Strategic Education
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The short version
- Laureate Education is the larger business, with $1.7B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $1.3B for Strategic Education.
- Laureate Education grew revenue faster (8.6%, against 4.0%).
- Laureate Education kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (25.3% operating margin, against 13.7%).
- Laureate Education turned more of its sales into free cash flow (15.5% FCF margin, against 12.1%).
- Laureate Education earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (28.6%, against 8.4%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Laureate Education’s earnings: a P/E of 17.7x against 13.6x for Strategic Education.
| Latest fiscal year | LAUR · FY25 | STRA · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $5.5B | $1.8B |
| Revenue | $1.7B | $1.3B |
| Free cash flow | $263M | $154M |
| Net income | $282M | $127M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 8.6% | 4.0% |
| 5-year growth | 10.7% | 4.3% |
| Share count change | −3.4% | −3.1% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 28.3% | — |
| Operating margin | 25.3% | 13.7% |
| Net margin | 16.6% | 10.0% |
| FCF margin | 15.5% | 12.1% |
| Return on capital | 28.6% | 8.4% |
| Return on equity | 26.2% | 7.7% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$19.0M | −$148M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.0x | −0.7x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $215M | $196M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 17.7x | 13.6x |
| Piotroski F-score | 8 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
LAUR $3.3B
STRA $441M
FY17
LAUR $3.3B
STRA $455M
FY18
LAUR $1.1B
STRA $634M
FY19
LAUR $1.2B
STRA $997M
FY20
LAUR $1.0B
STRA $1.0B
FY21
LAUR $1.1B
STRA $1.1B
FY22
LAUR $1.2B
STRA $1.1B
FY23
LAUR $1.5B
STRA $1.1B
FY24
LAUR $1.6B
STRA $1.2B
FY25
LAUR $1.7B
STRA $1.3B
LAUR
STRA
Operating margin
FY16
LAUR 8.8%
STRA 13.0%
FY17
LAUR 7.1%
STRA 11.5%
FY18
LAUR −2.3%
STRA −3.6%
FY19
LAUR 3.0%
STRA 11.1%
FY20
LAUR −32.1%
STRA 10.6%
FY21
LAUR −0.4%
STRA 6.5%
FY22
LAUR 21.7%
STRA 6.6%
FY23
LAUR 22.8%
STRA 8.4%
FY24
LAUR 23.9%
STRA 12.8%
FY25
LAUR 25.3%
STRA 13.7%
LAUR
STRA
Free cash flow
FY16
LAUR −$48.0M
STRA $31.4M
FY17
LAUR −$81.9M
STRA $38.1M
FY18
LAUR $159M
STRA $19.3M
FY19
LAUR $184M
STRA $163M
FY20
LAUR $185M
STRA $96.1M
FY21
LAUR −$207M
STRA $131M
FY22
LAUR $125M
STRA $82.9M
FY23
LAUR $194M
STRA $80.2M
FY24
LAUR $161M
STRA $129M
FY25
LAUR $263M
STRA $154M
LAUR
STRA
Return on capital
FY16
LAUR —
STRA —
FY17
LAUR 4.4%
STRA —
FY18
LAUR −0.5%
STRA —
FY19
LAUR 0.7%
STRA —
FY20
LAUR −7.9%
STRA 6.1%
FY21
LAUR −0.2%
STRA 3.3%
FY22
LAUR 14.3%
STRA 3.1%
FY23
LAUR 17.4%
STRA 4.4%
FY24
LAUR 26.8%
STRA 7.3%
FY25
LAUR 28.6%
STRA 8.4%
LAUR
STRA
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.