Laureate Education vs Stride
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The short version
- Stride is the larger business, with $2.5B of revenue in fiscal 2026 against $1.7B for Laureate Education.
- Laureate Education grew revenue faster (8.6%, against 4.7%).
- Laureate Education kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (25.3% operating margin, against 17.9%).
- Stride turned more of its sales into free cash flow (17.2% FCF margin, against 15.5%).
- Stride earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (31.3%, against 28.6%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Laureate Education’s earnings: a P/E of 17.7x against 11.0x for Stride.
| Latest fiscal year | LAUR · FY25 | LRN · FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $5.5B | $3.6B |
| Revenue | $1.7B | $2.5B |
| Free cash flow | $263M | $433M |
| Net income | $282M | $338M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 8.6% | 4.7% |
| 5-year growth | 10.7% | 10.4% |
| Share count change | −3.4% | −2.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 28.3% | 37.8% |
| Operating margin | 25.3% | 17.9% |
| Net margin | 16.6% | 13.4% |
| FCF margin | 15.5% | 17.2% |
| Return on capital | 28.6% | 31.3% |
| Return on equity | 26.2% | 21.7% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$19.0M | −$423M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.0x | −0.7x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $215M | $189M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 17.7x | 11.0x |
| Piotroski F-score | 8 | 6 |
Revenue
FY17
LAUR $3.3B
LRN $889M
FY18
LAUR $1.1B
LRN $918M
FY19
LAUR $1.2B
LRN $1.0B
FY20
LAUR $1.0B
LRN $1.0B
FY21
LAUR $1.1B
LRN $1.5B
FY22
LAUR $1.2B
LRN $1.7B
FY23
LAUR $1.5B
LRN $1.8B
FY24
LAUR $1.6B
LRN $2.0B
FY25
LAUR $1.7B
LRN $2.4B
FY26
LAUR —
LRN $2.5B
LAUR
LRN
Operating margin
FY17
LAUR 7.1%
LRN 1.5%
FY18
LAUR −2.3%
LRN 2.8%
FY19
LAUR 3.0%
LRN 4.5%
FY20
LAUR −32.1%
LRN 3.1%
FY21
LAUR −0.4%
LRN 7.2%
FY22
LAUR 21.7%
LRN 9.3%
FY23
LAUR 22.8%
LRN 9.0%
FY24
LAUR 23.9%
LRN 12.2%
FY25
LAUR 25.3%
LRN 15.0%
FY26
LAUR —
LRN 17.9%
LAUR
LRN
Free cash flow
FY17
LAUR −$81.9M
LRN $86.6M
FY18
LAUR $159M
LRN $96.7M
FY19
LAUR $184M
LRN $136M
FY20
LAUR $185M
LRN $78.7M
FY21
LAUR −$207M
LRN $131M
FY22
LAUR $125M
LRN $197M
FY23
LAUR $194M
LRN $199M
FY24
LAUR $161M
LRN $277M
FY25
LAUR $263M
LRN $431M
FY26
LAUR —
LRN $433M
LAUR
LRN
Return on capital
FY17
LAUR 4.4%
LRN —
FY18
LAUR −0.5%
LRN —
FY19
LAUR 0.7%
LRN —
FY20
LAUR −7.9%
LRN —
FY21
LAUR −0.2%
LRN —
FY22
LAUR 14.3%
LRN 13.5%
FY23
LAUR 17.4%
LRN 13.6%
FY24
LAUR 26.8%
LRN 20.5%
FY25
LAUR 28.6%
LRN 27.9%
FY26
LAUR —
LRN 31.3%
LAUR
LRN
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.