Grand Canyon Education vs Strategic Education
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The short version
- Strategic Education is the larger business, with $1.3B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $1.1B for Grand Canyon Education.
- Grand Canyon Education grew revenue faster (7.1%, against 4.0%).
- Grand Canyon Education kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (24.0% operating margin, against 13.7%).
- Grand Canyon Education turned more of its sales into free cash flow (21.6% FCF margin, against 12.1%).
- Grand Canyon Education earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (45.3%, against 8.4%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Grand Canyon Education’s earnings: a P/E of 19.8x against 13.6x for Strategic Education.
| Latest fiscal year | LOPE · FY25 | STRA · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $4.3B | $1.8B |
| Revenue | $1.1B | $1.3B |
| Free cash flow | $239M | $154M |
| Net income | $216M | $127M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 7.1% | 4.0% |
| 5-year growth | 5.6% | 4.3% |
| Share count change | −4.3% | −3.1% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 24.0% | 13.7% |
| Net margin | 19.5% | 10.0% |
| FCF margin | 21.6% | 12.1% |
| Return on capital | 45.3% | 8.4% |
| Return on equity | 28.2% | 7.7% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$300M | −$148M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −1.0x | −0.7x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $265M | $196M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 19.8x | 13.6x |
| Piotroski F-score | 4 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
LOPE $873M
STRA $441M
FY17
LOPE $974M
STRA $455M
FY18
LOPE $846M
STRA $634M
FY19
LOPE $779M
STRA $997M
FY20
LOPE $844M
STRA $1.0B
FY21
LOPE $897M
STRA $1.1B
FY22
LOPE $911M
STRA $1.1B
FY23
LOPE $961M
STRA $1.1B
FY24
LOPE $1.0B
STRA $1.2B
FY25
LOPE $1.1B
STRA $1.3B
LOPE
STRA
Operating margin
FY16
LOPE 27.2%
STRA 13.0%
FY17
LOPE 29.0%
STRA 11.5%
FY18
LOPE 30.5%
STRA −3.6%
FY19
LOPE 34.1%
STRA 11.1%
FY20
LOPE 32.9%
STRA 10.6%
FY21
LOPE 31.5%
STRA 6.5%
FY22
LOPE 26.1%
STRA 6.6%
FY23
LOPE 25.9%
STRA 8.4%
FY24
LOPE 26.7%
STRA 12.8%
FY25
LOPE 24.0%
STRA 13.7%
LOPE
STRA
Free cash flow
FY16
LOPE $59.5M
STRA $31.4M
FY17
LOPE $191M
STRA $38.1M
FY18
LOPE $105M
STRA $19.3M
FY19
LOPE $284M
STRA $163M
FY20
LOPE $279M
STRA $96.1M
FY21
LOPE $284M
STRA $131M
FY22
LOPE $186M
STRA $82.9M
FY23
LOPE $199M
STRA $80.2M
FY24
LOPE $253M
STRA $129M
FY25
LOPE $239M
STRA $154M
LOPE
STRA
Return on capital
FY16
LOPE 24.5%
STRA —
FY17
LOPE 27.1%
STRA —
FY18
LOPE —
STRA —
FY19
LOPE —
STRA —
FY20
LOPE 14.8%
STRA 6.1%
FY21
LOPE 23.6%
STRA 3.3%
FY22
LOPE 40.6%
STRA 3.1%
FY23
LOPE 42.3%
STRA 4.4%
FY24
LOPE 45.9%
STRA 7.3%
FY25
LOPE 45.3%
STRA 8.4%
LOPE
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.