Stocks · Consumer Defensive · Education & Training Services
Laureate Education, Inc. LAUR
$38.62 +1.63% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NASDAQ · Market cap $5.32B
Strong growthStrong trendLow risk
Next earnings report: Oct 29, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- The stock is in an uptrend: above its 200-day average for 107 trading days, with the 50-day average above the 200-day.
- Diluted EPS over the last four quarters was $2.21, up 30.0% year over year.
- Revenue over the last four quarters was $1.83B, up 17.9% from a year earlier, accelerating from 13.8% a quarter earlier.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Consumer Defensive sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Top 14%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Top 23%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Top 35%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRTop 18%
- Revenue growth accelerationTop 13%
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalTop 10%
- Gross marginBottom 38%
- Operating marginTop 7%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Bottom 20%
- Accruals (lower is better)Bottom 24%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 32%
- Interest coverTop 13%
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldTop 31%
- Free-cash-flow yieldBottom 46%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueTop 33%
- Sales / enterprise valueBottom 14%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Bottom 39%
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthTop 25%
- 6-month returnTop 17%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Top 16%
- Distance from 52-week highTop 4%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Top 5%
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersBottom 15%
- Consecutive EPS beatsTop 45%
- Share of analysts rating BuyTop 20%
- Upside to consensus price targetBottom 12%
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Top 20%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsTop 1%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Bottom 34%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 32%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 13.8% | 17.9% | ↑ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -0.0% | 30.0% | ↑ |
| Gross margin | 27.2% | 27.3% | ↑ |
| Operating margin | 24.2% | 24.4% | ↑ |
| FCF margin | 14.7% | 15.7% | ↑ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 17.9% | 13.8% | ↑ | Top 14% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | 30.0% | -0.0% | ↑ | Top 23% |
| Gross margin | 27.3% | 27.2% | ↑ | Bottom 38% |
| Operating margin | 24.4% | 24.2% | ↑ | Top 7% |
| Net margin | 17.6% | 16.4% | ↑ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 15.7% | 14.7% | ↑ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 16.1% | — | Top 10% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 11.1% | — | Top 18% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 1.24×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -3.1%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 0.5%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- -8.6 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 0.99×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 35.9×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 0.00%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 6.22%
- Shareholder yield
- 6.23%
- Share count change, 1 year
- -4.1%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- -3.5%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 30, 2026 (filed Jul 30, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 2
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 6 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- -10.8%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- +2.3%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 6 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $39.75
- Target vs current price
- +2.9%
- Analysts with a rating
- 11
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 73%
- Consensus rating
- Buy
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 30, 2026 | +3.7% | +0.0% | -0.9% | +0.7% | — |
| Apr 30, 2026 | +21.3% | -4.7% | +2.9% | +2.9% | +18.6% |
| Feb 19, 2026 | +0.0% | -3.2% | -3.5% | -5.4% | -7.4% |
| Oct 30, 2025 | -68.4% | +10.1% | +6.4% | +6.6% | +18.5% |
| Jul 31, 2025 | +243.5% | -1.0% | +7.2% | +19.8% | +30.4% |
| May 1, 2025 | +66.7% | +2.8% | +14.0% | +11.5% | +14.7% |
| Feb 20, 2025 | +47.6% | +4.2% | -2.1% | -2.5% | +12.5% |
| Oct 31, 2024 | +250.0% | +10.4% | +16.8% | +21.7% | +21.7% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 30, 2026 | $1.00 | $0.96 | +3.7% | $615.9M |
| Apr 30, 2026 | -$0.17 | -$0.22 | +21.3% | $272.6M |
| Feb 19, 2026 | $0.76 | $0.76 | +0.0% | $541.4M |
| Oct 30, 2025 | $0.25 | $0.79 | -68.4% | $400.2M |
| Jul 31, 2025 | $0.79 | $0.23 | +243.5% | $524.2M |
| May 1, 2025 | -$0.11 | -$0.33 | +66.7% | $236.2M |
| Feb 20, 2025 | $0.62 | $0.42 | +47.6% | $423.4M |
| Oct 31, 2024 | $0.56 | $0.16 | +250.0% | $368.6M |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 17.5× | 16.7× | 55th | Top 31% |
| P/E (forward) | 18.3× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 10.2× | — | — | Top 33% |
| EV / Sales | 3.22× | — | — | Bottom 14% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 5.39% | — | — | Bottom 46% |
| Earnings yield | 5.72% | — | — | Top 31% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 4.0× – 36.7× since Sep 30, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
What moved the stock over the past year
- Price return, 1 year
- +23.5%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- +30.0%
- Change in P/E multiple
- +30.8%
Most of the move came from a change in the valuation multiple.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✓ Price above 20-day average
- ✓ Price above 50-day average
- ✓ Price above 200-day average
- ✓ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✓ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 7
- Days above the 200-day average
- 107
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- -1.1%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- +1.7%
- Distance from 50-day average
- +3.4%
- Distance from 200-day average
- +9.9%
- RSI (14)
- 61.6
- Relative volume
- 1.05×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 26.5%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 27th percentile · Normal for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.61
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.32
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -4.5%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -16.3%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 5, 2021 | Dec 19, 2022 | -48.6% | 304 days | 473 days (Nov 6, 2024) |
| Dec 15, 2020 | Apr 29, 2021 | -22.7% | 92 days | 23 days (Jun 2, 2021) |
| Jan 21, 2026 | Apr 30, 2026 | -16.3% | 69 days | 28 days (Jun 10, 2026) |
| Feb 20, 2025 | Apr 8, 2025 | -12.5% | 33 days | 17 days (May 2, 2025) |
| Jul 10, 2026 | Sep 10, 2026 | -11.6% | 43 days | Not yet recovered |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $5.32B
- P/E (TTM)
- 17.5
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $2.21
- Revenue (TTM)
- $1.83B
- 52-week range
- $24.98 – $40.92
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1.09B | $1.24B | $1.48B | $1.57B | $1.70B |
| Gross profit | $272.2M | $334.9M | $394.5M | $419.8M | $482.2M |
| Operating income | -$4.6M | $270.0M | $338.8M | $374.0M | $431.1M |
| Net income | $192.4M | $69.6M | $107.6M | $296.5M | $281.6M |
| EPS (diluted) | -$2.34 | $0.37 | $0.74 | $1.92 | $1.89 |
| Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $368.6M | $423.4M | $236.2M | $524.2M | $400.2M | $541.4M | $272.6M | $615.9M |
| Net income | $85.5M | $93.6M | -$19.5M | $95.1M | $34.5M | $171.6M | -$21.6M | $137.1M |
| EPS (diluted) | $0.56 | $0.62 | -$0.13 | $0.65 | $0.23 | $1.15 | -$0.15 | $0.98 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | -$156.1M | $178.2M | $250.8M | $232.7M | $366.2M |
| Capital expenditure | -$50.4M | -$52.8M | -$56.4M | -$71.9M | -$103.0M |
| Free cash flow | -$206.5M | $125.4M | $194.3M | $160.8M | $263.1M |
| Dividends paid | $0 | -$253.2M | -$112.5M | -$1.7M | -$455,000 |
| Net share buybacks | -$377.1M | -$282.2M | $2.3M | -$102.1M | -$215.0M |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $161.7M
- Total assets
- $2.42B
- Total liabilities
- $1.28B
- Total debt
- $734.0M
- Net debt
- $572.3M
- Shareholders’ equity
- $1.14B
As of Jun 30, 2026 (filed Jul 30, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 14, 2023 | $0.70 | Nov 30, 2023 |
| Nov 3, 2022 | $0.68 | Nov 17, 2022 |
| Sep 27, 2022 | $0.83 | Oct 12, 2022 |
| Dec 13, 2021 | $0.58 | Dec 28, 2021 |
| Nov 1, 2021 | $7.01 | — |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 4,228,540
- Days to cover
- 4.49
- Change vs previous report
- +16.6%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.