Stocks · Consumer Defensive · Education & Training Services
Universal Technical Institute, Inc. UTI
$19.38 +1.84% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NYSE · Market cap $1.07B
Weak trend
Next earnings report: Nov 18, 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
- Earnings beat analyst estimates in each of the last 9 quarters (average surprise over the last four: +100.0%).
- Diluted EPS over the last four quarters was $0.62, down 45.8% year over year.
- The stock is 62% below its highest close of the past year.
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 25%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 25%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 3%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRTop 6%
- Revenue growth accelerationBottom 21%
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalBottom 34%
- Gross marginTop 11%
- Operating marginBottom 45%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Top 35%
- Accruals (lower is better)Bottom 38%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 48%
- Interest coverTop 33%
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldBottom 46%
- Free-cash-flow yieldBottom 9%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueTop 50%
- Sales / enterprise valueBottom 37%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Top 47%
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthBottom 18%
- 6-month returnBottom 4%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Bottom 19%
- Distance from 52-week highBottom 6%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Bottom 22%
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersTop 4%
- Consecutive EPS beatsTop 10%
- Share of analysts rating BuyTop 20%
- Upside to consensus price targetTop 10%
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Bottom 3%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsBottom 30%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Bottom 39%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 48%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 11.0% | 9.1% | ↓ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -26.2% | -45.8% | ↓ |
| Gross margin | 49.6% | 61.5% | ↑ |
| Operating margin | 10.4% | 5.0% | ↓ |
| FCF margin | 9.2% | -2.6% | ↓ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 9.1% | 11.0% | ↓ | Top 25% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | -45.8% | -26.2% | ↓ | Bottom 25% |
| Gross margin | 61.5% | 49.6% | ↑ | Top 11% |
| Operating margin | 5.0% | 10.4% | ↓ | Bottom 45% |
| Net margin | 3.9% | 7.8% | ↓ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | -2.6% | 9.2% | ↓ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 4.7% | — | Bottom 34% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 25.9% | — | Top 6% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 2.17×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -4.5%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 1.4%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- +20.2 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 2.19×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 11.0×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 0.00%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 0.82%
- Shareholder yield
- 0.82%
- Share count change, 1 year
- +0.5%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- +18.0%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 6, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 9
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 8 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +100.0%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- -0.2%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 4 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $41.00
- Target vs current price
- +111.6%
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 5, 2026 | +73.2% | +0.3% | -39.6% | -50.6% | — |
| May 6, 2026 | +556.6% | -4.3% | -2.5% | +15.3% | +1.8% |
| Feb 4, 2026 | +53.3% | -2.3% | -5.0% | +25.6% | +31.6% |
| Nov 19, 2025 | +30.1% | +1.9% | -20.9% | -9.1% | +7.3% |
| Aug 6, 2025 | +58.3% | +4.6% | -16.9% | -13.9% | +2.1% |
| May 7, 2025 | +75.0% | +0.7% | +7.7% | +21.1% | +9.0% |
| Feb 5, 2025 | +122.2% | -1.9% | -3.5% | -4.7% | -1.3% |
| Nov 20, 2024 | +13.3% | -0.3% | +30.1% | +24.4% | +46.1% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 5, 2026 | $0.04 | $0.02 | +73.2% | $218.9M |
| May 6, 2026 | $0.01 | -$0.00 | +556.6% | $221.4M |
| Feb 4, 2026 | $0.23 | $0.15 | +53.3% | $220.8M |
| Nov 19, 2025 | $0.34 | $0.26 | +30.1% | $222.4M |
| Aug 6, 2025 | $0.19 | $0.12 | +58.3% | $204.3M |
| May 7, 2025 | $0.21 | $0.12 | +75.0% | $207.4M |
| Feb 5, 2025 | $0.40 | $0.18 | +122.2% | $201.4M |
| Nov 20, 2024 | $0.34 | $0.30 | +13.3% | $196.4M |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 31.4× | 34.4× | 38th | Bottom 46% |
| P/E (forward) | 32.1× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 12.4× | — | — | Top 50% |
| EV / Sales | 1.47× | — | — | Bottom 37% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | -2.14% | — | — | Bottom 9% |
| Earnings yield | 3.19% | — | — | Bottom 46% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 12.9× – 185.2× since Jun 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
- -38.8%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- -45.8%
- Change in P/E multiple
- +89.5%
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
- 0
- Days above the 200-day average
- 0
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- -26.9%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- -1.4%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -23.6%
- Distance from 200-day average
- -41.1%
- RSI (14)
- 34.4
- Relative volume
- 0.71×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 101.2%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 97th percentile · High for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.52
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.13
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -62.1%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -63.9%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 7, 2026 | Sep 28, 2026 | -63.9% | 58 days | Not yet recovered |
| May 4, 2022 | Sep 26, 2022 | -51.2% | 99 days | 288 days (Nov 16, 2023) |
| Jun 2, 2025 | Nov 24, 2025 | -39.4% | 122 days | 64 days (Feb 27, 2026) |
| Jul 26, 2024 | Oct 7, 2024 | -21.8% | 50 days | 24 days (Nov 8, 2024) |
| Nov 22, 2021 | Jan 27, 2022 | -21.0% | 45 days | 12 days (Feb 14, 2022) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $1.07B
- P/E (TTM)
- 31.4
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $0.62
- Revenue (TTM)
- $883.6M
- 52-week range
- $18.02 – $51.34
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $335.1M | $418.8M | $607.4M | $732.7M | $835.6M |
| Gross profit | $168.3M | $211.5M | $277.5M | $348.2M | $415.1M |
| Operating income | $14.9M | $22.4M | $21.4M | $58.9M | $83.5M |
| Net income | $14.6M | $25.8M | $12.3M | $42.0M | $63.0M |
| EPS (diluted) | $0.17 | $0.38 | $0.13 | $0.75 | $1.13 |
| Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | Q3 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $196.4M | $201.4M | $207.4M | $204.3M | $222.4M | $220.8M | $221.4M | $218.9M |
| Net income | $18.8M | $22.2M | $11.4M | $10.7M | $18.8M | $12.8M | $433,000 | $2.3M |
| EPS (diluted) | $0.34 | $0.40 | $0.21 | $0.19 | $0.34 | $0.23 | $0.01 | $0.04 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $55.2M | $46.0M | $49.1M | $85.9M | $97.3M |
| Capital expenditure | -$61.6M | -$79.5M | -$56.7M | -$24.3M | -$42.0M |
| Free cash flow | -$6.4M | -$33.4M | -$7.5M | $61.6M | $55.4M |
| Dividends paid | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net share buybacks | -$421,000 | -$651,000 | -$781,000 | -$11.5M | $659,000 |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $170.1M
- Total assets
- $897.9M
- Total liabilities
- $553.6M
- Total debt
- $359.5M
- Net debt
- $229.4M
- Shareholders’ equity
- $344.3M
As of Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 6, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 17, 2016 | $0.02 | Mar 31, 2016 |
| Dec 2, 2015 | $0.02 | Dec 18, 2015 |
| Sep 24, 2015 | $0.02 | Oct 5, 2015 |
| Jun 17, 2015 | $0.10 | Jun 30, 2015 |
| Mar 18, 2015 | $0.10 | Mar 31, 2015 |
| Dec 4, 2014 | $0.10 | Dec 19, 2014 |
| Sep 17, 2014 | $0.10 | Sep 30, 2014 |
| Jun 18, 2014 | $0.10 | Jun 30, 2014 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 6,263,296
- Days to cover
- 4.00
- Change vs previous report
- +14.2%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.