Laureate’s Ascent & The Fund’s Sigh

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First Sabrepoint Capital Management, bless their hearts, sold some Laureate Education shares. Three hundred thousand of them, to be precise. In the fourth quarter of 2025. About $9.26 million worth, if you’re keeping score. It’s all just shuffling numbers, really. So it goes.

A Little Less Weight

The filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, dated February 13, 2026, confirmed it. They trimmed their position. A perfectly reasonable act, given the circumstances. The stake went from substantial to merely significant. Valued at $16.84 million at the end of the quarter, down $8.40 million. Markets fluctuate. People sell. It’s the natural order of things.

What’s Left Behind

  • The sale reduced First Sabrepoint’s holdings in Laureate to 6.4% of their reportable assets. Not nothing, but certainly not the weight of the world.
  • Their top holdings, as of the filing:
    • NYSE: TPB: $43.36 million (17.8% of AUM)
    • NASDAQ: FCFS: $31.08 million (12.8% of AUM)
    • NASDAQ: LAUR: $16.84 million (6.9% of AUM)
    • NASDAQ: CVCO: $15.95 million (6.6% of AUM)
    • NYSE: ATGE: $13.97 million (5.7% of AUM)
  • Laureate Education shares, as of February 12, 2026, were priced at $33.92. Up 70.8% over the past year. A remarkable run, considering everything. It outperformed the S&P 500 by 57.89 percentage points. A statistical anomaly, perhaps?
  • The fund reported $259,146,737 in total reportable AUM, down 18% from the prior period. Numbers going down. Numbers going up. A constant dance.

The Institution

Metric Value
Revenue (TTM) $1.58 billion
Net Income (TTM) $203.71 million
Price (as of market close 2/12/26) $33.92
1-Year Price Change 70.80%

A Brief Description

  • Laureate Education offers degrees in business, medicine, and all the usual subjects. Online, in classrooms, a little bit of both. They sell knowledge, essentially.
  • They make money from tuition. A time-honored tradition.
  • Their students are mostly in Mexico, Peru, and the United States. People looking for a better life. Or a different one.

Laureate Education operates a network of universities. A diversified portfolio, they call it. They reach a broad student base. It’s a business. A rather large one, actually. They’re hoping for continued growth in key Latin American markets. A reasonable expectation, given the circumstances. So it goes.

What Does It All Mean?

Laureate delivered 9% revenue growth in the third quarter. To $400.2 million. And lifted full-year guidance. To as much as $1.686 billion in revenue. And up to $512 million in Adjusted EBITDA. New enrollments rose 7%. Peru was up 13%. Steady demand in core markets. Which is good.

Trimming exposure after a 70% stock run isn’t necessarily a negative signal. It’s just…prudent. The company generated $272.8 million in operating cash flow in the first nine months. And ended September with $138.6 million in net cash. And expanded its repurchase authorization by $150 million. A healthy balance sheet. Gives them options.

The reduced position still accounts for 6.4% of assets. Meaningful, but not overwhelming. Compared to Turning Point Brands at 17.8% and FirstCash at 12.8%. It’s a rebalancing act. Not an abandonment.

For long-term investors, the thesis depends on enrollment growth, currency stability in Mexico and Peru, and sustained cash conversion. A disciplined trim after a strong performance can be a sign of wisdom. Or simply caution. The real question is whether the momentum continues. Or if it was just a fleeting moment of optimism in a world that is, let’s face it, mostly indifferent. So it goes.

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2026-02-13 23:15