Stride’s Rise: A Penny Earned, and Then Some

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Now, listen here. Shares of this here outfit called Stride (LRN +14.25%) done took a leap, a right proper bound, on Wednesday. Seems they announced earnings that left Wall Street lookin’ like a hound dog after a rabbit – completely outpaced. A fella could almost believe in progress again, though I wouldn’t wager my best hat on it.

By the close of the day’s tradin’, Stride’s stock price was up more than 14%. A tidy sum, wouldn’t you say? Enough to buy a man a decent pair of boots, maybe even a small farm if he’s lucky and doesn’t spend it all on fancy notions.

Swelling Enrollments, and a Reason Why

Stride’s revenue rose 7.5% year over year to $631.3 million in their fiscal 2026 second quarter, endin’ on December 31st. That’s a lot of dollars, enough to make a banker smile, though I suspect he’d still find somethin’ to complain about. Total enrollments were up 7.8% to 248,500, driven by a 17.6% surge in career learnin’ enrollments to 111,500. Seems folks are lookin’ for ways to better themselves, or at least to learn a skill that’ll keep ’em from starvin’ in their old age. A sensible notion, if you ask me.

“Families continue to seek alternatives to the traditional model of education to address their specific needs,” says their CEO, James Rhyu. Well, I’ll be. Sounds like folks are finally wakin’ up to the fact that one size don’t fit all, especially when it comes to learnin’.

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Moreover, revenue per enrollment inched up 1.8% to $2,437. A small gain, perhaps, but every penny counts when you’re buildin’ a fortune, or at least tryin’ to keep up with the cost of livin’.

“We are generally seeing a positive state funding environment,” says their chief financial officer, Donna Blackman. That’s politician-speak for “they’re throwin’ money at the problem,” which is often a good way to make things worse, but sometimes, just sometimes, it works out alright.

Rising Profits, and a Bit of Good Sense

Better still, Stride is growin’ more profitable as it scales its operations. Their adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) surged 17.2% to $188.1 million. Now that’s a number that’ll make a man sit up and take notice. All told, Stride’s adjusted earnings per share increased 5.5% to $2.50. That bested what the fancy folks on Wall Street were expectin’, which is always a good sign.

A Stable Growth Forecast, or So They Say

For the full year, management expects Stride to generate revenue of $2.480 billion to $2.555 billion in fiscal 2026, with adjusted operating income of $485 million to $505 million. That would represent year-over-year growth of roughly 5% and 6%, respectively. Now, I’ve learned not to put too much faith in what management tells you – they’re always lookin’ to paint a rosy picture – but if they’re even half right, this here Stride outfit might just be worth a closer look for a fella lookin’ for a steady return on his investment. A man can dream, can’t he?

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2026-01-29 01:22