Will Stride's Career Learning Growth Sustain Profit Margins in 2026?
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Nov 27 2025
0mins
Source: NASDAQ.COM
Career Learning Growth: Stride, Inc.'s Career Learning segment saw a 20% increase in enrollments and a 16.3% rise in revenues in Q1 of fiscal 2026, reflecting a shift towards career-aligned education as families seek relevant and affordable pathways.
Technology Challenges: The rollout of new technology platforms has caused performance issues, leading to higher withdrawals and increased operating costs, which may limit enrollment growth and impact margins in the short term.
Competitive Landscape: Stride competes with American Public Education and Coursera, leveraging its integrated K-12 and career learning model, which offers a competitive edge in the adult skills market despite facing significant competition.
Stock Performance and Outlook: Stride's stock has dropped 61.4% over the past three months, with earnings estimates for fiscal 2026 and 2027 declining, but still indicating potential year-over-year improvements of 3.6% and 6.2%, respectively.
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Analyst Views on LRN
Wall Street analysts forecast LRN stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for LRN is 106.75 USD with a low forecast of 82.00 USD and a high forecast of 125.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
5 Analyst Rating
3 Buy
2 Hold
0 Sell
Moderate Buy
Current: 84.040
Low
82.00
Averages
106.75
High
125.00
Current: 84.040
Low
82.00
Averages
106.75
High
125.00
About LRN
Stride, Inc. is a technology company providing an educational platform to deliver online learning to students throughout the U.S. It provides a range of services including K-12 education, career learning, professional skills training, and talent development. Its platform hosts products and services to attract, enroll, educate, track progress, and support students. These products and services, spanning curriculum, systems, instruction, and support services, are designed to help learners of all ages reach their full potential through inspired teaching and personalized learning. Its platform addresses two markets in the K-12 space: General Education and Career Learning. Products and services for the General Education market are focused on core subjects for kindergarten through twelfth grade students to help build a common foundation of knowledge. Career Learning products and services are focused on developing skills to enter and succeed in careers in high-growth and in-demand industries.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
STRIDE STOCK SOARS 22% FOLLOWING BETTER-THAN-EXPECTED Q2 RESULTS
- Company Performance: Stride shares increased by 22% following the release of their Q2 results.
- Earnings Report: The company's Q2 results exceeded market expectations, contributing to the surge in share price.
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Stride Reports Q2 Earnings with Stable Demand and Improved Profitability
- Platform Stabilization: Stride's management reported a more than 90% drop in customer support call volumes following a login fix, alongside a significant reduction in negative social media commentary, indicating substantial progress in enhancing user experience.
- Strong Financial Performance: The company reported Q2 revenue of $631.3 million, an approximately 8% year-over-year increase, with adjusted operating income of $159 million and adjusted EPS of $2.50, reflecting sustained demand for online education and improved profitability.
- Stable Enrollment Trends: Total enrollments reached 248,500, remaining flat year-over-year, and despite prioritizing stability over aggressive growth, application volumes are near last year's record levels, highlighting organic demand for Stride's programs.
- Optimistic Future Guidance: Stride reaffirmed its full-year revenue guidance of $2.48 billion to $2.555 billion and raised adjusted operating income guidance to $485 million to $505 million, reflecting confidence in future performance.
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