One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$50.43 our estimate vs market $36.31
Wall Street consensus: $41.21 (-18.3% lower than our fair-value estimate)
28% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
Laureate Education, Inc.
LAUR · NMS · Consumer Defensive · Education & Training Services
Current price
$36.31
52-week range
$24.98 - $40.92
Market cap
$5.00B
Balance sheet
Watch
40.44x Strong cushion
Net debt $572.32M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
0 Risks
3 rewards · 0 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 7.5% last year.
- Reward Returns 29.3% on equity, ahead of 60% of its peers.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 7/10 years.
What this company does
Laureate Education, Inc.
Laureate Education runs for-profit universities and schools, with most of its operations in Mexico and Peru. The company's revenue (the total money it makes from sales) comes from student tuition for degrees in fields like medicine and business. This means the company's financial success is directly tied to its ability to keep enrollment numbers high in those specific countries.
How the company got here
Laureate Education started in 1989 as Sylvan Learning Systems, a tutoring company. In 1999, it began investing in universities, starting with one in Spain. Over the next decade and a half, it grew into a massive global network of for-profit universities in dozens of countries. Facing high debt and other challenges, the company dramatically changed course, selling off most of its schools around the world. Today, Laureate is a much more focused company, primarily operating universities in just two countries: Mexico and Peru.
What it actually does
Laureate Education runs a portfolio of private universities and colleges. Think of it as a company that owns and operates several different university brands, similar to how a single company might own different chains of restaurants. These institutions offer a wide variety of degrees for students just out of high school (undergraduate) and for those continuing their education (graduate). The programs are career-focused, in fields like medicine, business, and engineering, and are delivered through in-person classes on physical campuses, online, or a mix of both (hybrid programs).
Mexico
This is the company's largest business segment, bringing in the most revenue (the total money earned from sales). Laureate operates two main university brands here: Universidad del Valle de México (UVM) and Universidad Tecnológica de México (UNITEC). These institutions serve students across the country, offering a range of degree programs at different price points. Students and their families pay tuition fees for courses that lead to undergraduate and graduate degrees.
Peru
This segment is the other core part of Laureate's business. The company owns and operates three main institutions in Peru: Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC), Universidad Privada del Norte (UPN), and a technical-vocational school called Cibertec. Similar to its Mexican operations, this business makes money by charging students tuition for higher education programs. Together with Mexico, this segment represents the entirety of the company's streamlined, modern focus.
What management is betting on now
Management's current strategy is focused on steady growth in Mexico and Peru, rather than global expansion. A key priority is increasing student enrollment by opening new campuses and improving their marketing to attract new students. They are also heavily investing in expanding their online and hybrid course offerings to attract students who need more flexible learning options. Finally, the company is focused on making sure its programs are closely aligned with what employers are looking for, helping graduates find good jobs, which in turn makes the universities more attractive to future students.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Loading price history…
Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q3
$110.72M
FY2024 Q4
$3.36M
FY2025 Q1
$53.16M
FY2025 Q2
$60.79M
FY2025 Q3
$122.79M
FY2025 Q4
$26.40M
FY2026 Q1
$53.60M
FY2026 Q2
$83.78M
Revenue
$615.86M
Net income
$137.10M
Diluted EPS
0.98
Operating cash flow
$110.96M
Free cash flow
$83.78M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$272.61M
Net income
$-21.59M
Diluted EPS
-0.15
Operating cash flow
$61.93M
Free cash flow
$53.60M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$541.39M
Net income
$171.56M
Diluted EPS
1.14
Operating cash flow
$93.38M
Free cash flow
$26.40M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$400.22M
Net income
$34.49M
Diluted EPS
0.23
Operating cash flow
$140.98M
Free cash flow
$122.79M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$524.16M
Net income
$95.08M
Diluted EPS
0.65
Operating cash flow
$74.05M
Free cash flow
$60.79M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$236.16M
Net income
$-19.50M
Diluted EPS
-0.13
Operating cash flow
$57.78M
Free cash flow
$53.16M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$423.39M
Net income
$93.63M
Diluted EPS
0.60
Operating cash flow
$40.69M
Free cash flow
$3.36M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$368.63M
Net income
$85.46M
Diluted EPS
0.56
Operating cash flow
$118.66M
Free cash flow
$110.72M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $50.43 vs current price $36.31
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $41.21 (-18.3% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $50.43 a share — about 38.9% above today's price of $36.31, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Watch
Net debt $572.3M. Interest coverage 40.4x.
Net debt
$572.32M
Interest coverage
40.44x
Laureate Education, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 40.4 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here.
Watch
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
LAUR
BASELINE
Laureate Education, Inc.
Total debt $733.99M Interest coverage 40.44x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $104.21M Interest coverage 75,830.25x +187,426% vs LAUR Carries about 1875.3x more debt cushion than LAUR.
Total debt $1.46B Interest coverage 2.08x -95% vs LAUR Carries about 19.4x less debt cushion than LAUR.
Total debt $113.77M Interest coverage 34.88x -14% vs LAUR Has roughly the same debt cushion as LAUR.
What you should know
The case for and against LAUR
3 Rewards
0 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 7.5% last year.
-
Returns 29.3% on equity, ahead of 60% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 7/10 years.
Risks
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
16.43x
Forward P/E
14.94x
P/B
4.38x
P/S
2.73x
EV/EBITDA
10.34x
PEG ratio
1.00x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
36.8%
Operating margin
36.3%
Net margin
17.6%
ROE
29.3%
ROA
12.5%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.64x
Current ratio
0.71x
Quick ratio
0.63x
Total debt
$733.99M
Total cash
$161.67M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$1.83B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
11.9%
EPS TTM
2.21
EPS 5Y CAGR
66.4%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$407.25M
Free CF TTM
$263.15M
FCF margin
14.4%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
—
Payout ratio
0.0%
Last ex-div date
2023-11-14