William Blair Brokers Increase Earnings Estimates for Stride

Key Points

• William Blair has increased its Q1 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimate for Stride, Inc. from $0.95 to $1.22, maintaining an "Outperform" rating on the stock.
• Stride recently reported Q2 earnings surpassing expectations, with $2.29 EPS compared to a consensus estimate of $1.83, and a revenue of $653.65 million.
• Several brokerages have also raised their price targets for Stride, with Morgan Stanley increasing its target to $159.00 and Barrington Research setting a target of $170.00.

Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN - Free Report) - Stock analysts at William Blair upped their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for Stride in a research note issued on Wednesday, August 6th. William Blair analyst S. Sheldon now forecasts that the company will post earnings of $1.22 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $0.95. William Blair currently has a "Outperform" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Stride's current full-year earnings is $6.67 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Stride's Q2 2026 earnings at $2.46 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $8.31 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $9.09 EPS.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on LRN. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Stride from $148.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Stride from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Stride in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Stride in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Stride from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $135.17.

Stride Trading Up 4.1%

Shares of Stride stock traded up $5.86 during trading on Friday, hitting $149.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 144,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 777,277. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 5.39 and a quick ratio of 5.53. Stride has a 52 week low of $63.25 and a 52 week high of $162.30. The stock has a market cap of $6.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $138.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $137.44.

Stride (NYSE:LRN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $653.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $626.23 million. Stride had a net margin of 11.97% and a return on equity of 25.51%. The company's revenue was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stride

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Stride by 27.6% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,493,709 shares of the company's stock valued at $155,251,000 after purchasing an additional 323,275 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Stride by 102.2% during the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,169,748 shares of the company's stock valued at $147,973,000 after purchasing an additional 591,208 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Stride by 2.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,045,904 shares of the company's stock valued at $151,873,000 after purchasing an additional 24,889 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Stride by 5.4% during the first quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,009,726 shares of the company's stock valued at $127,730,000 after purchasing an additional 52,000 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Stride by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 764,067 shares of the company's stock valued at $79,411,000 after purchasing an additional 65,509 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.24% of the company's stock.

About Stride

Stride, Inc, a technology-based education service company, engages in the provision of proprietary and third-party online curriculum, software systems, and educational services in the United States and internationally. Its technology-based products and services enable clients to attract, enroll, educate, track progress, support, and facilitate individualized learning for students.

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