Bull of the Day: Stride, Inc. (LRN)

Soaring costs, the artificial intelligence boom, reshoring, remote work and schooling, and more are creating a paradigm shift in education and career learning/planning.

Digital education standout Stride, Inc. LRN stock has more than quadrupled (4X) the S&P 500 over the past three years (and the past decade), capitalizing on the rapidly changing education industry.

Stride surged to fresh highs in August after its impressive beat-and-raise fourth quarter of FY25. The company expanded its full-year enrollments by 20%, with Career Learning enrollments up 33%, driven by demand for coding bootcamps, career planning, apprenticeships, and beyond.

The digital education firm grew its revenue from $1 billion in FY20 to $2.4 billion in FY25, helping boost its GAAP earnings per share (EPS) from $0.61 to $5.95 a share (+875% expansion).

Stride stock skyrocketed 1,100% in the past decade and it hit all-time records in late August. Despite its market-crushing run, LRN stock trades at a 70% discount to its highs in terms of forward earnings as it churns out strong bottom-line growth.

Stride’s upbeat EPS outlook earns it a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). LRN stock is worth buying for long-term investors and traders looking to diversify outside of big tech into stocks far removed from the tariff wars. 

Buy Top-Ranked LRN Stock and Hold Forever

Stride, which went public in late 2007, provides a variety of services such as K-12 education, career learning, professional skills training, and talent development throughout the U.S. and over 100 countries.

The next-generation digital education company is capitalizing on compounding trends across the economy, helping students and parents of all ages adapt to the quickly changing work and education landscape.

Stride is expanding its offerings as more people dive into digital education, reevaluate four-year college amid skyrocketing costs, and head into fields such as IT, healthcare, and skilled trades to meet soaring demand.  

Stride offers courses such as MedCerts to help people land a new career in healthcare. Meanwhile, its Tech Elevator program, which includes coding courses and much more, helps “students fully transition to a career as a software developer” and boasts a 90% job placement rate. Its Tallo unit provides growth opportunities for emerging professionals, focused on everything from earning scholarships to landing internships, apprenticeships, jobs, and more.

Its more traditional K-12 segment provides comprehensive online and blended education programs, including full-time virtual schools, supplemental courses, homeschooling support, and more. Meanwhile, its tutoring services and learning hub are designed to help students both catch up and get ahead.

A confluence of trends, including skyrocketing education costs, the AI boom and its impact on the economy, reshoring, and remote work and schooling, created a paradigm shift in education and career development/planning.

Stride is capitalizing on this backdrop in a big way, and Wall Street has taken notice. LRN has added two more brokerage recommendations over the last month, with six out of the seven Zacks has at “Strong Buys.” Stride also has a strong balance sheet, with more cash and equivalents than total liabilities. 

Megatrends Drive Stride’s Impressive Growth

Stride grew its revenue from under $400 million in 2010 to $1 billion in FY20. Covid and the other trends we just highlighted sent its growth into hyperdrive. 

LRN grew its revenue from $1 billion in FY20 to $2.4 billion in FY25, boosting its GAAP earnings per share (EPS) from $0.61 to $5.95 a share (+875% expansion).

LRN expanded its revenue by 18% in FY25, for its best YoY showing since FY21’s 48% surge. Its General Education segment sales climbed roughly 12% in 2025, accounting for 60% of total revenue. Meanwhile, Stride’s Career Learning unit surged 27%, with the growth driven entirely by the Middle-High School group’s 35% expansion.

Full-year enrollments climbed 20% to an average of 234K, with Career Learning enrollments up 33%.

The company topped our Q4 FY25 EPS estimate by 25% on August 5 and provided upbeat guidance. Its Q1 EPS estimate surged 14% since then, with its FY26 consensus 11% higher, earning Stride a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Stride is projected to grow its sales by 11% in FY26 and 7.4% in FY27. LRN is expected to expand its adjusted EPS by 6% and 9%, respectively, following 48% expansion in FY25. The company boasts an impressive history of bottom-line beats as well, including two massive outperformances in the trailing four quarters.

Buy Soaring LRN Stock for Great Value

Stride stock soared 330% in the past three years, outrunning Tech’s 110% and the S&P 500’s 68%. This is part of a 1,100% run over the last decade that helped it blow away Tech’s 400% and the benchmark’s 250%.

LRN has jumped 28% since its August 5 earnings release, helping it break out to new all-time highs at the end of last month. The stock found buyers at its 21-day moving average (and its previous peaks) earlier this week.

Despite trading right near its peak in terms of stock price, Stride trades at a 67% discount to its highs and 25% below its 15-year median at 18.4X forward 12-month earnings.

LRN also offers 20% value vs. the S&P 500 and 33% value compared to Tech, even though Stride stock has crushed both. 

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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