Coursera’s (COUR) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Posted by Patrick Bannon on Apr 24th, 2026

Coursera (NYSE:COUR – Get Free Report)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $10.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 67.36% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on COUR. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Coursera from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Coursera from $9.00 to $6.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of Coursera in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Coursera from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price objective on shares of Coursera from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coursera presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.31.

Check Out Our Latest Report on COUR

Coursera Price Performance

NYSE COUR opened at $5.98 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $6.04 and a 200-day moving average of $7.24. The company has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.27 and a beta of 1.35. Coursera has a 12 month low of $5.22 and a 12 month high of $13.56.

Coursera (NYSE:COUR – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $195.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.17 million. Coursera had a negative return on equity of 5.17% and a negative net margin of 6.73%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.12 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Coursera will post -0.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Coursera

In other news, SVP Alan B. Cardenas sold 9,710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.92, for a total transaction of $57,483.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 217,876 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,289,825.92. This represents a 4.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 16.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coursera

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in COUR. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Coursera by 97.0% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 14,590,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,389,000 after buying an additional 7,184,167 shares during the last quarter. Mak Capital One LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coursera during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,610,000. Caledonia Private Investments Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Coursera by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. Caledonia Private Investments Pty Ltd now owns 12,052,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,708,000 after buying an additional 2,739,039 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Coursera by 341.6% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,955,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,612,000 after buying an additional 2,286,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Coursera by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,116,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,619,000 after buying an additional 2,195,148 shares during the last quarter. 89.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Coursera

Here are the key news stories impacting Coursera this week:

Positive Sentiment: Record learner and consumer growth — Coursera reported its largest-ever registered learner growth and continued strength in the consumer/AI-driven content segment, supporting top-line expansion (revenue up ~9% YoY). Coursera Q1 revenue jumps with record learner growth
Positive Sentiment: New product offerings broaden consumer appeal — Coursera launched beginner specializations (NumPy/Pandas) and is leaning into AI-focused content, which may help monetization over time. Coursera launches NumPy and Pandas specialization for beginners
Neutral Sentiment: Revenue roughly in line with expectations — Q1 revenue came in near consensus (~$195.7M) even as some metrics diverged; management provided FY and Q2 revenue ranges that are close to, but slightly below, street estimates. Coursera’s (NYSE:COUR) Q1 CY2026 Earnings Results
Neutral Sentiment: Full earnings disclosure and call transcript available — investors can review the call transcript and company release for management commentary on enterprise dynamics and investment cadence. Coursera Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Negative Sentiment: Enterprise churn and margin decay raised red flags — Analysts flagged weaker enterprise segment performance and shrinking adjusted EBITDA margins driven by increased product and sales investment, prompting at least one downgrade. Coursera: Enterprise Churn And Margin Decay Are Concerning (Downgrade)
Negative Sentiment: EPS miss and weaker cash flow — Coursera reported $0.07 EPS (miss vs. consensus) and wider GAAP losses with an ~88% drop in free cash flow, which pressures near-term profitability and valuation. Coursera (COUR) Misses Q1 Earnings Estimates
Negative Sentiment: Guidance slightly soft for Q2/FY — Management issued revenue ranges a touch below consensus for Q2 and FY 2026, leaving limited near-term upside and increasing sensitivity to enterprise recovery. Coursera Reports First Quarter 2026 Financial Results
Negative Sentiment: Analyst sell-side reaction — Coverage notes (downgrades/negative write-ups) highlight operating risk and margin pressure, which can amplify near-term share weakness. Coursera shares weighed down by wider GAAP loss, 88% drop in free cash flow

About Coursera

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Coursera, Inc (NYSE:COUR) operates a leading online learning platform that delivers courses, specializations, professional certificates and fully accredited degree programs in collaboration with top universities and industry partners. Founded in 2012 by Stanford University professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller, Coursera’s mission is to provide universal access to world-class education and bridge skill gaps in a rapidly evolving job market.

The platform features more than 6,000 offerings created by over 275 academic institutions and corporate entities, spanning fields such as data science, business, technology, health care and the arts.