Stride (NYSE:LRN) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $72.43, but opened at $90.00. Stride shares last traded at $85.74, with a volume of 2,717,455 shares changing hands.

Stride News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Stride this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results beat consensus — Stride reported roughly $2.50 EPS and ~$631M revenue, topping estimates and showing year-over-year revenue and margin improvement. MarketBeat Q2 results
• Positive Sentiment: Enrollment rebound and rollout issues largely resolved — Career learning (middle/high school) enrollment strength and a stabilized platform rollout are cited as drivers of renewed growth momentum. Seeking Alpha enrollment article
• Positive Sentiment: Guidance and profitability outlook supportive — Management maintained FY26 revenue guidance (~$2.48–$2.56B per company commentary) and raised adjusted operating income expectations, highlighting margin discipline in regulated markets. GlobeNewswire release
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst backing — Barrington Research reaffirmed an Outperform rating and set a $125 price target, signaling analyst confidence in upside vs. current levels. Benzinga note on Barrington
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed coverage and metrics discussions — Several deep-dive pieces and call transcripts parse unit economics, margin drivers and key metrics; useful for modeling but not immediately price-moving. MSN deep dive
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and inflation-of-enrollment concerns persist — Coverage highlighting legal probes and allegations around enrollment reporting remain overhangs that could pressure sentiment if they develop. Yahoo Finance on legal probes
• Negative Sentiment: Risk-focused commentary — Some outlets include LRN on lists of consumer/education stocks to watch for downside risk, which may amplify volatility for momentum-focused traders. Benzinga risk article

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Stride from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Stride from $130.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Stride in a report on Monday, December 29th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Stride in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Stride from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Stride presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.75.

Stride Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $66.28 and a 200 day moving average of $110.64. The company has a quick ratio of 6.69, a current ratio of 6.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.29, a PEG ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.06.

Stride (NYSE:LRN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.29. Stride had a net margin of 12.76% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The business had revenue of $620.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $615.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. Stride’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Stride, Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Stride

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Stride during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Stride during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Stride in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Stride in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Stride by 78.7% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 193 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.24% of the company’s stock.

Stride Company Profile

Stride, Inc (NYSE:LRN) is a technology-driven education company that designs and delivers online learning solutions for students and adult learners. Through long-term partnerships with state-authorized public school districts, Stride operates virtual academies that serve K-12 students across the United States. The company’s blended-learning model combines digital curriculum, live teaching support and data analytics to personalize instruction and monitor student progress.

In addition to its K-12 offerings, Stride provides a portfolio of career and workforce readiness programs under its Stride Career Prep division.