Coursera (NYSE:COUR) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.03 EPS

Coursera (NYSE:COUR) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.03, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $376.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $368.52 million. Coursera had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 15.39%. Coursera’s quarterly revenue was up 94.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share.

Here are the key takeaways from Coursera’s conference call:

• Integration is progressing ahead of schedule: Coursera expects more than $150 million in annualized gross cost savings by year-end and remains on track to deliver its $115 million net synergy target within eight months of closing the Udemy transaction.
• Q3 reported revenue rose 94% year over year to $377 million, while adjusted EBITDA nearly doubled its margin to 16.3%. The company also repurchased more than $100 million of shares during the quarter, bringing cumulative buybacks under its authorization above $215 million.
• Underlying growth remains weak: Normalized revenue declined about 3% in Q3, with enterprise up only 2% and consumer down 9%. Management expects Q4 enterprise growth to be approximately flat and consumer revenue to decelerate further.
• Consumer subscriptions and paid subscribers continued to grow, but that momentum was more than offset by declines in individual certificate subscriptions, transactional offerings, softer funnel indicators, SEO and discovery changes, and pressured discretionary spending. Management’s preliminary 2027 baseline assumes a low-double-digit consumer revenue decline.
• Project Helix is the central growth initiative: The AI-native platform will combine adaptive learning, applied practice, and verified skills, with broad enterprise availability targeted for the first half of 2027. However, management is not assuming material Helix revenue in 2027 and will phase investment based on customer adoption and performance evidence.

Coursera Price Performance

Shares of Coursera stock opened at $4.64 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.71. Coursera has a one year low of $4.53 and a one year high of $8.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Gregory Hart sold 10,308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.11, for a total transaction of $52,673.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,539,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,864,305.33. This represents a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Pale Fire Capital Se bought 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $4.61 per share, for a total transaction of $4,610,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 28,806,415 shares in the company, valued at $132,797,573.15. This trade represents a 3.60% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 16.30% of the company’s stock.

More Coursera News

Here are the key news stories impacting Coursera this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Coursera reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.21 per share, above analyst estimates ranging from $0.18 to $0.19 and more than double the $0.10 reported a year earlier. Revenue of $376.7 million also exceeded the roughly $368.5 million consensus estimate. Coursera Q3 earnings and revenue beat estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management expects the integration program to deliver more than $150 million in gross cost savings by year-end. Investors are also encouraged by reported margin expansion and synergy momentum, which could improve profitability over time. Coursera Q3 earnings call highlights
• Neutral Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue increased sharply year over year, while the company continued to report a negative net margin and negative return on equity. This indicates strong top-line growth but ongoing profitability challenges. Coursera third-quarter financial results
• Negative Sentiment: Coursera guided for fourth-quarter revenue of $358 million to $366 million, below its third-quarter result of $376.7 million. The sequential revenue decline raised concerns about near-term growth and overshadowed the earnings and revenue beats, contributing to the stock’s decline. Coursera Q4 revenue outlook and cost savings

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Coursera from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $5.50 to $6.50 in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Coursera from $8.00 to $6.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 5th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Coursera from $10.00 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research cut shares of Coursera from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Coursera from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.90.

About Coursera

Coursera, Inc is an online learning platform that provides access to courses, professional certificates, guided projects, and degree programs. The company works with universities, colleges, and industry partners to offer content in areas such as business, technology, data science, computer science, and personal development.

Coursera serves individual learners, businesses, governments, and academic institutions in countries around the world. Its enterprise and government offerings support employee training, workforce development, and large-scale education initiatives, while its consumer platform allows learners to enroll in individual courses or broader credential and degree programs.

Coursera was founded in 2012 by computer-science professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller.