Jim Ekstrand/iStock via Getty Images In January, I published an article on Seeking Alpha explaining my thesis as to why investors might want to buy Stride ( LRN ) stock. At the time, Stride’s challenged implementation of the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS) caused the stock to decline by over 50%. Would Stride’s failure catalyze enrollment churn? Would irate virtual school customers seek to...
Jim Ekstrand/iStock via Getty Images In January, I published an article on Seeking Alpha explaining my thesis as to why investors might want to buy Stride ( LRN ) stock. At the time, Stride’s challenged implementation of the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS) caused the stock to decline by over 50%. Would Stride’s failure catalyze enrollment churn? Would irate virtual school customers seek to exit their relationship with Stride? My analysis was grounded in primary research: I reached out to families, scoured parent social media groups, and sat through virtual school board meetings. This is the sort of tedious work that some investors can do, basing an investment thesis on real facts. It led me to the conclusion that Stride’s operational storm had passed and the business had stabilized. Since then, the stock has appreciated by 34%, handily outperforming the S&P 500’s 3% return over the same period. While the Q2 earnings report put the LMS operational concerns to rest, the current investment conversation on the stock has shifted to a broader and more consequential question: the transformative effects of AI. One cannot conduct channel checks for this sort of thing. Investors are now burdened with speculating about how AI will shift societal norms. How will students learn? How will teachers teach? Every conversation I have with other investors on LRN inevitably lands on the same question: How will AI affect Stride—does it still have a durable business model? Amidst the SaaSpocalypse, a period where AI disruption fears triggered a massive sell-off in software stocks, the question of durability has become the only question worth asking. What’s being asked of investors requires imagination. My conclusion: AI could prove a net positive for Stride. But it also carries significant risk if the company doesn’t accelerate investment in curriculum. While not an existential crisis on par with what some software vendors are facing, AI has eroded the value of Stride’s existing ...
New Oriental Education & Technology press release ( EDU ): Q3 Non-GAAP EPADS of $0.95 beats by $0.11 . Revenue of $1.42B (+20.3% Y/Y) beats by $60M . Net operating cash outflow for the third fiscal quarter of 2026 was approximately US$7.5 million and capital expenditures for the quarter were US$68.8 million. As of February 28, 2026, New Oriental had cash and cash equivalents of US$1,783.4 million....
New Oriental Education & Technology press release ( EDU ): Q3 Non-GAAP EPADS of $0.95 beats by $0.11 . Revenue of $1.42B (+20.3% Y/Y) beats by $60M . Net operating cash outflow for the third fiscal quarter of 2026 was approximately US$7.5 million and capital expenditures for the quarter were US$68.8 million. As of February 28, 2026, New Oriental had cash and cash equivalents of US$1,783.4 million. In addition, the Company had US$1,491.7 million in term deposits and US$1,953.2 million in short-term investments. Outlook for the Fourth Quarter of the Fiscal Year 2026 New Oriental expects total net revenues in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2026 (March 1, 2026 to May 31, 2026) to be in the range of US$1,429.6 million to US$1,466.9 million, representing year over year increase in the range of 15% to 18% vs. consensus of $1.43B. Driven by encouraging growth across various business lines, New Oriental raises the full year guidance of total net revenues in the fiscal year 2026 (June 1, 2025 to May 31, 2026) to be in the range of US$5,561.4 million to US$5,598.7 million, representing a year over year increase in the range of 13% to 14%, (prior US$5,292.3 million toUS$5,488.3 million) vs. consensus of $5.47B. More on New Oriental Education & Technology New Oriental Education: A 'Buy' With Beat And Raise Quarter (Rating Upgrade) New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. (EDU) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript New Oriental Education & Technology Q3 2026 Earnings Preview New Oriental Education & Technology Non-GAAP EPS of $0.45 beats by $0.11, revenue of $1.19B beats by $30M Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on New Oriental Education & Technology
If you thought the dot-com era had some impressive initial public offerings (IPOs) , you haven't seen anything yet. This might be the year of the mega-IPO, with artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) developers OpenAI and Anthropic both considering going public. However, the crème-de-la-crème is the upcoming IPO of Elon Musk's SpaceX . While investors seemingly can't wait to get t...
If you thought the dot-com era had some impressive initial public offerings (IPOs) , you haven't seen anything yet. This might be the year of the mega-IPO, with artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) developers OpenAI and Anthropic both considering going public. However, the crème-de-la-crème is the upcoming IPO of Elon Musk's SpaceX . While investors seemingly can't wait to get their share of the SpaceX universe, there are three artificial intelligence titans you can buy right now -- Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) , Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) , and Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) -- which have previously invested directly into one of SpaceX's numerous puzzle pieces. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading
alexsl/iStock via Getty Images Houlihan Lokey ( HLI ), like any advisory shop in the current environment, is going to have to contend with the inevitable, which is harm to M&A deal values/volumes and a delay in the sponsor return to market. The light spots are that HLI has a large and respected restructuring franchise , which is something we always highlight in our coverage of the equity, and cond...
alexsl/iStock via Getty Images Houlihan Lokey ( HLI ), like any advisory shop in the current environment, is going to have to contend with the inevitable, which is harm to M&A deal values/volumes and a delay in the sponsor return to market. The light spots are that HLI has a large and respected restructuring franchise , which is something we always highlight in our coverage of the equity, and conditions for restructuring should be incrementally good from the previous quarter . However, we favour another advisory shop, Piper Sandler ( PIPR ), over HLI, and the reason is more indexation to interest income, which will benefit from the upward shift in the yield curve and will come in at great margins in the coming quarter and the one following that, while also having its own countercyclical business to match HLI's vaunted restructuring franchise with brokerage, which should see incremental revenues come in at high margins. At a slightly discounted PE valuation to HLI, we think income is as defensible at PIPR in a difficult market environment with a slightly more discounted multiple by around 10%. However, all are in the way of the dealmaking snag that we think must be continuing given the uncertainty around the Iran War. Essential Commentary There is no doubt that advisory shops are being affected by the happenings in the market. March saw bad M&A dealmaking volumes, despite progress of actual cutting in the US market . In other markets too, also of concern to HLI at around a quarter of revenue, are likely experiencing the same thing - a reversal in fortunes after the progress in post-COVID disinflation. M&A should be more resilient than even lower visibility and more tactically sensitive business areas like debt capital and equity capital markets, where IPOs and issuances can be shelved at a moment's notice when markets turn and primary market demand immediately dries up. There's another dimension to this as well, which is that sponsors, meaning PE, were also slowly co...
Acrimonious exes Lily Allen and David Harbour have moved closer to severing ties after selling their marital townhouse in Brooklyn for $7 million—about$1 million less than their original asking price.
Acrimonious exes Lily Allen and David Harbour have moved closer to severing ties after selling their marital townhouse in Brooklyn for $7 million—about$1 million less than their original asking price.
primeimages Stock futures inched higher Wednesday premarket following President Donald Trump's declaration of an indefinite extension to the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, even as ongoing shipping disruptions persisted in the Strait of Hormuz. Here are some of Wednesday's biggest stock movers: Biggest stock gainers GitLab ( GTLB ) +5% - Shares rose after expanding its partnership with Amazon Web Services, e...
primeimages Stock futures inched higher Wednesday premarket following President Donald Trump's declaration of an indefinite extension to the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, even as ongoing shipping disruptions persisted in the Strait of Hormuz. Here are some of Wednesday's biggest stock movers: Biggest stock gainers GitLab ( GTLB ) +5% - Shares rose after expanding its partnership with Amazon Web Services, enabling customers to run the GitLab Duo Agent Platform through Amazon Bedrock using existing AWS accounts and spend commitments. The integration simplifies AI adoption by allowing enterprises to deploy agentic AI within their current infrastructure, security policies, and billing frameworks, removing friction around new tools or contracts and strengthening GitLab’s positioning in enterprise AI workflows. Adobe ( ADBE ) +3% - Shares advanced after announcing a new $25B share repurchase authorization through April 2030, signaling confidence in its cash flow strength and long-term growth strategy. The buyback underscores Adobe’s ability to return capital to shareholders while continuing to invest in AI-driven innovation, supporting sentiment around the durability of its business model. Biggest stock losers Target Hospitality ( TH ) -10% - Shares plunged after pricing a 7M-share secondary offering at $14 per share (~$98M), with all proceeds going to selling shareholders. Closing is expected on April 23, 2026, subject to customary conditions. The underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1.05M shares of common stock. The deal, led by stockholders controlled by TDR Capital LLP, raised concerns around supply overhang and lack of direct capital benefit to the business, pressuring the stock. Sonoco Products Company ( SON ) -7% - Shares slid after delivering in-line Q1 results but signaling a more cautious outlook, as management guided toward the low end of its full-year profit range. Revenue of $1.68B and adjusted EPS of $1.20 both matched expectations, indic...