Coursera (NYSE:COUR – Get Free Report) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.03, FiscalAI reports. Coursera had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 15.39%. The firm had revenue of $376.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $368.52 million.
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
Coursera stock traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $4.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,191,201 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,004,646. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $5.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.73. Coursera has a 12 month low of $4.53 and a 12 month high of $8.89. The stock has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.24.
Insider Activity
In related news, major shareholder Pale Fire Capital Se bought 1,332,742 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $5.06 per share, with a total value of $6,743,674.52. Following the purchase, the insider owned 27,806,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $140,700,459.90. The trade was a 5.03% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Alan B. Cardenas sold 9,139 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.71, for a total value of $52,183.69. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 236,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,348,913.27. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 16.30% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
COUR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Coursera from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 19th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Coursera from $8.00 to $6.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered Coursera from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Zacks Research cut shares of Coursera from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Coursera from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $5.50 to $6.50 in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.90.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Coursera
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.
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