Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) Shares Down 5.6% – What’s Next?

Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE)’s stock price traded down 5.6% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $157.51 and last traded at $158.4550. 73,389 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 283,955 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.79.

Key Headlines Impacting Grand Canyon Education

Here are the key news stories impacting Grand Canyon Education this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 showed organic growth — revenue and EPS rose year?over?year and management highlighted strong enrollment trends, supporting the company’s underlying demand picture. Earnings Highlights
• Positive Sentiment: On a GAAP basis the quarter produced solid profitability metrics (healthy net margin and ROE) and operating cash flow remained positive — signaling continued core business profitability. Press Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Company released the full earnings call transcript and supporting detail — useful for investors who want management commentary on enrollment, margins, and investment plans. Earnings Call Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Different outlets show minor variance in reported beats/misses (some note tiny EPS beat, others show slight miss vs certain third?party estimates) — indicates the quarter was mixed and interpretation varies by data source. Earnings In Line Coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Near?term guidance disappointed: Q1 2026 EPS was guided to a range well below consensus (2.70–2.73 vs ~3.19 expected) and Q2 guidance (1.56–1.68 vs ~2.75 consensus) was also materially lower — a clear short?term earnings headwind and primary reason for the stock pullback. (Guidance update summary)
• Negative Sentiment: Full?year 2026 EPS range (9.55–10.16) sits slightly below Street expectations (~10.00), increasing uncertainty around FY26 growth and margin trajectory. (Guidance update summary)
• Negative Sentiment: Balance sheet / cash items flagged: reported cash and equivalents declined materially year?over?year in some filings and operating cash flow was modestly down — investors may view this as added risk while management executes the plan. Financial Detail

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LOPE has been the subject of several research reports. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Grand Canyon Education from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Grand Canyon Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.00.

Grand Canyon Education Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $4.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $169.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.69.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.19 by $0.02. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 32.41% and a net margin of 19.38%.The business had revenue of $308.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $307.92 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 8.81 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grand Canyon Education

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LOPE. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 3.9% in the second quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 982,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $185,730,000 after purchasing an additional 36,546 shares in the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 736,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,493,000 after acquiring an additional 99,320 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 649,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,980,000 after buying an additional 153,189 shares during the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 613,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,010,000 after purchasing an additional 90,070 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Grand Canyon Education by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 578,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,163,000 after acquiring an additional 26,593 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

About Grand Canyon Education

Grand Canyon Education, Inc provides a suite of higher?education services through a long-term agreement with Grand Canyon University (GCU), one of the nation’s largest private Christian universities. The company’s offerings encompass a full range of academic and operational support functions, including enrollment management, student recruitment, curriculum development, instructional delivery, and technology infrastructure. Through its online program management capabilities, Grand Canyon Education helps design, market and deliver undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs to meet the needs of both traditional and non?traditional learners.

Core services include digital marketing, admissions support, student success coaching, learning management systems and faculty recruitment.