Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) Issues Q2 2026 Earnings Guidance

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) updated its second quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided EPS guidance of 1.630-1.740 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 1.680. The company issued revenue guidance of $260.0 million-$264.0 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $262.5 million. Grand Canyon Education also updated its FY 2026 guidance to 9.930-10.500 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a report on Friday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $220.00.

Grand Canyon Education Price Performance

LOPE stock traded down $5.66 during trading on Friday, hitting $163.41. 435,601 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 284,577. Grand Canyon Education has a 1 year low of $149.37 and a 1 year high of $223.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $166.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $171.32. The stock has a market cap of $4.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.67.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.08. Grand Canyon Education had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 33.28%. The company had revenue of $308.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $307.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.57 EPS. Grand Canyon Education’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Grand Canyon Education will post 10.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

More Grand Canyon Education News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results showed revenue growth and strong profitability: revenue ~ $308.8M (up ~6.7% y/y), healthy margins and a solid ROE; several outlets report EPS roughly in line to above consensus (MarketBeat/Zacks). Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management issued FY‑2026 and quarterly guidance that largely overlaps street expectations (Q2–Q4 and FY ranges), which many read as guidance in line with consensus rather than a clear beat. See the company release for the guidance ranges. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Some data vendors/analysts interpreted the quarter as a modest miss on certain metrics (e.g., Quiver reported EPS and revenue slightly below its cited estimates), and the lower end of GCE’s FY/quarter ranges sits below consensus — a conservative tone that can trigger selling. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Balance‑sheet and ownership notes: Quiver flags lower cash vs prior year (~33% decline), rising liabilities, and a small insider sale plus active institutional rebalancing — items that can increase near‑term volatility. Read More.

Institutional Trading of Grand Canyon Education

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LOPE. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Grand Canyon Education by 4,339.5% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 115,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,985,000 after acquiring an additional 15,019 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 123,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,318,000 after acquiring an additional 8,421 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 156.9% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 37,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,462,000 after acquiring an additional 22,812 shares during the period. 94.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.