Strategic Education's Shares Pop On Q4 Earnings Beat

Strategic Education Inc STRA reported fourth-quarter FY21 sales growth of 1.7% year-on-year, to $272.1 million, beating the consensus of $270.59 million.
Total costs and expenses fell 7.4% Y/Y to $244.2 million.
The operating margin was 10.2%, and operating income for the quarter jumped over 700% to $27.9 million. Adjusted operating income margin contracted 300 basis points to 13.9%.
Adjusted EBITDA was $56.1 million versus $64.2 million last year.
Adjusted EPS of $1.15 beat the consensus of $0.95.
The company held $298.8 million in cash and equivalents as of December 31, 2021. Cash provided by operating activities for twelve months totaled $180.5 million.
Strategic Education declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.60 per share, payable on March 14, 2022, to shareholders of record as of March 7, 2022.
"As we enter 2022, we are focused on investing in opportunities within our diversified portfolio, including more growth in the Education Technology Services and Australia/New Zealand segments and continued recovery in our U.S. Higher Education segment," said CEO Karl McDonnell.
Price Action: STRA shares are trading higher by 18.2% at $59.17 on the last check Friday.