Coursera (NYSE:COUR) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Friday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $5.97, but opened at $5.19. Coursera shares last traded at $5.0550, with a volume of 3,410,999 shares changing hands.

The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.01). Coursera had a negative net margin of 8.23% and a negative return on equity of 5.41%. The business had revenue of $195.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Key Stories Impacting Coursera

Here are the key news stories impacting Coursera this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Record learner growth and strong consumer momentum driven by AI content expansion — supports longer‑term TAM and monetization upside. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Needham reaffirmed a “buy” and $10 price target, signaling some analyst confidence in recovery potential. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Q1 results: revenue ~$195.7M (≈in line, +9.1% y/y) but EPS of $0.07 missed estimates — mixed fundamentals that leave room for debate on near‑term profit trajectory. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Guidance: FY revenue range $805M–$815M and Q2 revenue $196M–$200M were generally close to consensus but slightly toward the low side, limiting upside in the near term. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple price‑target cuts: JPMorgan trimmed its PT to $8 (still overweight) and RBC cut to $7 — these marks put downward pressure on sentiment despite some bullish ratings. Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst critique and downgrade citing enterprise churn, shrinking adjusted‑EBITDA margins from increased product & sales investment, and deteriorating fundamentals — raises execution and margin risk. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Wider GAAP loss and a sharp (~88%) drop in free cash flow reported for the quarter, combined with elevated trading volume versus average, amplify near‑term selling pressure. Read More.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Coursera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Coursera from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $7.50 target price on Coursera in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $8.00 target price on shares of Coursera in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price target on Coursera from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coursera news, SVP Alan B. Cardenas sold 9,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.92, for a total transaction of $57,483.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 217,876 shares in the company, valued at $1,289,825.92. The trade was a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 16.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coursera

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of COUR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Coursera by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,022,000 after purchasing an additional 357,264 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in Coursera by 97.0% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 14,590,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,389,000 after purchasing an additional 7,184,167 shares in the last quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC acquired a new position in Coursera during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,576,000. Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in Coursera by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 1,161,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,607,000 after purchasing an additional 332,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wakefield Asset Management LLLP acquired a new stake in Coursera in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,190,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.55% of the company’s stock.

Coursera Trading Down 11.5%

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $6.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.21. The company has a market capitalization of $894.80 million, a P/E ratio of -13.91 and a beta of 1.35.

About Coursera

Coursera, Inc (NYSE:COUR) operates a leading online learning platform that delivers courses, specializations, professional certificates and fully accredited degree programs in collaboration with top universities and industry partners. Founded in 2012 by Stanford University professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller, Coursera’s mission is to provide universal access to world-class education and bridge skill gaps in a rapidly evolving job market.

The platform features more than 6,000 offerings created by over 275 academic institutions and corporate entities, spanning fields such as data science, business, technology, health care and the arts.