Stride, Inc.

Stride, Inc. operates as a technology company providing an educational platform to deliver online learning to students throughout the United States. The U.S. market for K-12 education is large, and school choice and alternative educational options continue to gain share and acceptance. A January 2026 survey by the National School Choice Awareness Foundation found that 75% of parents had considered, searched for, or enrolled at least one of their children in a new or different school within the past year, the highest level recorded in five years, and of those who enrolled in a new or different school, enrollment in full-time online schools grew from 10% to 15%. In May 2026, the National Home Education Research Institute estimated that there were approximately 3.4 million home educated students in the United States during School Year 2024-2025, compared to an estimated 2.5 million in spring 2019, with home-educated student enrollments growing by 2 to 8% per year over the last several years. August 2025 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that demand for occupations that require non-degree post-secondary education will grow 5.1% by 2034, a faster rate than overall occupations.

The company faces varying degrees of competition from a variety of education companies, competing primarily with companies that provide online curriculum and school support services to K-12 virtual and blended public schools, including Pearson PLC (Connections Academy), Lincoln Learning Solutions, StrongMind, Pansophic Learning, Inspire Charter Schools, and Charter Schools USA, and state administered online programs. It also faces competition from digital and print curriculum providers including Curriculum Associates, Imagine Learning LLC, Edmentum Inc., Discovery Education, and traditional textbook publishers such as Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and McGraw Hill, as well as other competing digital curriculum providers including Khan Academy, Duolingo, IXL Learning, Inc. and Renaissance Learning, Inc. For online private pay school students, the company competes with institutions such as The Laurel Springs School (Spring Education Group) and Penn Foster Inc. Its Adult Learning offerings compete with other in-person and remote immersive programs and self-paced online training programs including General Assembly (a subsidiary of Adecco), Bloom Institute of Technology, Penn Foster Inc. and Education to Go (a subsidiary of Cengage Learning). The primary factors on which the company competes include extensive experience in virtual education delivery, comprehensive suite of academic programs, customer satisfaction, quality of integrated curriculum and materials with an online delivery platform, qualifications and training of teachers for online instruction, comprehensiveness of school management and student support services, integrated K-12 solutions, student outcomes for math and reading, graduation and job placement, scale and ability to leverage assets across the business, and sophisticated government affairs knowledge.

The company generates the majority of its revenue from its comprehensive school-as-a-service offering, which includes an integrated package of curriculum, technology systems, instruction, and support services administered on behalf of customers. The average duration of the agreements for the school-as-a-service offering is greater than five years, and most provide for automatic renewals absent a customer notification of non-renewal. Revenue is derived from two primary lines: General Education, focused on core subjects for kindergarten through twelfth grade students, and Career Learning, focused on developing skills for careers in high-growth industries including information technology, healthcare and general business. Products and services are sold as a comprehensive school-as-a-service offering or as stand-alone products and services. The company also provides Adult Learning programs through its Galvanize, Tech Elevator, and MedCerts brands, delivering training in software engineering and allied healthcare to consumers and enterprises.

General Education products and services are predominantly focused on core subjects including math, English, science and history for kindergarten through twelfth grade students, providing an alternative to traditional school options and addressing a range of student needs including safety concerns, increased academic support, scheduling flexibility, physical or health restrictions, or advanced learning. During the 2025-2026 school year, the company provided its school-as-a-service offering to 92 schools in 31 states and the District of Columbia in the General Education market. A student enrolled in a school that offers Stride's General Education program may elect to take career courses, but that student and the associated revenue is reported as a General Education enrollment and General Education revenue.

Career Learning products and services are focused on developing skills to enter and succeed in careers in high-growth, in-demand industries including information technology, healthcare and general business, providing middle and high school students with content pathways that include job-ready skills and work experiences and, for high school students, that can lead toward an industry certification and or college credits. During the 2025-2026 school year, the company provided its school-as-a-service offering to 57 schools or programs in 25 states and the District of Columbia in the Career Learning market. A student is reported as a Career Learning enrollment and associated Career Learning revenue only if the student is enrolled in a Career Learning program. The Adult Learning business, expanded significantly in 2020 through the acquisitions of Galvanize, Tech Elevator, and MedCerts, delivers training programs leading to certifications in high-demand, growing industries like healthcare and technology, and also delivers talent development programs to employers and government agencies.

In fiscal year 2026, the company had contracts for its school-as-a-service offerings for 92 schools in 31 states and the District of Columbia in the General Education market, and 57 schools or programs in 25 states and the District of Columbia in the Career Learning market. The company's patent portfolio includes four U.S.-issued patents and one foreign-issued patent directed towards various aspects of its educational products and offerings. As of June 30, 2026, the company had approximately 9,200 employees (including teachers), substantially all located in the United States, and manages approximately 9,600 teachers, 5,900 of whom are employees and 3,700 who are employed by virtual or blended public schools that it manages under contracts but are not direct employees of Stride. The company's headquarters is located in approximately 23,000 square feet of office space in Reston, Virginia under a lease that expires in July 2033, and it leases approximately 164,000 square feet in multiple locations throughout the United States under individual leases that expire between August 2026 and May 2031. During the three months ended June 30, 2026, the company repurchased 1,042,154 shares of common stock, with 331,205 shares repurchased in May at an average price of $91.87 per share and 710,949 shares repurchased in June at an average price of $97.88 per share, leaving approximately $311,341,375 in remaining authorization under the publicly announced repurchase program.

The company's business is subject to seasonal fluctuations, with operating results normally fluctuating due to the number of months in a fiscal quarter that school customers are fully operational, and the majority of selling and marketing expenses incurred in the first and fourth fiscal quarters as the primary enrollment season is April through September. The company has never declared or paid any cash dividends on its common stock and currently does not anticipate paying any cash dividends, instead anticipating that all earnings will be used to provide working capital, support operations, and finance growth and development.

The company continues to make investments in its platforms to improve the effectiveness of its school workforce, develop new instructional approaches, increase engagement, improve systems and security, and enable expansion into new markets. Key elements of the business strategy include growing enrollments, introducing new and improved products and services, improving student outcomes, and improving retention. The company plans to continue to create new products, expand distribution channels, and pilot innovative educational programs to enhance academic performance, including new AI-enabled products and programs, though these may not receive sufficient market acceptance to be economically viable.

The company is seeing growth in careers requiring non-degree post-secondary credentials or certifications and anticipates that demand for these lower cost solutions will be strong. Additionally, the company believes recruiting and hiring for entry-level skilled positions remains a challenge for companies, and companies are partnering with training providers to prepare candidates for entry-level positions as well as to upskill their existing workforce. The company continues to invest in its educational platform with a focus on integration and user experience, mobile enabled products, portability, personalization, flexibility, reading and oral fluency scoring, state standard alignment, tutoring and support, and automated and artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted learning.

The filing does not contain specific margin or cost outlook targets for the upcoming period.

The company's platform and back-office support systems run on cloud infrastructure from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, and the company continues to focus on establishing a secure and reliable technology platform. The company has invested in systems including its Order Management System to automatically translate curriculum selected by each enrolled student into a personalized order for fulfillment. The company's cybersecurity measures and policies are aligned with cybersecurity guidance from the National Institute of Standards & Technologies (NIST) across its cloud ecosystems.

The filing does not specify R&D spending levels, capital expenditure plans, or share repurchase authorization amounts for the upcoming period beyond the remaining authorization of approximately $311,341,375 as of June 30, 2026.

The company faces risks from potential reductions in per pupil funding amounts at the schools it serves, as budget appropriations for education are determined through legislative and regulatory processes that may be adversely affected by various factors including recessionary conditions, disagreements regarding curriculum, or significant declines in public school funding. The company also faces risks from the continuous evolution of regulatory frameworks on the accessibility of technology and curriculum, which could result in increased product development costs and compliance risks.

The company faces risks from the enactment of new laws or regulations, including a growing trend of laws and regulations being established to regulate the use of AI, including with respect to the education of children and the interaction of minors with AI, which could impose additional compliance obligations or limit how the company deploys AI in its products and services. Additionally, the company faces risks from potential changes in national and local economic and business conditions, including natural disasters, pandemics and outbreaks of contagious diseases and other adverse public health developments.

The majority of the company's revenues come from its comprehensive school-as-a-service offering and depend on per pupil funding amounts and payment formulas remaining near levels existing at the time service agreements are executed; if those funding levels or formulas are materially reduced or modified due to economic conditions or political opposition, or new restrictions are adopted or payments delayed, the business could be adversely affected. The company has agreements with 13 schools in California, and while no single school in California accounts for more than 10% of revenue, regulatory actions that affect the level or timing of payments for all similarly situated schools in that state could materially affect financial condition. Failure to comply with laws and regulations applicable to the business could result in a loss of public funding and an obligation to repay funds previously received. The company's contracts for school-as-a-service offerings are subject to periodic renewal, and in fiscal year 2026, the company had contracts for 92 schools in 31 states and the District of Columbia in General Education and 57 schools or programs in 25 states and the District of Columbia in Career Learning; if several such contracts or a single significant contract are not renewed, results could be adversely affected. The company faces risks from the failure to prevent a cybersecurity incident affecting its systems, including the April 2026 cybersecurity incident at Instructure, Inc. that temporarily disrupted the availability of Canvas, the company's primary learning platform, and while no incidents have had a material impact to date, material incidents could occur in the future.

Management's message emphasizes the company's commitment to maximizing every learner's potential by personalizing their educational experience, delivering a quality education to schools and students, and supporting customers in improving academic outcomes and preparing students for college and future careers. The strategic priorities emphasized for the period ahead include growing enrollments, introducing new and improved products and services, improving student outcomes, and improving retention. Management continues to make investments in the company's platforms to improve the effectiveness of the school workforce, develop new instructional approaches, increase engagement, improve systems and security, and enable expansion into new markets.