Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. LRN scored 70.7, PRDO scored 77.3 — PRDO leads.
Compare another set
LRN
Stride, Inc.
Education & Training Services · Quality-Growth
70.7
$85.59 · $3.6B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
6.6
PRDO leads
PRDO
Perdoceo Education Corporation
Education & Training Services · Quality-Growth
77.3
$33.71 · $2.1B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestLRN12.0x
Fastest growthPRDO+11.7%
Strongest balance sheetPRDO0.11
Highest qualityPRDO89 / 100
Largest discount to fair valuePRDO-52%
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
Growth against the P/E multiple. Up and to the right is cheaper and faster — the quality-growth idea in one picture. Points beyond the axis are pinned to the edge and marked off-scale rather than allowed to compress everything else.
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
LRN
stronger →← stronger
PRDO
85
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
89
53
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
72
78
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
72
PRDO is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
LRN
PRDO
$355mC
FCF
$221mC
+4.7%C+
Rev
+11.7%B
0.33A-
D/E
0.11A
12.0xA
P/E
12.2xA-
0.48A
PEG
0.68A-
Winner per row is the stronger grade; where grades tie, the better figure breaks it. A true tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
Valuation · DCF cross-check
LRN
PRDO
36% below
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
52% below
~-6%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~-12%/yr
+52%
1-yr DCF upside
+102%
+57%
5-yr DCF upside
+107%
+64%
10-yr DCF upside
+113%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
LRN
Why this score
Buying back stock
Durable high returns
PRDO
Why this score
Buying back stock
Raising its dividend
Durable high returns
The companies
LRNStride, Inc.
Education & Training Services · $85.59 · beta 0.14
Why now
Education & Training Services · market cap $3.6b. Down 45% from 52-week high of $155.06 — deep drawdown territory. PEG 0.48 — paying under fair value for the growth rate.
Moat
Net margin 13% beats the market median by a meaningful margin — the company is keeping more of every revenue dollar than the average S&P constituent. ROE 22% is above 15% — the equity base is compounding at a rate the market struggles to discount accurately. FCF converts 105% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash.
Risk
Down 45% from the 52-week high — the market is pricing in something the screen can't see; verify the bear case before sizing up.
PRDOPerdoceo Education Corporation
Education & Training Services · $33.71 · beta 0.72
Why now
Education & Training Services · market cap $2.1b. 12% off the 52-week high of $38.50. Revenue growing +12%, comfortably above the S&P median. PEG 0.68 — paying under fair value for the growth rate.
Moat
Net margin 21% sits well above the S&P median (~11%) — suggests structural pricing advantage or cost discipline competitors can't quickly close. ROE 17% is above 15% — the equity base is compounding at a rate the market struggles to discount accurately. FCF converts 125% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash.
Risk
Value re-rating depends on a catalyst. Without one — analyst day, divestiture, margin recovery, capital return — the stock can stay cheap on these multiples for years.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
The model favors LRN with an 87.3 score, primarily due to its significantly higher Value pillar of 94 compared to PRDO's 72, reflected in LRN's A grade for PEG at 0.45. However, a contrarian might prefer PRDO for its deeper margin of safety, trading at 56% below our DCF fair value, surpassing LRN's 48% discount. Both stocks operate in the same sector with comparable scoring scales.
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.
Where LRN and PRDO diverge
On the headline score the gap is 6.6 points in favor of PRDO. They get there differently, though — each leads on a different pillar, so the better pick depends on which you weight.
GrowthLRN 53.4 · PRDO 71.7PRDO +18.3
ValueLRN 77.8 · PRDO 72.0LRN +5.8
QualityLRN 84.9 · PRDO 89.4PRDO +4.5
Pillars run 0–100. Value is judged against each company's own sector, so a Value score is a statement about a company relative to its own industry rather than to the other name here. A wide Value gap usually means the market already prices the difference in quality or growth — which is the trade-off this comparison comes down to.
Common questions
Is PRDO or LRN the better stock?
PRDO scores higher: PRDO 77.3, LRN 70.7 out of 100 on the Bull Rankings quality-growth score, which blends business quality, growth and valuation into one number. A higher score means a stronger business at a more reasonable price — it is not a price target or a recommendation.
Where do PRDO and LRN differ most?
The widest gap is growth, where PRDO leads by 18 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. Neither name sweeps: they trade the lead across the three pillars, so the comparison is a trade-off rather than one being better on every measure.
How are PRDO and LRN scored?
Each carries the same 0–100 quality-growth score used everywhere on the site, built from three pillars — quality (profitability and returns on capital), growth (revenue and earnings), and value (what you pay for them) — combined as a geometric mean, so a weak pillar cannot be papered over by a strong one.
How current is this comparison?
The whole universe is re-scored every trading day after the US market close, so the scores and fundamentals here reflect the latest published edition.