Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. STRA scored 65.5, LOPE scored 71.4 — LOPE leads.
Compare another set
STRA
Strategic Education, Inc.
Education & Training Services · Quality-Growth
65.5
$82.39 · $1.8B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
5.9
LOPE leads
LOPE
Grand Canyon Education, Inc.
Education & Training Services · Quality-Growth
71.4
$159.80 · $4.2B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestSTRA13.8x
Fastest growthLOPE+7.1%
Strongest balance sheetSTRA0.07
Highest qualityLOPE97 / 100
Largest discount to fair valueLOPE-28%
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)
STRA
stronger →← stronger
LOPE
69
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
97
59
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
66
68
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
57
LOPE is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
STRA
LOPE
$169mC
FCF
$242mC
+3.5%C+
Rev
+7.1%B
0.07A
D/E
0.16A-
13.8xA-
P/E
19.3xB
0.67A-
PEG
0.94B+
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
STRA
LOPE
28% below
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
28% below
~-4%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~-2%/yr
+37%
1-yr DCF upside
+33%
+38%
5-yr DCF upside
+39%
+40%
10-yr DCF upside
+48%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
STRA
Why this score
Buying back stock
LOPE
Why this score
Buying back stock
Durable high returns
The companies
STRAStrategic Education, Inc.
Education & Training Services · $82.39 · beta 0.47
Why now
Education & Training Services · market cap $1.8b. 8% off the 52-week high of $89.73. PEG 0.67 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 3 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $96.67 (implying +17% upside).
Moat
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.
LOPEGrand Canyon Education, Inc.
Education & Training Services · $159.80 · beta 0.58
Why now
Education & Training Services · market cap $4.2b. Down 28% from 52-week high of $223.04 — deep drawdown territory. PEG 0.94 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 3 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $194.00 (implying +21% upside).
Moat
Net margin 20% beats the market median by a meaningful margin — the company is keeping more of every revenue dollar than the average S&P constituent. ROE 31% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which. FCF converts 108% 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
LOPE leads STRA by 7.8 points (80.4 to 72.6). A contrarian could still prefer STRA, which trades about 46% below our DCF fair value — a margin of safety the score doesn't reward.
Our AI analyst is busy right now, so this verdict is drawn directly from the pillars, grades and DCF above.
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 STRA and LOPE diverge
On the headline score the gap is 5.9 points in favor of LOPE. They get there differently, though — each leads on a different pillar, so the better pick depends on which you weight.
QualitySTRA 69.4 · LOPE 96.8LOPE +27.4
ValueSTRA 68.5 · LOPE 57.1STRA +11.4
GrowthSTRA 59.0 · LOPE 65.8LOPE +6.8
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 LOPE or STRA the better stock?
LOPE scores higher: LOPE 71.4, STRA 65.5 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 LOPE and STRA differ most?
The widest gap is quality, where LOPE leads by 27 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 LOPE and STRA 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.