Lincoln Educational Services reported double-digit growth in revenue, student starts and earnings for the third quarter, and raised its full-year 2026 revenue guidance. The career-training company also announced campus expansion plans, a purchase of property it had been leasing, and additional share repurchases.
Third-quarter results
- Student starts rose 14.2% to 7,362. The year-ago comparison excludes 2,764 starts recorded on July 1, 2025, to align the figures with the company’s usual start schedule.
- Revenue increased 12.6% to $159.2 million, from $141.4 million.
- Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, grew 30.8% to $17.4 million, from $13.3 million.
- Net income rose 24.1% to $4.7 million. Diluted earnings per share increased to $0.15 from $0.12.
- Net cash from operating activities was $34.9 million, up $11.0 million from a year earlier.
- The ending student population grew 11.4% to 20,325. Lincoln reported total liquidity of approximately $136 million at September 30.
Results for the first nine months
- Revenue increased 18.7%—or $70.3 million—to $445.7 million.
- Adjusted EBITDA rose 49.0% to $45.6 million, from $30.6 million.
- Cash provided by operating activities increased to $61.5 million, from $15.8 million.
- Student starts grew 11.0% to 18,840, while average student population increased 14.4% to 18,404.
Campuses, property and capital allocation
- Lincoln bought the Melrose Park, Illinois, campus property it had previously leased for $18.8 million.
- The company signed a lease for an approximately 90,000-square-foot facility in Tempe, Arizona—its first campus in the state. It expects the campus to open in the first quarter of 2028.
- It also leased an approximately 36,000-square-foot facility in Suitland, Maryland, for focused programs, with an opening expected in the fourth quarter of 2027.
- Lincoln said its new Hicksville, New York, campus is expected to hold its first class in November.
- During the third quarter, the company repurchased 871,135 shares for approximately $21.0 million. Its board increased the total share-repurchase authorization by $30 million, to $70 million; more than $37 million remained available.
- In November, Lincoln amended its revolving credit facility. The company said the changes provide more flexibility for daily borrowing and repayment and greater flexibility for share repurchases.
What changes for investors
The results show growth in enrollment measures alongside higher revenue, earnings and operating cash flow. The raised full-year revenue guidance signals a more positive company outlook, though the announcement provided no revised guidance figure in the material available here. The campus plans extend Lincoln’s footprint into Arizona and add facilities in Maryland and New York, while the property purchase gives it ownership of the Melrose Park site it had been leasing.