AACG vs LAUR vs STRA Stock Comparison

ATA Creativity Global, Laureate Education and Strategic Education Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
AACG ATA Creativity Global
$0.73 -16.1% 1M -44.7% 1Y
Market cap
$21.92M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$37.51M
Div. yield
–
Education Services Consumer Discretionary
LAUR Laureate Education, Inc.
$38.47 +2.9% 1M +28.9% 1Y
Market cap
$5.30B
P/E
16.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.83B
Div. yield
–
Education Services Consumer Discretionary
7 wins
STRA Strategic Education, Inc.
$81.19 +5.7% 1M -3.4% 1Y
Market cap
$1.72B
P/E
12.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.29B
Div. yield
0.03%
Education Services Consumer Discretionary
3 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Laureate Education leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Laureate Education 7, Strategic Education 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAACGLAURSTRALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $21.92M $5.30B $1.72B LAUR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -3.3x 16.5x 12.8x STRA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 19.2x 11.0x STRA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +0.2% +17.9% +3.5% LAUR
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -17.9% 17.6% 10.5% LAUR
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -76.1% 24.7% — LAUR
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.1x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.03% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -44.7% +28.9% -3.4% LAUR
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -20.4%/yr +18.3%/yr +3.2%/yr LAUR
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 87.4% 33.0% 36.1% LAUR
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 20/100 71/100 79/100 STRA

Percentile Scorecard

AACGLAURSTRA

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisAACGLAURSTRA
Valuation 25 #25 of 33 34 #22 of 33 84 #6 of 33
Growth 24 #23 of 30 83 #6 of 30 86 #5 of 30
Profitability 18 #24 of 29 93 #3 of 29 61 #12 of 29
Financial Health 13 #34 of 39 58 #17 of 39 71 #12 of 39
Shareholder Returns – 85 #3 of 14 92 #2 of 14
Overall 20 71 79
  • AACG ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services
  • LAUR ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services
  • STRA ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodAACGLAURSTRASPY
1 month -16.1%+2.9%+5.7% -0.8%
3 months -20.7%+2.6%+3.4% +3.5%
6 months -39.2%+23.4%+6.9% +7.0%
Year to date -7.6%+14.3%+1.2% +12.2%
1 year -44.7%+28.9%-3.4% +13.0%
3 years -24.0%+170.2%+1.2% +86.3%
3 years, per year -8.7%+39.3%+0.4% +23.1%
5 years -68.0%+131.7%+17.3% +68.6%
5 years, per year -20.4%+18.3%+3.2% +11.0%
10 years -79.6%—+49.9% +258.0%
10 years, per year -14.7%—+4.1% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureAACGLAURSTRASPY
Volatility, 1Y 87.4%33.0%36.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 88.8%33.9%41.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.270.30-0.01 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.510.88-0.09 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -81.1%-46.1%-41.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -47.9%-4.9%-7.3% -1.8%
52-week high $1.40$40.46$87.62 $779.14
52-week low $0.64$28.88$72.19 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleAACGLAURSTRA
P/E now vs peer median -3.5xmedian 15.5x 16.7xmedian 15.5x 12.9xmedian 15.5x
P/S now vs peer median 0.6xmedian 1.3x 2.9xmedian 1.3x 1.4xmedian 1.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 10.1x 10.1xmedian 10.1x 7.3xmedian 10.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 32.7xmedian 14.7x 18.5xmedian 14.7x 10.7xmedian 14.7x
P/B now vs peer median 5.1xmedian 2.0x 4.6xmedian 2.0x 1.1xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median -1.31median 0.35 0.31median 0.35 0.22median 0.35

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsAACGLAURSTRA
Revenue $37.51M $1.83B $1.29B
Gross profit $11.16B $498.85M –
Operating income -$8.96M $446.85M $180.24M
Net income $325.78M $321.53M $134.51M
Free cash flow – $286.58M $168.59M
R&D $328.76M – –
EPS (diluted) $-0.21 $2.30 $6.19
Cash & equivalents $12.18M $161.67M $123.76M
Total debt $6.52M $223.17M –
Shares (diluted) 31.70M 139.94M 21.74M
Enterprise value -$14.07M $4.60B $1.11B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricAACGLAURSTRA
P/E -3.5x 16.7x 12.9x
P/FCF 32.7x 18.5x 10.7x
P/Operating cash flow – 13.0x 8.4x
P/S 0.6x 2.9x 1.4x
P/B 5.1x 4.6x 1.1x
P/Tangible book -374.9x 5.4x 1.3x
EV/EBITDA – 10.1x 7.3x
EV/EBIT -1.5x 12.0x 9.3x
EV/Revenue 0.4x 2.9x 1.3x
EV/FCF – 18.7x 9.9x
EV/Operating cash flow – 13.2x 7.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -1.31 0.31 0.22

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAACGLAURSTRA
Revenue growth (1Y) 0.2% 17.9% 3.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.2% 10.4% 6.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 2.8% 18.0% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 11.0% 11.5% –
Operating income growth (1Y) -49.3% 18.7% 14.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -26.3% 13.6% 52.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 6,569% 25.1% 16.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 259.8% 47.6% 54.3%
EPS growth (1Y) -32.3% 32.4% 26.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 2.6% 53.6% 59.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 39.9% 29.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 24.4% 35.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 25.7% 35.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 23.6% 52.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAACGLAURSTRA
Gross margin 29,757% 27.3% –
EBITDA margin – 29.1% 17.7%
Operating margin -23.9% 24.4% 14.0%
Pretax margin -19.2% 24.2% 14.3%
Net margin -17.9% 17.6% 10.5%
FCF margin – 15.7% 13.1%
Operating cash flow margin – 22.3% 16.8%
Return on equity 5,070% 29.4% 8.2%
Return on assets 528.3% 13.7% 6.5%
Return on invested capital -76.1% 24.7% –
Return on capital employed -72.2% 24.3% 10.0%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.8x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.3x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.8% 1.7%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAACGLAURSTRA
Debt / assets 3.9% 9.2% –
Debt / equity 0.5x 0.2x –
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.1x –
Debt / FCF – 0.8x –
Liabilities / assets 92.2% 52.9% 21.0%
Equity / assets 7.8% 47.1% 79.0%
Interest coverage – 35.9x –
Current ratio 0.3x 0.7x 1.1x
Quick ratio 0.3x 0.6x 0.9x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.3x 0.5x
Altman Z-score -1.92 4.00 3.60

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAACGLAURSTRA
Dividend yield – – 3.0%
Net buyback yield – 6.2% 8.4%
Shareholder yield 0.0% 6.2% 11.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 41.1%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 32.8%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – -5.8%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – -2.1%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusAACGLAURSTRA
Forward P/E – 19.2xFY2026 11.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year – $2.00FY2026 $7.38FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +16.3%FY2026 +19.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +17.0% +18.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year – $2.03BFY2026 $1.39BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY – +19.6%FY2026 +9.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after – -4.4% +1.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAACGLAURSTRA
Held by institutions 0.5% 95.8% 99.0%
Institutions holding 8 337 291
Change in shares held, QoQ -13.5% -3.3% +0.9%
Institutions buying 2 161 149
Institutions selling 3 144 106
Buyers to sellers 0.67 1.12 1.41

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

AACGLAURSTRA
AACG 1.00 -0.08 -0.02
LAUR -0.08 1.00 0.49
STRA -0.02 0.49 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AACG, LAUR and STRA?

Laureate Education (LAUR) is the largest by market capitalisation: ATA Creativity Global (AACG) $21.92M, Laureate Education (LAUR) $5.30B, Strategic Education (STRA) $1.72B.

Which stock is cheaper, AACG, LAUR and STRA?

Strategic Education (STRA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (ATA Creativity Global (AACG) -3.3x, Laureate Education (LAUR) 16.5x, Strategic Education (STRA) 12.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Strategic Education (STRA) is cheapest (Laureate Education (LAUR) 19.2x, Strategic Education (STRA) 11.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Laureate Education (LAUR) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: ATA Creativity Global (AACG) +0.2%, Laureate Education (LAUR) +17.9%, Strategic Education (STRA) +3.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Laureate Education (LAUR) has the highest net margin (ATA Creativity Global (AACG) -17.9%, Laureate Education (LAUR) 17.6%, Strategic Education (STRA) 10.5%). On return on invested capital, Laureate Education (LAUR) leads (ATA Creativity Global (AACG) -76.1%, Laureate Education (LAUR) 24.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Laureate Education (LAUR) returned the most: ATA Creativity Global (AACG) -44.7%, Laureate Education (LAUR) +28.9%, Strategic Education (STRA) -3.4%. Over five years, Laureate Education (LAUR) compounded fastest (ATA Creativity Global (AACG) -20.4%/yr, Laureate Education (LAUR) +18.3%/yr, Strategic Education (STRA) +3.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: ATA Creativity Global (AACG) 0.00%, Laureate Education (LAUR) 0.00%, Strategic Education (STRA) 0.03%. ATA Creativity Global (AACG) and Laureate Education (LAUR) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Laureate Education (LAUR) has been the steadiest (ATA Creativity Global (AACG) 87.4%, Laureate Education (LAUR) 33.0%, Strategic Education (STRA) 36.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AACG, LAUR and STRA?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Laureate Education (LAUR) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.