AFYA vs LAUR vs TAL Stock Comparison

Afya, Laureate Education and TAL Education Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
AFYA Afya Ltd
$10.83 -16.7% 1M -25.7% 1Y
Market cap
$979.85M
P/E
4.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.06B
Div. yield
6.09%
Education Services Consumer Discretionary
5 wins
LAUR Laureate Education, Inc.
$37.64 +0.6% 1M +25.8% 1Y
Market cap
$5.18B
P/E
16.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.83B
Div. yield
–
Education Services Consumer Discretionary
2 wins
TAL TAL Education Group
$10.20 -15.1% 1M -18.7% 1Y
Market cap
$6.27B
P/E
6.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.19B
Div. yield
–
Education Services Consumer Discretionary
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Afya leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Afya 5, TAL Education 4, Laureate Education 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAFYALAURTALLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $979.85M $5.18B $6.27B TAL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 4.3x 16.3x 6.4x AFYA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 6.9x 18.8x 7.0x AFYA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +71.8% +17.9% +32.4% AFYA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 21.2% 17.6% 28.4% TAL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 36.4% 24.7% — AFYA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.4x 0.1x — AFYA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 6.09% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -25.7% +25.8% -18.7% LAUR
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -9.4%/yr +17.5%/yr +18.6%/yr TAL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 46.7% 33.0% 44.2% LAUR
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 83/100 70/100 87/100 TAL

Percentile Scorecard

AFYALAURTAL

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

AxisAFYALAURTAL
Valuation 97 #2 of 33 31 #23 of 33 88 #5 of 33
Growth 93 #3 of 30 83 #6 of 30 100 #1 of 30
Profitability 100 #1 of 29 93 #3 of 29 86 #5 of 29
Financial Health 84 #7 of 39 58 #17 of 39 74 #11 of 39
Shareholder Returns 39 #9 of 14 85 #3 of 14 –
Overall 83 70 87
  • AFYA ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services
  • LAUR ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services
  • TAL ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAFYALAURTALSPY
1 month -16.7%+0.6%-15.1% -0.2%
3 months -25.1%-0.2%-2.4% +3.9%
6 months -23.9%+19.9%-5.3% +8.2%
Year to date -29.7%+11.8%-6.5% +12.9%
1 year -25.7%+25.8%-18.7% +12.3%
3 years -32.4%+164.4%+10.4% +87.4%
3 years, per year -12.2%+38.3%+3.4% +23.3%
5 years -39.0%+123.8%+134.5% +67.9%
5 years, per year -9.4%+17.5%+18.6% +10.9%
10 years ——-24.7% +261.1%
10 years, per year ——-2.8% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureAFYALAURTALSPY
Volatility, 1Y 46.7%33.0%44.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 61.2%33.9%40.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.240.290.62 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.550.78-0.42 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -52.4%-46.1%-67.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -31.7%-7.0%-21.0% -1.2%
52-week high $15.86$40.46$12.91 $779.14
52-week low $10.64$28.88$8.95 $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.

MultipleAFYALAURTAL
P/E now vs peer median 4.3xmedian 15.2x 16.3xmedian 15.2x 6.4xmedian 15.2x
P/S now vs peer median 0.9xmedian 1.3x 2.8xmedian 1.3x 2.0xmedian 1.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 1.9xmedian 9.8x 9.8xmedian 9.8x —median 9.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 3.8xmedian 14.5x 18.1xmedian 14.5x 8.6xmedian 14.5x
P/B now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 2.0x 4.5xmedian 2.0x 1.5xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median 0.09median 0.35 0.30median 0.35 0.06median 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 monthsAFYALAURTAL
Revenue $1.06B $1.83B $3.19B
Gross profit $689.46M $498.85M $1.79B
Operating income $356.83M $446.85M $398.90M
Net income $169.05M $321.53M $906.86M
Free cash flow $256.07M $286.58M $731.92M
EPS (diluted) $2.48 $2.30 $1.57
Cash & equivalents $194.24M $161.67M $1.64B
Total debt $596.89M $223.17M –
Shares (diluted) 91.27M 139.94M 578.78M
Enterprise value -$190.29M $4.48B -$6.71B

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
MetricAFYALAURTAL
P/E 4.3x 16.3x 6.4x
P/FCF 3.8x 18.1x 8.6x
P/Operating cash flow 3.3x 12.7x 8.6x
P/S 0.9x 2.8x 2.0x
P/B 1.0x 4.5x 1.5x
P/Tangible book -7.8x 5.3x 1.6x
EV/EBITDA 1.9x 9.8x –
EV/EBIT 2.3x 11.7x 8.5x
EV/Revenue 0.8x 2.9x 1.1x
EV/FCF 3.2x 18.3x 4.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 2.8x 12.9x 4.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.09 0.30 0.06

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAFYALAURTAL
Revenue growth (1Y) 71.8% 17.9% 32.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 28.4% 10.4% 43.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 72.4% 18.0% 37.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 30.4% 11.5% 45.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) 77.9% 18.7% 1,299%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 38.0% 13.6% 74.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 26.4% 25.1% 770.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 30.2% 47.6% 106.1%
EPS growth (1Y) 86.9% 32.4% 824.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 50.9% 53.6% 110.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 9.2% 39.9% 46.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 16.8% 24.4% 60.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 1.5% 25.7% 46.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 18.9% 23.6% 60.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAFYALAURTAL
Gross margin 64.7% 27.3% 56.0%
EBITDA margin 40.1% 29.1% –
Operating margin 33.5% 24.4% 12.5%
Pretax margin 24.1% 24.2% 28.0%
Net margin 21.2% 17.6% 28.4%
FCF margin 24.0% 15.7% 22.9%
Operating cash flow margin 27.6% 22.3% 22.9%
Return on equity 24.8% 29.4% 23.1%
Return on assets 12.7% 13.7% 14.3%
Return on invested capital 36.4% 24.7% –
Return on capital employed 21.7% 24.3% 9.6%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.8x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.7x 1.3x 0.8x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% 0.8% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAFYALAURTAL
Debt / assets 1.4% 9.2% –
Debt / equity 0.0x 0.2x –
Net debt / EBITDA -0.4x 0.1x –
Debt / FCF 0.1x 0.8x –
Liabilities / assets 47.2% 52.9% 39.7%
Equity / assets 52.8% 47.1% 60.3%
Interest coverage 7.3x 35.9x –
Current ratio 2.2x 0.7x 1.7x
Quick ratio 2.1x 0.6x 1.3x
Cash ratio 1.1x 0.3x 1.3x
Altman Z-score 2.49 3.94 2.39

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAFYALAURTAL
Dividend yield 6.1% – –
Net buyback yield -4.1% 6.4% –
Shareholder yield 2.0% 6.4% 0.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusAFYALAURTAL
Forward P/E 6.9xFY2026 18.8xFY2026 7.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.58FY2026 $2.00FY2026 $1.46FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -11.2%FY2026 +16.3%FY2026 +47.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +21.5% +17.0% -13.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $708.15MFY2026 $2.03BFY2026 $3.66BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +5.2%FY2026 +19.6%FY2026 +21.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +5.9% -4.4% +15.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAFYALAURTAL
Held by institutions 12.0% 95.8% 41.2%
Institutions holding 54 337 237
Change in shares held, QoQ -5.2% -3.3% +11.9%
Institutions buying 21 161 116
Institutions selling 19 144 99
Buyers to sellers 1.11 1.12 1.17

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.

AFYALAURTAL
AFYA 1.00 0.15 0.12
LAUR 0.15 1.00 0.27
TAL 0.12 0.27 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AFYA, LAUR and TAL?

TAL Education (TAL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Afya (AFYA) $979.85M, Laureate Education (LAUR) $5.18B, TAL Education (TAL) $6.27B.

Which stock is cheaper, AFYA, LAUR and TAL?

Afya (AFYA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Afya (AFYA) 4.3x, Laureate Education (LAUR) 16.3x, TAL Education (TAL) 6.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Afya (AFYA) is cheapest (Afya (AFYA) 6.9x, Laureate Education (LAUR) 18.8x, TAL Education (TAL) 7.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Afya (AFYA) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Afya (AFYA) +71.8%, Laureate Education (LAUR) +17.9%, TAL Education (TAL) +32.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

TAL Education (TAL) has the highest net margin (Afya (AFYA) 21.2%, Laureate Education (LAUR) 17.6%, TAL Education (TAL) 28.4%). On return on invested capital, Afya (AFYA) leads (Afya (AFYA) 36.4%, Laureate Education (LAUR) 24.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Laureate Education (LAUR) returned the most: Afya (AFYA) -25.7%, Laureate Education (LAUR) +25.8%, TAL Education (TAL) -18.7%. Over five years, TAL Education (TAL) compounded fastest (Afya (AFYA) -9.4%/yr, Laureate Education (LAUR) +17.5%/yr, TAL Education (TAL) +18.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Afya (AFYA) 6.09%, Laureate Education (LAUR) 0.00%, TAL Education (TAL) 0.00%. Laureate Education (LAUR) and TAL Education (TAL) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Laureate Education (LAUR) has been the steadiest (Afya (AFYA) 46.7%, Laureate Education (LAUR) 33.0%, TAL Education (TAL) 44.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AFYA, LAUR and TAL?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Afya (AFYA) leads on 5. 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.