BFAM vs LRN Stock Comparison

Bright Horizons Family Solutions and Stride Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
LRN Stride, Inc.
$79.40 +1.1% 1M -47.7% 1Y
Market cap
$3.35B
P/E
9.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.52B
Div. yield
–
Education Services Consumer Discretionary
7 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Stride leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Stride 7, Bright Horizons Family Solutions 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionBFAMLRNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.80B $3.35B BFAM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 21.7x 9.9x LRN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 13.4x 10.2x LRN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.5% +4.7% BFAM
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 5.8% 13.4% LRN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 9.3% 16.8% LRN
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.8x -0.9x LRN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -30.0% -47.7% BFAM
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -15.4%/yr +18.9%/yr LRN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 47.6% 89.5% BFAM
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 50/100 76/100 LRN

Percentile Scorecard

BFAMLRN

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

AxisBFAMLRN
Valuation 34 #22 of 33 84 #6 of 33
Growth 45 #17 of 30 55 #14 of 30
Profitability 46 #16 of 29 89 #4 of 29
Financial Health 26 #29 of 39 92 #4 of 39
Shareholder Returns 100 #1 of 16 60 #7 of 16
Overall 50 76
  • BFAM ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services
  • LRN ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodBFAMLRNSPY
1 month +7.3%+1.1% -1.0%
3 months -5.8%-8.6% +2.9%
6 months -11.9%-19.1% +6.4%
Year to date -29.6%+22.3% +11.4%
1 year -30.0%-47.7% +13.1%
3 years -6.2%+78.4% +79.4%
3 years, per year -2.1%+21.3% +21.5%
5 years -56.7%+137.9% +67.7%
5 years, per year -15.4%+18.9% +10.9%
10 years +7.2%+452.9% +255.2%
10 years, per year +0.7%+18.7% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureBFAMLRNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 47.6%89.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 54.6%121.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.31-0.07 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.63-0.53 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -67.2%-64.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -34.6%-48.3% -2.5%
52-week high $109.23$153.53 $779.14
52-week low $59.18$61.02 $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.

MultipleBFAMLRN
P/E now vs peer median 21.0xmedian 16.9x 10.0xmedian 16.9x
P/S now vs peer median 1.2xmedian 1.3x 1.3xmedian 1.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.4xmedian 9.4x 4.8xmedian 9.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 14.9xmedian 14.5x 7.6xmedian 14.5x
P/B now vs peer median 3.7xmedian 2.0x 2.0xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median 0.47median 0.33 0.29median 0.33

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 monthsBFAMLRN
Revenue $3.03B $2.52B
Gross profit $711.35M $950.60M
Operating income $311.11M $450.77M
Net income $175.04M $338.19M
Free cash flow $235.93M $433.23M
EPS (diluted) $3.38 $7.14
Cash & equivalents $163.69M $754.50M
Total debt $1.29B $418.00M
Shares (diluted) 51.76M 47.33M
Enterprise value $3.25B $246.08M

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
MetricBFAMLRN
P/E 21.0x 10.0x
P/FCF 14.9x 7.6x
P/Operating cash flow 10.6x 7.6x
P/S 1.2x 1.3x
P/B 3.7x 2.0x
P/Tangible book 4.7x 2.0x
EV/EBITDA 11.4x 4.8x
EV/EBIT 14.9x 6.1x
EV/Revenue 1.5x 1.1x
EV/FCF 19.7x 6.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 13.9x 6.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.47 0.29

Growth

14 metrics
MetricBFAMLRN
Revenue growth (1Y) 8.5% 4.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 10.8% 11.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 7.7% 0.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 12.6% 13.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 8.8% 25.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 26.2% 39.7%
Net income growth (1Y) -1.0% 17.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 39.1% 38.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 10.4% 20.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 44.4% 34.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 0.3% 0.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 11.1% 28.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -2.8% 0.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 14.2% 29.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricBFAMLRN
Gross margin 23.5% 37.8%
EBITDA margin 13.5% 23.0%
Operating margin 10.3% 17.9%
Pretax margin 8.6% 17.5%
Net margin 5.8% 13.4%
FCF margin 7.8% 17.2%
Operating cash flow margin 11.0% 17.2%
Return on equity 16.8% 20.7%
Return on assets 4.6% 13.9%
Return on invested capital 9.3% 16.8%
Return on capital employed 11.0% 20.9%
Asset turnover 0.8x 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.9x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 1.0% 1.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricBFAMLRN
Debt / assets 34.0% 17.2%
Debt / equity 1.4x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.8x -0.9x
Debt / FCF 5.5x 1.0x
Liabilities / assets 75.1% 33.0%
Equity / assets 24.9% 67.0%
Interest coverage 6.2x –
Current ratio 0.5x 5.9x
Quick ratio 0.4x 5.7x
Cash ratio 0.2x 3.3x
Altman Z-score 2.02 5.49

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricBFAMLRN
Dividend yield – –
Net buyback yield 18.1% 3.0%
Shareholder yield 18.1% 3.0%
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.

ConsensusBFAMLRN
Forward P/E 13.4xFY2026 10.2xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year $5.31FY2026 $7.75FY2027
EPS growth, next FY +16.7%FY2026 +8.5%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after +13.6% -2.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.03BFY2026 $2.39BFY2027
Revenue growth, next FY +3.3%FY2026 -5.1%FY2027
Revenue growth, the year after +2.5% +16.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersBFAMLRN
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 384 410
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.2% +1.2%
Institutions buying 205 212
Institutions selling 150 135
Buyers to sellers 1.37 1.57

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.

BFAMLRN
BFAM 1.00 0.23
LRN 0.23 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, BFAM and LRN?

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) is the largest by market capitalisation: Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) $3.80B, Stride (LRN) $3.35B.

Which stock is cheaper, BFAM and LRN?

Stride (LRN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 21.7x, Stride (LRN) 9.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Stride (LRN) is cheapest (Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 13.4x, Stride (LRN) 10.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) +8.5%, Stride (LRN) +4.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Stride (LRN) has the highest net margin (Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 5.8%, Stride (LRN) 13.4%). On return on invested capital, Stride (LRN) leads (Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 9.3%, Stride (LRN) 16.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) returned the most: Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) -30.0%, Stride (LRN) -47.7%. Over five years, Stride (LRN) compounded fastest (Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) -15.4%/yr, Stride (LRN) +18.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) has been the steadiest (Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 47.6%, Stride (LRN) 89.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do BFAM and LRN move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.23, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, BFAM and LRN?

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