GHC vs BFAM vs STRA Stock Comparison

Graham Holdings, Bright Horizons Family Solutions and Strategic Education Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
GHC Graham Holdings Co
$1,200.12 +3.8% 1M +17.4% 1Y
Market cap
$5.06B
P/E
9.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.07B
Div. yield
0.04%
Education Services Consumer Discretionary
8 wins
STRA Strategic Education, Inc.
$81.19 +5.7% 1M -3.4% 1Y
Market cap
$1.71B
P/E
12.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.29B
Div. yield
0.03%
Education Services Consumer Discretionary
2 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Graham Holdings leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Graham Holdings 8, Strategic Education 2, Bright Horizons Family Solutions 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionGHCBFAMSTRALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $5.06B $3.62B $1.71B GHC
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 9.3x 20.7x 12.7x GHC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 15.8x 13.9x 11.0x STRA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +4.8% +8.5% +3.5% BFAM
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.7% 5.8% 10.5% GHC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 3.5% 9.3% — BFAM
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.9x 2.8x — GHC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.04% 0.00% 0.03% GHC
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +17.4% -27.0% -3.4% GHC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +15.5%/yr -14.4%/yr +3.2%/yr GHC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 23.3% 47.7% 36.1% GHC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 40/100 51/100 79/100 STRA

Percentile Scorecard

GHCBFAMSTRA

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

AxisGHCBFAMSTRA
Valuation 69 #11 of 33 31 #23 of 33 84 #6 of 33
Growth 28 #22 of 30 52 #15 of 30 86 #5 of 30
Profitability 25 #22 of 29 50 #15 of 29 61 #12 of 29
Financial Health 63 #15 of 39 24 #30 of 39 71 #12 of 39
Shareholder Returns 15 #12 of 14 100 #1 of 14 92 #2 of 14
Overall 40 51 79
  • GHC ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services
  • BFAM 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

PeriodGHCBFAMSTRASPY
1 month +3.8%+11.8%+5.7% -0.8%
3 months +1.7%-5.4%+3.4% +3.5%
6 months +3.3%-9.4%+6.9% +7.0%
Year to date +9.2%-27.4%+1.2% +12.2%
1 year +17.4%-27.0%-3.4% +13.0%
3 years +112.1%+2.0%+1.2% +86.3%
3 years, per year +28.5%+0.7%+0.4% +23.1%
5 years +105.8%-54.0%+17.3% +68.6%
5 years, per year +15.5%-14.4%+3.2% +11.0%
10 years +153.2%+9.9%+49.9% +258.0%
10 years, per year +9.7%+1.0%+4.1% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureGHCBFAMSTRASPY
Volatility, 1Y 23.3%47.7%36.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 23.4%55.0%41.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.28-0.29-0.01 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.75-0.57-0.09 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -20.3%-67.2%-41.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -3.1%-32.6%-7.3% -1.8%
52-week high $1,238.69$109.23$87.62 $779.14
52-week low $1,012.13$59.18$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.

MultipleGHCBFAMSTRA
P/E now vs peer median 9.4xmedian 15.5x 21.7xmedian 15.5x 12.9xmedian 15.5x
P/S now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 1.3x 1.2xmedian 1.3x 1.4xmedian 1.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 12.1xmedian 10.1x 11.7xmedian 10.1x 7.3xmedian 10.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 20.6xmedian 14.7x 15.4xmedian 14.7x 10.7xmedian 14.7x
P/B now vs peer median 1.1xmedian 2.0x 3.8xmedian 2.0x 1.1xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median 0.23median 0.35 0.49median 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 monthsGHCBFAMSTRA
Revenue $5.07B $3.03B $1.29B
Gross profit $1.52B $711.35M –
Operating income $256.19M $311.11M $180.24M
Net income $550.25M $175.04M $134.51M
Free cash flow $247.96M $235.93M $168.59M
EPS (diluted) $125.75 $3.38 $6.19
Cash & equivalents $156.77M $163.69M $123.76M
Total debt $900.37M $1.29B –
Shares (diluted) 4.31M 51.76M 21.74M
Enterprise value $154.39M $3.07B $1.10B

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
MetricGHCBFAMSTRA
P/E 9.4x 21.7x 12.9x
P/FCF 20.6x 15.4x 10.7x
P/Operating cash flow 15.7x 10.9x 8.4x
P/S 1.0x 1.2x 1.4x
P/B 1.1x 3.8x 1.1x
P/Tangible book 1.1x 4.8x 1.3x
EV/EBITDA 12.1x 11.7x 7.3x
EV/EBIT 18.6x 15.3x 9.3x
EV/Revenue 0.9x 1.6x 1.3x
EV/FCF 19.2x 20.1x 9.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 14.6x 14.3x 7.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.23 0.49 0.22

Growth

14 metrics
MetricGHCBFAMSTRA
Revenue growth (1Y) 4.8% 8.5% 3.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 6.4% 10.8% 6.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 1.0% 7.7% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.1% 12.6% –
Operating income growth (1Y) -6.6% 8.8% 14.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 41.6% 26.2% 52.4%
Net income growth (1Y) -20.5% -1.0% 16.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 36.2% 39.1% 54.3%
EPS growth (1Y) -19.4% 10.4% 26.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 40.4% 44.4% 59.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -33.9% 0.3% 29.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 18.1% 11.1% 35.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -40.8% -2.8% 35.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 32.3% 14.2% 52.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricGHCBFAMSTRA
Gross margin 29.9% 23.5% –
EBITDA margin 7.8% 13.5% 17.7%
Operating margin 5.1% 10.3% 14.0%
Pretax margin 14.1% 8.6% 14.3%
Net margin 10.7% 5.8% 10.5%
FCF margin 4.9% 7.8% 13.1%
Operating cash flow margin 6.4% 11.0% 16.8%
Return on equity 11.5% 16.8% 8.2%
Return on assets 6.7% 4.6% 6.5%
Return on invested capital 3.5% 9.3% –
Return on capital employed 3.7% 11.0% 10.0%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.8x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.6x 1.9x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue 0.1% 1.0% 1.7%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricGHCBFAMSTRA
Debt / assets 11.1% 34.0% –
Debt / equity 0.2x 1.4x –
Net debt / EBITDA -0.9x 2.8x –
Debt / FCF 3.6x 5.5x –
Liabilities / assets 41.1% 75.1% 21.0%
Equity / assets 58.9% 24.9% 79.0%
Interest coverage 4.9x 6.2x –
Current ratio 1.9x 0.5x 1.1x
Quick ratio 1.5x 0.4x 0.9x
Cash ratio 1.0x 0.2x 0.5x
Altman Z-score 3.27 2.04 3.60

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricGHCBFAMSTRA
Dividend yield 0.6% – 3.0%
Net buyback yield 2.4% 17.5% 8.4%
Shareholder yield 3.0% 17.5% 11.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) 35.0% – 41.1%
Payout ratio (FCF) 77.7% – 32.8%
Dividend growth (1Y) 528.1% – -5.8%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 83.8% – -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.

ConsensusGHCBFAMSTRA
Forward P/E 15.8xFY2026 13.9xFY2026 11.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $76.14FY2026 $5.31FY2026 $7.38FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +14.5%FY2026 +16.7%FY2026 +19.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -16.0% +13.6% +18.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.97BFY2026 $3.03BFY2026 $1.39BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +1.3%FY2026 +3.3%FY2026 +9.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +2.0% +2.5% +1.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersGHCBFAMSTRA
Held by institutions 83.3% 100.0% 99.0%
Institutions holding 337 384 291
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.4% -1.2% +0.9%
Institutions buying 149 205 149
Institutions selling 110 150 106
Buyers to sellers 1.35 1.37 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.

GHCBFAMSTRA
GHC 1.00 0.24 0.42
BFAM 0.24 1.00 0.28
STRA 0.42 0.28 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, GHC, BFAM and STRA?

Graham Holdings (GHC) is the largest by market capitalisation: Graham Holdings (GHC) $5.06B, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) $3.62B, Strategic Education (STRA) $1.71B.

Which stock is cheaper, GHC, BFAM and STRA?

Graham Holdings (GHC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Graham Holdings (GHC) 9.3x, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 20.7x, Strategic Education (STRA) 12.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Strategic Education (STRA) is cheapest (Graham Holdings (GHC) 15.8x, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 13.9x, 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?

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Graham Holdings (GHC) +4.8%, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) +8.5%, Strategic Education (STRA) +3.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Graham Holdings (GHC) has the highest net margin (Graham Holdings (GHC) 10.7%, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 5.8%, Strategic Education (STRA) 10.5%). On return on invested capital, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) leads (Graham Holdings (GHC) 3.5%, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 9.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Graham Holdings (GHC) returned the most: Graham Holdings (GHC) +17.4%, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) -27.0%, Strategic Education (STRA) -3.4%. Over five years, Graham Holdings (GHC) compounded fastest (Graham Holdings (GHC) +15.5%/yr, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) -14.4%/yr, Strategic Education (STRA) +3.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Graham Holdings (GHC) has the highest dividend yield: Graham Holdings (GHC) 0.04%, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 0.00%, Strategic Education (STRA) 0.03%. Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Graham Holdings (GHC) has been the steadiest (Graham Holdings (GHC) 23.3%, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 47.7%, Strategic Education (STRA) 36.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, GHC, BFAM 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, Graham Holdings (GHC) leads on 8. 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.