LAUR vs TAL vs BFAM Stock Comparison

Laureate Education, TAL Education and Bright Horizons Family Solutions Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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LAUR Laureate Education, Inc.
$36.01 -6.2% 1M +24.7% 1Y
Market cap
$4.67B
P/E
12.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.91B
Div. yield
–
Education Services Consumer Discretionary
2 wins
TAL TAL Education Group
$10.16 -13.4% 1M -15.5% 1Y
Market cap
$5.64B
P/E
7.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.33B
Div. yield
–
Education Services Consumer Discretionary
6 wins

Head to Head

8 decided of 12

TAL Education leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (TAL Education 6, Laureate Education 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionLAURTALBFAMLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.67B $5.64B $2.80B TAL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 12.0x 7.7x 18.8x TAL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 18.0x 7.0x 12.6x TAL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +20.9% +25.3% +6.7% TAL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 22.1% — –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +24.7% -15.5% -27.6% LAUR
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +15.8%/yr +20.0%/yr -16.6%/yr TAL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 33.0% 44.1% 47.6% LAUR
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 70/100 92/100 23/100 TAL

Percentile Scorecard

LAURTALBFAM

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

AxisLAURTALBFAM
Valuation 28 #24 of 33 88 #5 of 33 50 #17 of 33
Growth 97 #2 of 30 100 #1 of 30 10 #27 of 30
Profitability 85 #5 of 28 93 #3 of 28 30 #20 of 28
Financial Health – 89 #5 of 37 3 #36 of 37
Shareholder Returns – – –
Overall 70 92 23
  • LAUR ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services
  • TAL ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services
  • BFAM ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodLAURTALBFAMSPY
1 month -6.2%-13.4%+5.1% +0.7%
3 months -6.2%-17.7%-13.9% +3.7%
6 months +19.7%-8.6%-17.3% +7.1%
Year to date +6.9%-6.9%-33.9% +12.8%
1 year +24.7%-15.5%-27.6% +11.9%
3 years +150.9%+13.1%-9.4% +85.2%
3 years, per year +35.9%+4.2%-3.2% +22.8%
5 years +107.9%+148.4%-59.6% +67.6%
5 years, per year +15.8%+20.0%-16.6% +10.9%
10 years —-25.7%+0.8% +262.0%
10 years, per year —-2.9%+0.1% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureLAURTALBFAMSPY
Volatility, 1Y 33.0%44.1%47.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 34.0%40.8%54.7% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.290.62-0.29 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.75-0.35-0.58 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -30.0%-67.3%-67.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -11.0%-21.3%-38.6% -1.2%
52-week high $40.46$12.91$109.23 $779.14
52-week low $28.88$8.95$59.18 $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.

MultipleLAURTALBFAM
P/E now vs peer median 12.9xmedian 13.3x 7.9xmedian 13.3x 18.8xmedian 13.3x
P/S now vs peer median 2.6xmedian 1.2x 1.9xmedian 1.2x 1.1xmedian 1.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 9.3x —median 9.3x —median 9.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 18.4xmedian 14.1x 10.2xmedian 14.1x 13.3xmedian 14.1x
P/B now vs peer median 4.3xmedian 2.0x 1.5xmedian 2.0x 5.2xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median 0.21median 0.27 0.07median 0.27 —median 0.27

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 monthsLAURTALBFAM
Revenue $1.91B $3.33B $3.07B
Gross profit – $1.89B $699.13M
Operating income $494.48M $538.66M $3.13M
Net income $388.23M $1.15B -$134.21M
Free cash flow – $610.95M –
EPS (diluted) $2.77 $1.27 –
Cash & equivalents $189.90M $1.95B $119.23M
Total debt – $29.76M –
Shares (diluted) 139.94M 578.78M 51.76M
Enterprise value $4.67B -$6.84B $2.80B

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
MetricLAURTALBFAM
P/E 12.9x 7.9x 18.8x
P/FCF 18.4x 10.2x 13.3x
P/Operating cash flow 11.9x 10.2x 9.3x
P/S 2.6x 1.9x 1.1x
P/B 4.3x 1.5x 5.2x
P/Tangible book 4.3x 1.5x 7.3x
EV/EBITDA – – –
EV/EBIT – 6.5x –
EV/Revenue 2.6x 1.1x 1.1x
EV/FCF – 5.8x –
EV/Operating cash flow 11.9x 5.8x 9.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.21 0.07 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricLAURTALBFAM
Revenue growth (1Y) 20.9% 25.3% 6.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 10.5% 40.9% 9.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 31.0% 0.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 42.8% 9.9%
Operating income growth (1Y) 31.6% 599.6% -99.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 17.2% 93.2% -74.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 88.5% 575.8% -166.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 54.7% 131.1% -52.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 101.9% 357.5% –
EPS CAGR (3Y) 61.0% 117.3% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 33.3% 38.4% 10.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 25.6% 64.3% 17.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 38.4% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 64.3% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricLAURTALBFAM
Gross margin – 56.9% –
EBITDA margin – – –
Operating margin – 16.2% –
Pretax margin – 28.7% –
Net margin – 22.1% –
FCF margin – 18.4% –
Operating cash flow margin 21.8% 18.4% 11.6%
Return on equity 33.7% 28.0% -17.0%
Return on assets 15.8% 17.2% -3.7%
Return on invested capital – – –
Return on capital employed – 11.3% –
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.5x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.1x 0.5x -2.7x
Stock comp / revenue – – 1.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricLAURTALBFAM
Debt / assets – 0.4% –
Debt / equity – 0.0x –
Net debt / EBITDA – – –
Debt / FCF – 0.0x –
Liabilities / assets 53.2% 37.3% 81.7%
Equity / assets 46.8% 62.7% 18.3%
Interest coverage – – –
Current ratio – 1.8x 0.4x
Quick ratio – 1.4x –
Cash ratio – 1.4x –
Altman Z-score – 2.61 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricLAURTALBFAM
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield – – –
Shareholder yield 0.0% 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.

ConsensusLAURTALBFAM
Forward P/E 18.0xFY2026 7.0xFY2026 12.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.00FY2026 $1.46FY2026 $5.31FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +16.3%FY2026 +47.5%FY2026 +16.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +17.0% -13.0% +13.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.03BFY2026 $3.66BFY2026 $3.03BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +19.6%FY2026 +21.6%FY2026 +3.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -4.4% +15.9% +2.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersLAURTALBFAM
Held by institutions 95.8% 41.2% 100.0%
Institutions holding 338 237 385
Change in shares held, QoQ -3.3% +11.9% -1.2%
Institutions buying 161 116 205
Institutions selling 144 99 150
Buyers to sellers 1.12 1.17 1.37

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.

LAURTALBFAM
LAUR 1.00 0.21 0.09
TAL 0.21 1.00 0.04
BFAM 0.09 0.04 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, LAUR, TAL and BFAM?

TAL Education (TAL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Laureate Education (LAUR) $4.67B, TAL Education (TAL) $5.64B, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) $2.80B.

Which stock is cheaper, LAUR, TAL and BFAM?

TAL Education (TAL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Laureate Education (LAUR) 12.0x, TAL Education (TAL) 7.7x, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 18.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, TAL Education (TAL) is cheapest (Laureate Education (LAUR) 18.0x, TAL Education (TAL) 7.0x, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 12.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

TAL Education (TAL) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Laureate Education (LAUR) +20.9%, TAL Education (TAL) +25.3%, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) +6.7%.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Laureate Education (LAUR) returned the most: Laureate Education (LAUR) +24.7%, TAL Education (TAL) -15.5%, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) -27.6%. Over five years, TAL Education (TAL) compounded fastest (Laureate Education (LAUR) +15.8%/yr, TAL Education (TAL) +20.0%/yr, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) -16.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Laureate Education (LAUR) has been the steadiest (Laureate Education (LAUR) 33.0%, TAL Education (TAL) 44.1%, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 47.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, TAL Education (TAL) leads on 6. 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.