Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) reported first-half 2026 revenue of BRL 1.985 billion, up 7% from a year earlier, while adjusted EBITDA rose 3% to BRL 918 million. Net income increased 7% to BRL 463 million, and basic earnings per share rose 9% to BRL 5.10.
Chief Executive Officer Virgilio Gibbon said the company’s adjusted EBITDA margin was 46.2% for the first six months of 2026, down 190 basis points year over year. He attributed the margin decline primarily to a lower gross-profit contribution from continuing education, including higher sales and marketing expenses associated with Afya’s investment cycle in continuing education and medical practice solutions.
Undergraduate business supports revenue growth
Afya’s undergraduate segment generated BRL 1.762 billion of revenue in the first half, an increase of more than 7% from the prior-year period. The company said 85% of undergraduate revenue came from medical programs and 93% came from health-related courses.
The medical student base grew 3% year over year to more than 26,000 students, while operating medical seats increased more than 6% to 3,768. The net average monthly fee for medical school rose nearly 4% to BRL 9,443.
Gibbon said pricing trends in medical courses remained favorable, while health science courses recorded 13% growth compared with the prior year. During the question-and-answer session, he said Afya was targeting full occupancy for the second-half intake cycle, although enrollment through Brazil’s PROUNI program was still being completed and was expected to conclude by September.
He added that Afya was not changing medical-program prices for the second half and was not offering discounts for those programs. In health-related programs, Gibbon said the company was more than 20% ahead of the prior year at the same point in the enrollment process and was growing organically by more than 18% in volume.
Continuing education mix affects growth and margins
Continuing education revenue rose 5% to BRL 144 million in the first half. Business-to-physician, or B2P, revenue increased 8% to BRL 135 million and represented 94% of segment revenue. Business-to-business revenue declined 25% year over year to BRL 9 million.
The continuing education student base expanded 23%. Residency-preparation enrollment was stable at 9,244 students, while the graduate journey student base rose 13% to 10,213. Students in other B2P and B2B offerings increased 35% to 36,780.
Gibbon said the higher student count reflected a changing product mix, including more short-duration, lower-ticket programs. He also cited seasonality in continuing medical education, particularly in preparation courses, as an influence on second-quarter performance. He said Afya expected high-single-digit growth in the segment during the second half and did not foresee a significant acceleration or decline for the full year.
Medical practice solutions investment continues
Medical practice solutions revenue increased 2% to BRL 85 million in the first half. Total active payers were broadly stable at about 201,000, while clinical-management active payers increased 20% to more than 50,000. Monthly active users declined 8% to 212,000.
Chief Financial Officer Luis Blanco said Afya’s Whitebook clinical decision product faced pressure from artificial-intelligence tools, affecting active payer counts. The company has reduced ticket prices for the product and is investing in additional functionality, he said.
At the same time, Blanco said the iClinic clinical-management platform was in a positive growth cycle, although its expansion was not yet sufficient to offset the decline in Whitebook. Afya’s investment plan includes increased spending on intangible assets and team expansion for continuing education and medical practice solutions, with the goal of building functionality and audience before revenue recovery.
Gibbon said the company was adding artificial-intelligence features to products, expanding engagement with physicians and integrating clinical decision-support tools into its clinical-management offering. Afya said its ecosystem had 295,000 users at the end of the second quarter.
Cash generation, capital returns and outlook
Cash flow from operating activities rose 3% to BRL 806 million in the first half, while operating cash conversion was 87.8%. Free cash flow to equity totaled BRL 423 million.
Afya returned BRL 448 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases during the first half, equal to 106% of free cash flow to equity. The company paid BRL 307 million in dividends during the second quarter, representing 40% of 2025 net income.
Blanco said Afya’s gross debt was BRL 2.4 billion as of June 30, down from BRL 2.7 billion a year earlier. Average debt duration increased to 3.7 years from 1.9 years, while the average cost of debt was 15.1% annually. Net debt stood at BRL 1.394 billion, essentially unchanged from the end of 2025, despite shareholder distributions. Net debt excluding IFRS 16 leases was 0.8 times the midpoint of the company’s 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance.
The company maintained its full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance of BRL 1.7 billion to BRL 1.8 billion. Blanco said Afya remained focused on delivering within that range. Management also said it expects capital expenditures to accelerate in the second half, maintaining full-year CapEx guidance of BRL 340 million to BRL 380 million, with investments concentrated particularly in intangible assets tied to continuing education and medical practice solutions.
On acquisitions, Blanco said the company would pursue business combinations only when they meet its return criteria, including a minimum nominal unleveraged internal rate of return of 20%. When opportunities do not meet those thresholds, Afya intends to return capital to shareholders through dividends and buybacks, management said.
About Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA)
Afya Ltd. operates as a leading provider of medical education and training services in Brazil. The company offers a comprehensive suite of educational programs that span undergraduate medical degrees, residency exam preparation, continuing medical education (CME) and digital learning platforms. Through a network of partner institutions and its own campus operations, Afya supports students at every stage of the medical training continuum, from enrollment in medical schools to ongoing professional development for practicing physicians.
At the core of Afya’s offerings is its undergraduate medical program, delivered through a combination of in-person courses at affiliated campuses and fully digital curricula.
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