TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.24 EPS

TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.24), FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $994.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. TAL Education Group had a return on equity of 24.55% and a net margin of 28.43%.

Here are the key takeaways from TAL Education Group’s conference call:

• Peiyou offline programs remained strong, with double-digit revenue growth driven primarily by enrollment and retention above 80% in enrichment classes, indicating continued demand for face-to-face learning.
• Non-GAAP operating income more than doubled year over year to $249 million, while operating margin expanded to 24.9% from 12.5%, reflecting operating leverage, lower selling and marketing costs, and disciplined resource allocation.
• Overall revenue growth moderated to 9% year over year in RMB terms, and management expects further moderation as the company scales and online enrichment growth slows.
• The Learning Device business remains a significant headwind: the broader market contracted by double digits, competition intensified, and rising chip costs pressured pricing and revenue. Management expects the business to continue weighing on company-wide growth, although it does not anticipate significant full-year losses from the segment.
• The board approved TAL’s first special cash dividend of $0.30 per common share, or $0.10 per ADS, totaling approximately $55.2 million, alongside continued share repurchases and a stated intention to make shareholder returns more systematic.

TAL Education Group Stock Up 0.9%

TAL Education Group stock traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $10.15. 9,866,055 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,159,469. TAL Education Group has a 12-month low of $8.88 and a 12-month high of $13.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $11.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.12. The company has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.30, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.09.

Insider Activity at TAL Education Group

In other news, insider Alex Peng sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.28, for a total value of $368,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,144 shares in the company, valued at $185,968.32. The trade was a 66.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of TAL Education Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. New Street Research set a $13.60 price objective on shares of TAL Education Group in a report on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of TAL Education Group in a report on Friday, July 31st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Zacks Research upgraded TAL Education Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut TAL Education Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.80.

About TAL Education Group

TAL Education Group is a Chinese education services provider that offers learning programs, educational content and related services for students. Its offerings have included tutoring and enrichment programs in subjects such as mathematics, science, Chinese and English, along with online learning tools, educational technology and other products designed to support students, parents and teachers.

The company was founded in 2003 as Xueersi and later adopted the name TAL Education Group. It historically operated a network of learning centers and online platforms serving students in China, with a focus on primary and secondary education.