Lincoln Edu (LINC) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $1.22B
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Average Volume (3M): 589.03K
• Price to Earnings (P/E): 14.7
• Beta (1Y): 0.99
• Revenue Growth: 16.90%
• EPS Growth: 41.11%
• Country: US
• Employees: 1,875
• Sector: Consumer Defensive
• Sector Strength: 42
• Industry: Education & Training Services
• EPS (TTM): 0.40
• Shares Outstanding: 31,878,965
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 521,362
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 589,032
• PEG Ratio: 0.36
• Price to Book (P/B): 3.74
• Price to Sales (P/S): 1.44
• P/FCF Ratio: -27.23
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 1.14
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 2.69
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 4.46
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: 28.20
• 1Y Price Target: $44.00
• Price Target Upside: 14.88% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Strong Buy
• Number of Analyst Covering: 5
• EPS Forecast (FY): 0.68
• Revenue Forecast (FY): $583.37M

• Rating: 62 Neutral
• Price Target: $41.00 ▲(7.05% Upside)
• Action: Reiterated Date: 03/20/26
• Date: Action: Reiterated 03/20/26

The score is held back primarily by mixed financial quality—higher leverage and persistently negative free cash flow despite improved operating results. Offsetting factors include a strong technical uptrend and upbeat 2026 guidance pointing to continued growth and margin expansion, with valuation appearing reasonable on earnings.

Positive Factors

Sustained Revenue & Enrollment Growth

Multi-year top-line growth and continued guidance-driven revenue expansion reflect durable demand for vocational training. Strong student starts and rising population create scalable tuition revenue that supports sustained operating leverage as campuses and programs scale.

Improving Operating Margins

Material EBITDA expansion alongside efficiency gains (lowered education/facility and SG&A ratios) indicates structural cost improvements. As the hybrid teaching model and scale reduce per‑student costs, margin sustainability improves even as the company invests in growth.

Leadership Continuity & Expansion Playbook

Extended executive contracts plus an articulated multi‑year campus replication plan reduce execution risk. Stable leadership supports consistent rollout of new campuses, program replication and employer partnerships that underpin long‑term enrollment and placement initiatives.

Negative Factors

Elevated Leverage

Leverage rising to roughly parity with equity increases financial risk and reduces balance sheet flexibility. Higher debt limits capacity to absorb enrollment weakness or fund opportunistic investments without increasing interest exposure or altering capital plans.

Persistent Negative Free Cash Flow

Despite OCF improvement, multi‑year negative FCF highlights heavy reinvestment and working capital volatility. Continued high capex guidance implies reliance on external liquidity or facility draws, constraining ability to self‑fund expansion or quickly de‑lever the balance sheet.

Accounting & Noncash Pressures on Reported Profitability

Including preopening losses in adjusted EBITDA and materially higher depreciation (guidance to ~$33M) will lower reported adjusted margins and increase earnings volatility during expansion. This reduces comparability and can mask true operating leverage until new sites mature.

Lincoln Edu Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

Lincoln Educational Services Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides various career-oriented post-secondary education services to high school graduates and working adults in the United States. The company operates in two segments: Transportation and Skilled Trades, and Healthcare and Other Professions. It offers associate's degree, and diploma and certificate programs in automotive technology; skilled trades programs, including electrical, heating and air conditioning repair, welding, computerized numerical control, and electrical and electronic systems technology; health science programs comprising nursing, dental and medical assistant, claim examiner, medical administrative assistant, etc.; hospitality services programs, such as culinary, therapeutic massage, cosmetology, and aesthetics; and information technology programs. The company operates 22 schools in 14 states under the Lincoln Technical Institute, Lincoln College of Technology, Lincoln Culinary Institute, Euphoria Institute of Beauty Arts and Sciences, and other brand names. As of December 31, 2021, it had 13,059 students enrolled at 22 campuses. The company was founded in 1946 and is based in Parsippany, New Jersey.

How the Company Makes Money

LINC primarily makes money from student tuition and related education fees paid for its training programs. Revenue is recognized as educational services are delivered over the period of instruction. In addition to tuition, the company may earn ancillary revenue from items and services associated with enrollment and attendance (such as fees for books, supplies, and other student charges) when such amounts are billed/earned under its student contracts. A significant factor influencing cash collections is the mix and availability of third-party funding sources used by students to pay tuition (including government student financial aid programs and other forms of financing); however, specific funding mix details or partnership terms are null.

Lincoln Edu Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Income statement trends are improving (2025 revenue $518.2M; net income $20.0M), but profitability remains modest versus earlier peaks. Balance-sheet risk is higher with leverage up (debt-to-equity ~1.02 in 2025). Cash generation quality is mixed: operating cash flow rebounded in 2025, yet free cash flow has been negative for three straight years (2023–2025), including -$27.3M in 2025.

Income Statement

Revenue has trended up steadily from $293.1M (2020) to $518.2M (2025), with growth improving to 4.75% in 2025 after a near-flat 2024. Profitability is positive in 2025 (net income $20.0M; ~3.9% net margin) and improved versus 2024, but margins remain well below the stronger levels seen in 2020–2021, indicating a less favorable profitability profile despite the rebound. EBITDA margin in 2025 (~5.8%) is modest and roughly in-line with 2024, suggesting limited operating leverage.

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet has expanded (assets $245.2M in 2020 to $493.2M in 2025) with equity growing to $199.7M in 2025. However, leverage has increased meaningfully: total debt rose to $203.9M in 2025 and debt-to-equity moved up to ~1.02 (from ~0.69–0.76 in 2020–2022). This higher leverage reduces flexibility and raises risk if profitability or enrollment trends weaken.

Cash Flow

Operating cash flow improved to $59.3M in 2025 (up from $29.3M in 2024), which is a clear positive for liquidity. However, free cash flow has been negative for three straight years (2023–2025), including -$27.3M in 2025, and free cash flow has not tracked accounting earnings (free cash flow to net income is negative in 2023–2025). The mix of positive operating cash flow but persistently negative free cash flow suggests elevated reinvestment needs and/or working-capital volatility.

Breakdown	Dec 2025	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue	518.24M	440.06M	378.07M	348.29M	335.34M
Gross Profit	312.85M	258.31M	215.79M	199.54M	196.41M
EBITDA	50.34M	28.61M	42.76M	22.96M	56.40M
Net Income	20.00M	9.89M	26.00M	12.63M	34.72M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	493.16M	436.56M	345.25M	291.57M	295.30M
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	28.52M	59.27M	75.99M	60.83M	83.31M
Total Debt	203.86M	177.56M	116.79M	100.63M	97.89M
Total Liabilities	293.48M	258.29M	178.44M	146.69M	153.90M
Stockholders Equity	199.69M	178.26M	166.80M	144.88M	141.40M
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	-27.44M	-27.56M	-15.14M	-8.10M	19.92M
Operating Cash Flow	59.19M	29.31M	25.56M	882.00K	27.45M
Investing Cash Flow	-86.20M	-46.97M	7.37M	-21.35M	37.85M
Financing Cash Flow	-3.75M	-3.33M	-2.94M	-12.55M	-20.01M

Lincoln Edu Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Positive
• Last Price: 38.30
• 50DMA: Positive
• 100DMA: Positive
• 200DMA: Positive
• MACD: Positive
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For LINC, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 38.3 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 36.18, above the 50-day MA of 30.50, and above the 200-day MA of 23.97, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of 2.37 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 69.97 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 73.92 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for LINC.

Lincoln Edu Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
APEI	71 Outperform	$1.00B	21.57	11.20%	―	6.75%	141.11%
UTI	69 Neutral	$2.05B	27.79	16.98%	―	14.05%	51.96%
Sector *	62 Neutral	$20.33B	14.63	-3.31%	3.23%	1.93%	-12.26%
LINC	62 Neutral	$1.22B	14.71	10.75%	―	16.90%	41.11%
UDMY	58 Neutral	$692.67M	227.74	1.74%	―	2.53%	95.79%
GOTU	49 Neutral	$474.97M	-18.93	-20.60%	―	48.81%	61.64%
KLC	48 Neutral	$279.32M	-4.36	-12.92%	―	2.20%	-229.99%

Lincoln Edu Corporate Events

Lincoln Educational Highlights Growth Strategy at 2026 Investor Day

On March 19, 2026, Lincoln Educational Services held its 2026 Investor Day at its Nashville, Tennessee campus and via live webcast, with CEO and President Scott Shaw and senior management outlining strategic priorities, growth initiatives and financial performance objectives through 2030. Management highlighted that first-quarter 2026 student starts are expected to rise 19% from the prior-year period, underscoring strong demand driven by the U.S. skills gap and growing interest in skilled trades, which the company says support its outlook for consistent growth over the next five years and reinforce its positioning in career-focused technical education.

The Investor Day presentations, including agenda, speakers and slides, were made accessible online, with a replay available after the event for remote participants and stakeholders unable to attend the invitation-only in-person session. By showcasing its new state-of-the-art Nashville campus and providing a five-year financial performance outlook, Lincoln sought to deepen engagement with investors and analysts while underscoring its strategy to expand programs and campuses in response to labor-market needs in technical and vocational fields.

The most recent analyst rating on (LINC) stock is a Buy with a $35.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Lincoln Edu stock, see the LINC Stock Forecast page.

Lincoln Edu Extends Executive Leadership Contracts Through 2028

On December 19, 2025, Lincoln Educational Services Corporation executed new employment agreements with its top five executives — CEO and President Scott M. Shaw, EVP and CFO Brian K. Meyers, EVP and COO Chad D. Nyce, SVP and General Counsel Alexandra M. Luster, and SVP and Chief Human Resources Officer Stephen E. Ace — primarily to extend their employment terms through December 31, 2028 as the prior contracts were set to expire at the end of 2025. The renewed agreements largely preserve existing terms while implementing higher base salaries effective January 1, 2026, and maintaining eligibility for performance-based annual bonuses and benefits, underscoring the company’s commitment to leadership continuity and operational stability for stakeholders over the next several years.

The most recent analyst rating on (LINC) stock is a Buy with a $27.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Lincoln Edu stock, see the LINC Stock Forecast page.