Stride stock slides as tech rollout issues drive higher withdrawals, offsetting quarterly beat

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Shares in Stride Inc. (NYSE:LRN [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/LRN]) tumbled 38% in premarket trading on Wednesday after the education technology company flagged weak enrollment growth despite a quarterly beat.

CEO James Rhyu reported that the company achieved enrollment growth [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4509901-stride-outlines-muted-in-year-enrollment-growth-for-fy-2026-as-platform-upgrades-impact] within the previously stated 10% to 15% range but noted that it "still fell short of our internal expectations."

Rhyu attributed this shortfall to the decision to "invest in upgrading our learning and technology platforms with third-party industry-leading platforms," which led to implementation challenges.

He specified, "The implementations did not go as smoothly as we anticipated" and acknowledged higher withdrawal rates and lower conversion rates as a result.

He estimated that "these factors resulted in approximately 10,000 to 15,000 fewer enrollments than we otherwise could have achieved," and cautioned that "these challenges will likely restrict our in-year enrollment growth."

For the second quarter of 2026, Stride (NYSE:LRN [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/LRN]) expects to see revenue [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4509766-stride-non-gaap-eps-of-152-beats-by-026-revenue-of-6209m-beats-by-498m] in the range of $620 million to $640 million and adjusted operating income between $135 million and $145 million.

For the full year, it expects revenue in the range of $2.480 billion to $2.555 billion and adjusted operating income between $475 million and $500 million.

When asked if limiting in-year enrollment growth was temporary, Rhyu said, "Assuming we fix all the issues in this year, which we do anticipate, we have a clear road map that this year, the issues will, in fact, be fixed."

"Assuming that demand continues to be strong...we would believe that next year we would be able to return to growth in year."

Stride (LRN [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/LRN]), up 48% year-to-date, receives a ‘Buy’ rating from Seeking Alpha Quant and Wall Street analysts.

MORE ON STRIDE

* Stride, Inc. 2026 Q1 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4834410-stride-inc-2026-q1-results-earnings-call-presentation]
* Stride, Inc. (LRN) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4834347-stride-inc-lrn-q1-2026-earnings-call-transcript]
* Stride: Strong Prospects, But Valuation Keeps Me Neutral [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4832928-stride-stock-strong-prospects-but-valuation-keep-me-neutral]
* Stride outlines muted in-year enrollment growth for FY 2026 as platform upgrades impact student retention [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4509901-stride-outlines-muted-in-year-enrollment-growth-for-fy-2026-as-platform-upgrades-impact]
* Stride Non-GAAP EPS of $1.52 beats by $0.26, revenue of $620.9M beats by $4.98M [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4509766-stride-non-gaap-eps-of-152-beats-by-026-revenue-of-6209m-beats-by-498m]