Reflecting On Consumer Subscription Stocks’ Q2 Earnings: Coursera (NYSE:COUR)

COUR Cover Image
Reflecting On Consumer Subscription Stocks’ Q2 Earnings: Coursera (NYSE:COUR)

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Wrapping up Q2 earnings, we look at the numbers and key takeaways for the consumer subscription stocks, including Coursera (NYSE:COUR) and its peers.

Consumers today expect goods and services to be hyper-personalized and on demand. Whether it be what music they listen to, what movie they watch, or even finding a date, online consumer businesses are expected to delight their customers with simple user interfaces that magically fulfill demand. Subscription models have further increased usage and stickiness of many online consumer services.

The 8 consumer subscription stocks we track reported a slower Q2. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.1% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 2.9% below.

Inflation progressed towards the Fed's 2% goal recently, leading the Fed to reduce its policy rate by 50bps (half a percent or 0.5%) in September 2024. This is the first cut in four years. While CPI (inflation) readings have been supportive lately, employment measures have bordered on worrisome. The markets will be debating whether this rate cut's timing (and more potential ones in 2024 and 2025) is ideal for supporting the economy or a bit too late for a macro that has already cooled too much.

Thankfully, consumer subscription stocks have been resilient with share prices up 7.5% on average since the latest earnings results.

Coursera (NYSE:COUR)

Founded by two Stanford University computer science professors, Coursera (NYSE:COUR) is an online learning platform that offers courses, specializations, and degrees from top universities and organizations around the world.

Coursera reported revenues of $170.3 million, up 10.8% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 3.5%. Despite the top-line beat, it was still a mixed quarter for the company with strong growth in its users but slow revenue growth.

“We are excited to surpass more than two million enrollments in our generative AI catalog of courses, credentials, and hands-on projects created by the world’s top technology companies and research universities,” said Coursera CEO Jeff Maggioncalda.

Coursera Total Revenue
Coursera Total Revenue

Coursera achieved the biggest analyst estimates beat of the whole group. The company reported 155 million users, up 20.2% year on year. Unsurprisingly, the stock is up 7.3% since reporting and currently trades at $7.94.

Read our full report on Coursera here, it’s free.

Best Q2: Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL)

Founded by a Carnegie Mellon computer science professor and his Ph.D. student, Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) is a mobile app helping people learn new languages.