Laureate Education, Inc. LAUR

Competitive advantage analysis · consumer-defensive

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
72/100
Moderate

About Laureate Education, Inc.

Laureate Education, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, offers higher education programs and services to students through a portfolio of higher education institutions in Mexico, Peru, and the United States. The company offers a range of undergraduate, graduate, and specialized degree programs in the areas of medicine and health sciences, engineering and information technology, and business and management through campus-based, online, … Full LAUR analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key strengths

  • Cost Leadership Position Operating margin at 97.4th percentile with strong OpEx control demonstrates cost leadership.
  • ROIC Sustainably Above Peers ROIC at 91.9th percentile exceeds peers and WACC, demonstrating superior capital allocation.

Key risks

  • Liquidity Concerns Liquidity is concerning (score 0.18), raising questions about short-term obligations.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Pricing Power

Moderate
55

Where LAUR ranks in Education & Training Services

Laureate Education, Inc. ranks #6 of 42 scored companies in Education & Training Services by moat score — the top 14%. The widest moat in the group is Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (LOPE) at 83/100.

Moat scores for companies ranked near LAUR in Education & Training Services
# Company Moat score Rating
2 Perdoceo Education Corporation PRDO 82/100 Strong
3 Afya Limited AFYA 81/100 Strong
4 Stride, Inc. LRN 78/100 Strong
5 Adtalem Global Education Inc. ATGE 74/100 Moderate
6 Laureate Education, Inc. LAUR 72/100 Moderate
7 Strategic Education, Inc. STRA 70/100 Moderate
8 Sunlands Technology Group STG 69/100 Moderate
9 Legacy Education Inc. LGCY 68/100 Moderate
10 TAL Education Group TAL 67/100 Moderate

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How LAUR scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 55 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 99 · 15% of the moat score

A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.

Customer Stickiness

Score 87 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 82 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 54 · 17% of the moat score

Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.

Scale & Market Position

Score 65 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding LAUR's moat

What is Laureate Education, Inc.'s moat score?

Laureate Education, Inc. (LAUR) scores 72 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #6 of 42 scored companies in Education & Training Services, the top 14%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 41 companies in Education & Training Services. Its strongest defense is Cost Advantage (99/100) and its weakest is Resilience (54/100).

How does Laureate Education, Inc. compare with other Education & Training Services companies?

Laureate Education, Inc. ranks #6 of 42 scored companies in Education & Training Services by moat score. The widest moat in Education & Training Services is Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (LOPE) at 82/100. The companies ranked closest are Adtalem Global Education Inc. (ATGE) at 74 just above it and Strategic Education, Inc. (STRA) at 70 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 41 companies in Education & Training Services. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Laureate Education, Inc. scored with the Corporate Default template?

Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.

Which competitive defenses are measured for Laureate Education, Inc.?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and LAUR scores: Pricing Power (55), Cost Advantage (99), Customer Stickiness (87), Capital Efficiency (82), Resilience (54), Scale & Market Position (65). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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