LOPE - LOPE Springs Eternal...Initiate Buy with $200 PT

Research evidence excerpt

LOPE - LOPE Springs Eternal...Initiate Buy with $200 PT

ue ($M) 3,741 at ~9x our '27E EBITDA vs. the ~11x five-year average. What's weighing on the stock?: we

Cash & Equivalents ($M) 252 believe the market is overly punishing LOPE for concerns around AI disruption of online

education demand, uneven quarterly results from peers and the upcoming midterms.

41 Page Document ...and we think LOPE's multiple can expand if consistent beat/slight raise quarters

prove the company is differentiated from the broader peer group. We think LOPE can

continue its path of slight beat/slight raise quarters over the balance of '26 and continue

Reasons for this report to drive sustainable mid-to-high single digit enrollment growth over the coming years while

sustaining leading margins/ROIC. In our opinion, LOPE is a candidate to participate in

✓ Initiation of Coverage potential corporate partnerships which have underpinned future enrollment expectations for

peers. We think that should see the company's multiple expand from ~9x today back toward

the historical ~11x-12x if investors recognize the company is not seeing decelerating growth.

Grand Canyon University has real competitive advantages in branding and cost.

GCU combines the credibility of a traditional university campus with 25k students attending

full-time in Phoenix, AZ, non-profit tax status and national recognition due to advertising

campaigns and the success of GCU's Men's Basketball Team (frequent March Madness

participants). Branding is differentiated from most non-profit/for-profit peers with the school's

Christian mission and affordable tuition rates (both online and in-person). Our analysis

estimates ground tuition is 53% below the peer group of comparable institutions [Figure 2].