Apollo Group Falls After Q1 Results

Shares of private education provider Apollo Group

fell on Tuesday after the closing bell. The stock lost more than 5 percent and ended the after hours trading session at $19.80. The company reported results which were above Wall Street expectations, but the company cut the top end of its full-year 2013 revenue outlook. Chief Executive Officer Greg Cappelli said, "In the first quarter, we continued to execute on our strategy to differentiate University of Phoenix, diversify Apollo Group and to further optimize our operations." The company reported adjusted earnings from continuing operations of $1.22 per share versus $1.26 per share, in the year ago period. This came in ahead of Wall Street analysts' consensus EPS estimates of $0.90. Revenues in the period were $1.06 billion versus $1.17 billion last year. This also came in ahead of analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 billion. Looking ahead, the company provided full-year 2013 revenue guidance of $3.65 billion to $3.75 billion. This was below its prior estimate of $3.65 billion to $3.80 billion. Currently, Wall Street analysts are projecting that Apollo will report revenue of $3.77 billion in 2013. The lighter revenue guidance was likely the reason for the sell-off in the stock in Tuesday's after hours. Over the last year, APOL has lost more than 63 percent as the private education industry has been struggling with falling enrollment rates.