UPDATE: Apollo Education Posts Upbeat FQ3 Earnings

Apollo Education Group

reported better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter earnings. Apollo Education's quarterly profit dropped 17% to $66 million, or $0.59 per share, versus $80 million, or $0.71 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding certain items, its earnings declined to $0.76 per share from $1.05 per share. Its revenue slipped 16% to $799.9 million from $946.8 million. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $0.66 per share on revenue of $794.4 million. University of Phoenix enrollment declined 16% to 241,900 in the quarter, while new enrollment dropped 13% to 33,900. Greg Cappelli, Chief Executive Officer, Apollo Education Group said, “We have made meaningful progress on our strategy to differentiate University of Phoenix and all of our institutions, diversify Apollo Education Group, and build a more efficient organization focused on operational excellence.” For the year, Apollo now projects operating income of $420 million to $435 million on revenue of $3.04 billion to $3.06 billion. The company had earlier expected operating income of $400 million to $450 million on revenue of $3 billion to $3.1 billion. Apollo Education shares gained 0.34% to $29.75 in pre-market trading.