Apollo Group Reports Lower Q3 Profit

Private education provider

released its fiscal third-quarter financial results after the closing bell on Tuesday. The company reported adjusted earnings per share which were above analysts' consensus estimates, but sales that missed Wall Street expectations. Apollo Group also cut the high-end of its revenue guidance range for fiscal 2013. In late trading, the stock was last down more than 2 percent to $18.92.

“This is a time of extraordinary change in higher education. At Apollo Group we are creating a more nimble organization and reengineering our learning solutions to better support our student's needs and meet the demands of employers. We are focused on making the necessary changes to deliver an improved set of educational offerings,” said Apollo Group Chief Executive Officer Greg Cappelli. “As education evolves, the transfer of knowledge and the acquisition of skills for working adults will be delivered in new and different ways. We are working directly with employers to define the skills students must bring to the workplace to more effectively compete in a global economy. The repositioning of higher education—also reflected in Apollo Group's mission to create a more educated global workforce—has perhaps never been more important.”

For the fiscal third-quarter, the operator of the University of Phoenix reported net income of $79.95 million or $0.71 per share, versus income of $134.03 million or $1.13 per share, in the year ago period. Adjusted net income from continuing operations was $119.1 million or $1.05 per share, versus $139.6 million or $1.18 per share, in last year's corresponding quarter. This compared to Wall Street analysts' consensus EPS estimates of $0.85. Net revenue in the period was $946.77 million, down from $1.12 billion in last year's third-quarter. This missed analysts' consensus sales estimates of $965.07 million.

For the fiscal year, Apollo now expects net revenue of $3.65 billion to $3.70 billion and operating income of $525 million to $550 million. Currently, analysts have consensus revenue estimates of $3.70 billion for the full-year. Previously, Apollo guided for revenue of $3.65 billion to $3.75 billion and operating income of $500 million to $550 million for the full-year.