Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) Earnings: Q3 2026 Results

The quarter ended September 30, 2026 and Grand Canyon Education published the results on November 4, 2026. Revenue and diluted EPS are shown against Q3 2025, the same quarter a year earlier, which takes seasonal swings out of the comparison. Grand Canyon Education reports EPS two ways: GAAP, under the accounting rules every US filer follows, and As adjusted, non-GAAP diluted income per share, which leaves out items the company considers outside its operating results. The release reconciles the two, and when they diverge, the reconciliation says why.

• Grand Canyon Education reports one segment. Its revenue line is "Service revenue", fees it earns from 20 university partners under services agreements.
• From July 1, 2026, revenue from Grand Canyon University (GCU) is earned under an Amended Master Services Agreement: 60% of tuition and academic-related fees only. Under the original agreement, which covers the year-ago quarter, the 60% share also applied to ancillary fees such as student housing, food service, athletics, arena, hotel, golf course and apparel.
• Q3 2025 GAAP results included a $35.0 million litigation settlement, which is why GAAP diluted EPS was $0.58 that quarter against $1.78 as adjusted.

Source: Grand Canyon Education Q3 2026 results, November 4, 2026. Also in the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026. Figures as reported; checked against the release on November 10, 2026.

From the earnings release

The first two lines are Grand Canyon Education's Q4 2026 outlook and the last two its full year 2026 outlook.

In its Q3 2026 release, Grand Canyon Education said:

“Service revenue of between $320.5 million and $321.5 million;”

“Diluted EPS of between $3.57 and $3.61;”

“Service revenue of between $1,160.7 million and $1,161.7 million;”

“Diluted EPS between $9.81 and $9.85;”

Source: Grand Canyon Education Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026.

This is the company's own guidance as of Nov 4, 2026, quoted as given. Walnut does not make forecasts of its own. Analyst estimates for the coming quarters are on the LOPE forecast page.

Revenue and diluted EPS for the last 5 quarters. Each date links to that quarter's release.

GAAP service revenue and diluted income per share, each as first reported in that quarter's release.

We do not hold a confirmed date for Grand Canyon Education's next report. Companies post the date on their investor relations site a few weeks ahead, usually with the time of the conference call.

Each quarter keeps its own page with the figures as reported, so a link to one stays pointed at the same numbers after the next report.

• Q3 2026 (this page), reported Nov 4, 2026

Grand Canyon Education reported service revenue of $267.3 million for Q3 2026, up $6.2 million, or 2.4%, from $261.1 million. GCE is a services company, not a university: it earns a share of tuition and fees from 20 university partners in return for marketing, enrollment, counseling, financial aid processing, technology and back-office services. (Grand Canyon Education Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026; Grand Canyon Education Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 4, 2026)

Grand Canyon University is most of that revenue. GCU accounted for 89.1% of total service revenue in the first nine months of both 2026 and 2025, and 89.5% in full year 2025. GCU enrollments were 139,170 at September 30, 2026, up 5.1%; within that, online enrollments rose 7.1% to 115,520 while ground enrollments fell 4.1% to 23,650. (Grand Canyon Education Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 4, 2026; Grand Canyon Education Form 10-K, 2025, Feb 18, 2026; Grand Canyon Education Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026)

GCE attributed the revenue increase mainly to university partner enrollments rising 5.2% to 145,270. Revenue per student slightly decreased: the Fall semester started later, leaving six fewer days of revenue for ground traditional students and shifting $7.5 million of revenue from the third quarter to the fourth. Online revenue per student also slipped because of a mix shift toward students with a slightly lower net tuition rate. (Grand Canyon Education Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026)

The GCU contract changed during the quarter. Under the Amended MSA, effective July 1, 2026 and running through June 30, 2041, GCE's fee is 60% of tuition and academic-related fees only, ancillary revenue such as housing, food service and arena events goes solely to GCU, GCU can no longer terminate for convenience, and a reimbursement GCE had been paying GCU for certain academic costs is eliminated. (Grand Canyon Education Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 4, 2026)

Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) students at off-campus classroom and laboratory sites earn GCE a significantly higher revenue per student than GCU students, because those agreements carry a higher revenue share and the partners charge higher tuition. Enrollments at those sites rose 12.6% to 7,780, and GCE ran 48 sites at September 30, 2026 after opening two and closing one. (Grand Canyon Education Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026)

Grand Canyon Education's GAAP diluted EPS rose to $1.67 from $0.58, while as adjusted, non-GAAP diluted EPS was nearly flat at $1.77 against $1.78. The gap in the year-ago quarter comes from a $35.0 million litigation settlement and $2.4 million of lease termination, impairment and other costs, worth $1.05 and $0.07 per diluted share. The adjusted measure also excludes amortization of intangible assets ($0.07 per share in Q3 2026) and $1.1 million of non-recurring costs ($0.03). (Grand Canyon Education Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026)

Operating income was $51.5 million, a 19.3% operating margin, against $18.0 million and 6.9% a year earlier. Excluding amortization, non-recurring costs and fixed asset disposals, operating margin was 20.5%, down from 22.3% on the comparable basis. The effective tax rate fell to 20.0% from 24.9%, because the year-ago penalties tied to the litigation settlement were not deductible. (Grand Canyon Education Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026)

Buybacks lifted per-share results. Diluted weighted average shares were 25.8 million against 27.9 million a year earlier. GCE repurchased 1,700,605 shares in the first nine months of 2026 at an aggregate cost of $270.8 million, and on October 28, 2026 its board added $355.0 million to the authorization, leaving $394.5 million available as of November 2, 2026. (Grand Canyon Education Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026; Grand Canyon Education Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 4, 2026)

Diluted EPS divides net income by the weighted average number of shares outstanding in the quarter, plus the shares that options and other equity awards could add. Buybacks shrink that count and lift EPS for the same profit; share issuance and stock awards enlarge it.

Grand Canyon Education gives quarterly and full-year guidance in its release. For Q4 2026 it expects service revenue of $320.5 million to $321.5 million, an operating margin of 36.0% to 36.2%, diluted EPS of $3.57 to $3.61 on 25.3 million diluted shares, and as adjusted EPS of $3.63 to $3.67. (Grand Canyon Education Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026)

For full year 2026 GCE guides to service revenue of $1,160.7 million to $1,161.7 million, an operating margin of 27.6% to 27.7%, an effective tax rate of 23.0% and diluted EPS of $9.81 to $9.85. The release says the later Fall semester start moved $7.5 million of revenue from the third quarter into the fourth. (Grand Canyon Education Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026)

A consensus figure is the average of the models published by the analysts who cover Grand Canyon Education, collected by a data provider and revised up to the day of the report. A quarter that lands above it says how expectations were set as much as how the business did, and the share price on the day also reflects the guidance and the lines no consensus covers.

The consensus figures on this page are Yahoo Finance's, as pulled on the date shown. Each comes with the number of analysts behind it; the smaller that number, the more one revised estimate can move the average.

The figures below are the ones Grand Canyon Education's own release and filings put weight on for Q3 2026, with the latest reported value for each.

What the quarter means for a holding is a separate question from what it reported. The case for and against owning LOPE is on is LOPE a buy or a sell?, what analysts expect next is on the LOPE forecast, and what the company does is on the Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) stock page.

Every number on this page can be traced to a document Grand Canyon Education published. Checking one takes a couple of minutes, and it is worth doing before you quote a figure anywhere.

• The results release is the document linked in the source line above. Companies publish it on their investor relations site at the moment results go out, and it carries the headline tables: revenue, operating income, net income and EPS for the quarter and the year-ago quarter.
• The same release is filed with the SEC as Exhibit 99.1 to a Form 8-K under Item 2.02, usually on the day of the report. The SEC copy does not change after the fact, which makes it the safer thing to link when you cite a number.
• The quarterly report (Form 10-Q) follows within a few weeks and carries the full financial statements, the segment note and management's discussion of what changed. The fourth quarter is covered by the annual report (Form 10-K) instead.
• Restated comparisons are flagged in the notes on this page. When a company redraws its segments or changes how it adjusts EPS, it restates the year-ago column, so the year-ago figure in a new release can differ from the one printed a year ago. This page always uses the comparison in the newer release, because that is the like-for-like one.

A walk-through of every line in a release, with what each one tells you, is in how to read an earnings report.