American Public Education, Inc.

Total Q2 revenue was $171.7 million, up 5.5% from $162.8 million a year ago; excluding $3.4 million of Graduate School USA revenue in the prior-year period, revenue would have grown 7.8%. Adjusted EBITDA was $20.7 million, up from $15.1 million, and adjusted EBITDA margin was 12% versus 9.3% a year ago, a 275-basis-point improvement. Net income available to common stockholders was $9.8 million, or $0.52 per diluted share, versus a loss of $0.3 million, or $0.02 per diluted share, in the prior-year period. For Q3 2026, APEI guided to revenue of $164.5 million to $167 million, net income of $3.4 million to $5.4 million, adjusted EBITDA of $14 million to $17 million, and diluted EPS of $0.18 to $0.29. For full-year 2026, the company raised guidance to revenue of $690 million to $698 million, net income of $46.5 million to $52.5 million, adjusted EBITDA of $96 million to $104 million, and diluted EPS of $2.48 to $2.79. It also lowered capex guidance to $25 million to $28 million from $28 million to $32 million.

Angela Selden framed the quarter as validation that APEI’s simplification work is translating into durable growth and margin expansion. She highlighted the completed institutional combination as the final milestone in the multi-year restructuring, and emphasized three growth themes: Fill the Back Row at Health+, military and veteran growth at Military+, and a new AI-enabled student lifecycle platform with Salesforce. Her tone was notably confident, repeatedly saying the business is now built, simplified, and positioned for significant runway ahead.

Edward Codispoti focused on the financial upside from operating leverage and cash generation. He cited Q2 adjusted EBITDA of $20.7 million, margin of 12%, year-to-date operating cash flow of $75.4 million, and cash, restricted cash, and short-term investments of $222.8 million versus $88.9 million of debt. He also noted $45 million remained under the $50 million share repurchase authorization, and said about $7 million of planned capex is tied to campus expansion, with each campus expected to require about $3.5 million, breakeven in about 18 months, and generate about $12 million of annual revenue within 4 to 5 years.

Analysts pressed on how the completed combination could unlock revenue and cost synergies, and management said it now has line of sight to quantify opportunities such as moving Rasmussen programs onto Hondros campuses. Questions also centered on military tuition-assistance policy changes, with Selden saying a House bill would imply a 40% increase in reimbursement and could lead APEI to reassess active-duty pricing if it becomes law. Analysts asked about active-duty deployment headwinds and Health+ enrollment deceleration; management said the Middle East-related weakness is already embedded in guidance, and that the slowdown is mostly in the online non-health portion of Health+, where a third-party marketing review is underway.