LAUR (Laureate Education) Beneish M-Score: -2.86 (As of Jun. 24, 2026)


LAUR Laureate Education Inc LAUR
70 GF Score
Price $36.62
GF Value $22.51
Valuation Significantly Overvalued
! 3 Warning Signs
View Full Analysis

What is Laureate Education Beneish M-Score?

Laureate Education LAUR +0.08% 70 Beneish M-Score is -2.86 as of Jun. 24, 2026. GuruFocus rates LAUR with a GF Score™ of 70/100 and a GF Value™ of $22.51 (Significantly Overvalued). The stock has 3 warning signs investors should review. Among 243 Education companies, Laureate Education ranks better than 69.55% on this metric.

The zones of discrimination for M-Score is as such:

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.
An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

Good Sign:

Beneish M-Score -2.86 no higher than -1.78, which implies that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.

The historical rank and industry rank for Laureate Education's Beneish M-Score or its related term are showing as below:

LAUR' s Beneish M-Score Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: -4.17   Med: -2.55   Max: 0.14
Current: -2.86

During the past 13 years, the highest Beneish M-Score of Laureate Education was 0.14. The lowest was -4.17. And the median was -2.55.


Laureate Education Beneish M-Score Historical Data

* Premium members only.

The historical data trend for Laureate Education's Beneish M-Score can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

Laureate Education Beneish M-Score Chart

Laureate Education Annual Data
Trend Dec16 Dec17 Dec18 Dec19 Dec20 Dec21 Dec22 Dec23 Dec24 Dec25
Beneish M-Score
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only -1.12 -2.84 -2.54 -2.47 -2.33

Laureate Education Quarterly Data
Jun21 Sep21 Dec21 Mar22 Jun22 Sep22 Dec22 Mar23 Jun23 Sep23 Dec23 Mar24 Jun24 Sep24 Dec24 Mar25 Jun25 Sep25 Dec25 Mar26
Beneish M-Score Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only -2.73 -2.36 -2.65 -2.33 -2.86

LAUR vs GHC, CVSA, LOPE: Beneish M-Score Comparison

For the Education & Training Services subindustry, Laureate Education's Beneish M-Score, along with its competitors' market caps and Beneish M-Score data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.


Laureate Education Beneish M-Score vs Education Industry

For the Education industry and Consumer Defensive sector, Laureate Education's Beneish M-Score distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where Laureate Education's Beneish M-Score falls into.


LAUR
70GF Score
Laureate Education Inc LAUR
Beneish M-Score is just one metric. See GF Score™, valuation, warning signs, and more.
View Full Analysis

Laureate Education Beneish M-Score Calculation

The M-score was created by Professor Messod Beneish. Instead of measuring the bankruptcy risk (Altman Z-Score) or business trend (Piotroski F-Score), M-score can be used to detect the risk of earnings manipulation. This is the original research paper on M-score.

The M-Score Variables:

The M-score of Laureate Education for today is based on a combination of the following eight different indices:

M=-4.84+0.92 * DSRI+0.528 * GMI+0.404 * AQI+0.892 * SGI+0.115 * DEPI
=-4.84+0.92 * 0.6888+0.528 * 0.9635+0.404 * 0.9087+0.892 * 1.1381+0.115 * 1.2292
-0.172 * SGAI+4.679 * TATA-0.327 * LVGI
-0.172 * 0.9672+4.679 * -0.030191-0.327 * 1.1454
=-2.86

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

This Year (Mar26) TTM:Last Year (Mar25) TTM:
Total Receivables was $56 Mil.
Revenue was 272.6 + 541.388 + 400.224 + 524.156 = $1,738 Mil.
Gross Profit was -16.4 + 193.886 + 83.686 + 206.805 = $468 Mil.
Total Current Assets was $272 Mil.
Total Assets was $2,281 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was $1,087 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was $109 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was $51 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was $342 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was $723 Mil.
Net Income was -21.6 + 171.556 + 34.487 + 95.083 = $280 Mil.
Non Operating Income was 1.4 + 3.527 + -2.176 + -24.772 = $-22 Mil.
Cash Flow from Operations was 62 + 93.382 + 140.979 + 74.054 = $370 Mil.
Total Receivables was $71 Mil.
Revenue was 236.162 + 423.394 + 368.631 + 499.245 = $1,527 Mil.
Gross Profit was -2.201 + 135.442 + 82.675 + 180.248 = $396 Mil.
Total Current Assets was $228 Mil.
Total Assets was $1,858 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was $804 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was $102 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was $47 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was $396 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was $361 Mil.




1. DSRI = Days Sales in Receivables Index

Measured as the ratio of Revenue in Total Receivables in year t to year t-1.

A large increase in DSR could be indicative of revenue inflation.

DSRI=(Receivables_t / Revenue_t) / (Receivables_t-1 / Revenue_t-1)
=(55.5 / 1738.368) / (70.798 / 1527.432)
=0.031926 / 0.046351
=0.6888

2. GMI = Gross Margin Index

Measured as the ratio of gross margin in year t-1 to gross margin in year t.

Gross margin has deteriorated when this index is above 1. A firm with poorer prospects is more likely to manipulate earnings.

GMI=GrossMargin_t-1 / GrossMargin_t
=(GrossProfit_t-1 / Revenue_t-1) / (GrossProfit_t / Revenue_t)
=(396.164 / 1527.432) / (467.977 / 1738.368)
=0.259366 / 0.269205
=0.9635

3. AQI = Asset Quality Index

AQI is the ratio of asset quality in year t to year t-1.

Asset quality is measured as the ratio of non-current assets other than Property, Plant and Equipment to Total Assets.

AQI=(1 - (CurrentAssets_t + PPE_t) / TotalAssets_t) / (1 - (CurrentAssets_t-1 + PPE_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
=(1 - (272.4 + 1087.3) / 2281.1) / (1 - (228.053 + 804.136) / 1858.205)
=0.403928 / 0.444524
=0.9087

4. SGI = Sales Growth Index

Ratio of Revenue in year t to sales in year t-1.

Sales growth is not itself a measure of manipulation. However, growth companies are likely to find themselves under pressure to manipulate in order to keep up appearances.

SGI=Sales_t / Sales_t-1
=Revenue_t / Revenue_t-1
=1738.368 / 1527.432
=1.1381

5. DEPI = Depreciation Index

Measured as the ratio of the rate of Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization in year t-1 to the corresponding rate in year t.

DEPI greater than 1 indicates that assets are being depreciated at a slower rate. This suggests that the firm might be revising useful asset life assumptions upwards, or adopting a new method that is income friendly.

DEPI=(Depreciation_t-1 / (Depreciaton_t-1 + PPE_t-1)) / (Depreciation_t / (Depreciaton_t + PPE_t))
=(101.598 / (101.598 + 804.136)) / (109.186 / (109.186 + 1087.3))
=0.112172 / 0.091256
=1.2292

Note: If the Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization data is not available, we assume that the depreciation rate is constant and set the Depreciation Index to 1.

6. SGAI = Sales, General and Administrative expenses Index

The ratio of Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) to Sales in year t relative to year t-1.

SGA expenses index > 1 means that the company is becoming less efficient in generate sales.

SGAI=(SGA_t / Sales_t) / (SGA_t-1 /Sales_t-1)
=(51.184 / 1738.368) / (46.501 / 1527.432)
=0.029444 / 0.030444
=0.9672

7. LVGI = Leverage Index

The ratio of total debt to Total Assets in year t relative to yeat t-1.

An LVGI > 1 indicates an increase in leverage

LVGI=((LTD_t + CurrentLiabilities_t) / TotalAssets_t) / ((LTD_t-1 + CurrentLiabilities_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
=((722.7 + 341.6) / 2281.1) / ((361.26 + 395.659) / 1858.205)
=0.466573 / 0.407339
=1.1454

8. TATA = Total Accruals to Total Assets

Total accruals calculated as the change in working capital accounts other than cash less depreciation.

TATA=(IncomefromContinuingOperations_t - CashFlowsfromOperations_t) / TotalAssets_t
=(NetIncome_t - NonOperatingIncome_t - CashFlowsfromOperations_t) / TotalAssets_t
=(279.526 - -22.021 - 370.415) / 2281.1
=-0.030191

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator. An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

Laureate Education has a M-score of -2.86 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.

Frequently Asked Questions Learn more about Beneish M-Score →
What does a Beneish M-Score of -2.86 mean?
Laureate Education (LAUR) has a Beneish M-Score of -2.86 as of Jun. 24, 2026. The Beneish M-score measures the likelihood of earnings manipulation. View historical data on Laureate Education and its competitors. According to the industry distribution chart, Laureate Education ranks #74 out of 243 companies in the Education industry, placing it in the top 30.5%.
Is Laureate Education's Beneish M-Score too high?
Laureate Education's current Beneish M-Score is -2.86. Based on the distribution chart, Laureate Education ranks #74 out of 243 companies in the Education industry, which is above the industry midpoint. Overall, Laureate Education has a GF Score™ of 70/100 and is considered Significantly Overvalued, reflecting its overall financial health beyond just this single metric.
How does Laureate Education's Beneish M-Score compare to GHC and CVSA?
According to the Education industry distribution chart, Laureate Education ranks #74 out of 243 companies for Beneish M-Score. This puts Laureate Education in the upper half of its industry. See the competitive comparison table and distribution chart on this page for a detailed peer-by-peer breakdown.
What is a good Beneish M-Score for an Education company?
A good Beneish M-Score depends on the Education industry context. However, Beneish M-Score should not be evaluated in isolation — investors should consider it alongside profitability, growth, and financial strength metrics. Use the industry distribution chart on this page to see where any company falls relative to its peers.
What does a high Beneish M-Score mean?
A high Beneish M-Score can signal that a stock is expensive relative to its fundamentals. The Beneish M-score measures the likelihood of earnings manipulation. View historical data on Laureate Education and its competitors. Laureate Education's current Beneish M-Score is -2.86. However, context matters — high-growth companies often justify higher valuations. Always evaluate alongside other metrics like GF Score™ and GF Value™.
Is Laureate Education stock overvalued right now?
Based on GuruFocus' analysis, Laureate Education (LAUR) is currently considered Significantly Overvalued. The stock's GF Value™ is $22.51, compared to a current price of $36.62 — trading 62.7% above its estimated fair value. The current Beneish M-Score is -2.86. Laureate Education's overall GF Score™ is 70/100 with 3 warning signs to review. Investors should evaluate multiple metrics — including profitability, growth, and financial strength — before making a decision.
How is Beneish M-Score calculated?
Beneish M-Score is calculated from a company's financial statements. For Laureate Education (LAUR), the current Beneish M-Score is -2.86 as of Jun. 24, 2026. GuruFocus calculates this using data sourced from SEC filings and annual reports. See the calculation section and 30-year financial data on this page for the full breakdown.

Is Laureate Education (LAUR) Overvalued in 2026?

Based on GuruFocus' analysis, Laureate Education stock appears to be overvalued. The current stock price of $36.62 is trading 62.7% above its estimated GF Value™ of $22.51. GuruFocus considers Laureate Education to be Significantly Overvalued.

Key valuation signals for LAUR:

  • Beneish M-Score: -2.86
  • GF Value™: $22.51 vs. price of $36.62 (62.7% above fair value)
  • GF Score™: 70/100 with 3 warning signs

No single metric tells the full story. See the LAUR stock analysis page for a complete view including 30-year financials, guru trades, and insider activity.


Laureate Education Business Description

Address PMB 1158, 1000 Brickell Avenue, Suite 715, Miami, FL, USA, 33131
Laureate Education Inc is an international community of universities. The company provides higher education programs and services to students through an international network of licensed universities and higher education institutions. Its reportable segments include Peru and Mexico, of which Mexico derives maximum revenue. Geographically, the company operates in Mexico, Peru and United States.
70GF Score

Get the complete analysis for LAUR

Beneish M-Score is just one metric. See GF Value™, 30-year financials, guru trades, warning signs, and more.

$36.62
Price
$22.51
GF Value