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Lincoln Educational Services Corporation (LINC)

NASDAQ / Consumer Defensive / Education & Training Services

Share price

22.56 USD Market dataClose of Oct 15, 2026

Market capitalisation

715.6M USD Market dataClose of Oct 15, 2026
Market data
Oct 15, 2026
Filed accounts
FY2025, filed Mar 2, 2026
Ratios computed
Oct 15, 2026
Filed years
16, FY2009 to FY2025
Four kinds of sourceSEC filingCompany statementMarket dataComputedWhat each means
SEC filingFiled with the SEC
Read from a statement the company filed with the SEC, with the form, fiscal year, filing date and accession beside it.
Company statementCompany statement
What the company says about itself in a filing: an 8-K item, the auditor, its own segment names.
Market dataMarket data
Prices, market value and what analysts publish, with the date they are as of.
ComputedComputed by ValueScreener
Worked out by us from the other three, with the inputs and the formula one press away. A score is a research output, not a rating or a recommendation.
Reading

1 of 10

Overview

What the business is, what it costs, and how it reads on four questions.

Market dataSEC filingComputed

Four questions, at a glance

Quality

Return on invested capital, after tax

6.2% Computed

From the FY2025 filing

Read quality

Valuation

Price to earnings

34.71x Computed

FY2025 accounts, priced at the latest close

Read valuation

Cash generation

Free cash flow yield

-3.8% Computed

FY2025 accounts, priced at the latest close

Read cash generation

Revenue and net income, as filed

FY2016 Revenue: 285.6M USDFY2016 Net income: -28.3M USDFY2017 Revenue: 261.9M USDFY2017 Net income: -11.5M USDFY2018 Revenue: 263.2M USDFY2018 Net income: -11.5M USDFY2019 Revenue: 273.3M USDFY2019 Net income: 2.0M USDFY2020 Revenue: 293.1M USDFY2020 Net income: 48.6M USDFY2021 Revenue: 335.3M USDFY2021 Net income: 34.7M USDFY2022 Revenue: 348.3M USDFY2022 Net income: 12.6M USDFY2023 Revenue: 378.1M USDFY2023 Net income: 26.0M USDFY2024 Revenue: 440.1M USDFY2024 Net income: 9.9M USDFY2025 Revenue: 518.2M USDFY2025 Net income: 20.0M USD
Revenue Net income10 filed fiscal years, from the annual reports; the table in Filings names each document.
Named tests met
2 of 30 Which tests
The business, and the score behind its five axes

The reading, in brief

Is it cheap

Price to earnings is 34.71x at the close of 2026-10-15 on FY2025 figures; the lines are 15.00x (Graham's defensive ceiling) and, by market convention, 10.00x, 25.00x and 40.00x, and this sits between 25.00x and 40.00x.

Today, against the Consumer Defensive sector (135 companies), 34.71x sits at the 78th percentile; the middle half of that group runs from 13.84x to 33.63x.

Is it good

Return on invested capital was 6.2% in FY2025, in the band labelled "Likely below the cost of capital" (below 8.0%), on lines anchored on Damodaran's cost-of-capital data, suggesting returns below the usual cost of the capital employed.

Today, against the Consumer Defensive sector (102 companies), 6.2% sits at the 48th percentile; the middle half of that group runs from 2.7% to 14.1%.

Is it safe

Interest coverage was 8.93x in FY2025, in the band labelled "Comfortable" (6.00x and above), on lines anchored on Damodaran's interest-coverage table, suggesting an interest bill operating profit covers many times over.

Year by year against peers
Whether Lincoln Educational Services Corporation's return on invested capital stayed above the median of the Consumer Defensive sector, year by year. (FY2023 to FY2025, 3 fiscal years of Lincoln Educational Services Corporation with a comparable figure)
The direction
Which way Lincoln Educational Services Corporation's return on equity has moved, and how steadily. (FY2016 to FY2025, 10 filed years of Lincoln Educational Services Corporation)
What could explain it
What in Lincoln Educational Services Corporation's filed statements could explain the movements. (12 readings drawn from the statement lines Lincoln Educational Services Corporation filed)
What to check next
What to check next on Lincoln Educational Services Corporation, and where in its filings. (7 questions for Lincoln Educational Services Corporation)
In one paragraph
One paragraph on Lincoln Educational Services Corporation's returns, cash, balance sheet and price. (15 of sixteen figures read for Lincoln Educational Services Corporation)

These are LINC’s filed figures. The research desk says what they mean, against peers and its own years, with what to check next.

Research LINCPart of Serious. New accounts start with 30 days of Professional, free, no card.

2 of 10

What changed

The newest filing, what it moved, and when the next one is due.

SEC filingCompany statement

The newest accounts on file are the FY2025 annual report: 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, accession 0001140361-26-007380.

3 of 10

Quality

The returns the business earns on its capital, and the margins behind them.

SEC filingComputed

Lincoln Educational Services Corporation: returns on capital and margins, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Return on invested capital, after tax6.2% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
Return on equity10.0% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
Return on capital employed, pre-tax7.7% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
Return on assets4.1% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
Gross margin60.4% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
Operating margin5.8% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
Net margin3.9% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
LINC 3.9%
GOTU -5.3%UTI 7.5%PXED 8.2%APEI 4.9%STRA 10.0%
-5.3%10.0%
Net margin: LINC against the 5 companies named under Valuation context, each as filed for its own latest year. Placement only: no average is drawn.

4 of 10

Financial strength

What it owes against what it owns, and whether it can meet what falls due.

SEC filingComputedCompany statement

Lincoln Educational Services Corporation: leverage, liquidity and distress, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Debt to equity1.02 ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
Current ratio0.86 ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
Quick ratio0.82 ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
Interest coverage8.93x ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
Altman Z-score2.97 ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
Net debt175.3M ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
Total assets 493.2MTotal liabilities 293.5MShareholders' equity 199.7MOwnsOwes, and equity
Total assets Total liabilities Shareholders’ equity
The balance sheet, line by line

Financial health

What Lincoln Educational Services Corporation owned and owed at the end of fiscal 2025, from the balance sheet it filed (10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380).

Lincoln Educational Services Corporation: balance sheet position
Total assets493.2M FiledFY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026
Total liabilities293.5M FiledFY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026
Shareholders' equity199.7M FiledFY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026
Cash28.5M FiledFY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026
Total debt203.9M FiledFY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026
Net debt175.3M
Current ratio0.86
Debt to equity1.02

Read from the filed balance sheet for each year, with the income statement of the same year supplying operating profit where a ratio needs it. Nothing here is a view on whether this company is sound.

5 of 10

Valuation context

What the market charges for it, against its own record and companies like it.

Market dataSEC filingComputed

Lincoln Educational Services Corporation: what the market charges, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Price to earnings34.71x ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
P/E on trailing twelve months30.90x ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · Trailing four quarters, each as known on the day; the quarterly filings are listed under Filings
Price to book3.58x ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
Price to sales1.38x ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
Enterprise value to EBIT29.39x ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
Enterprise value to EBITDA18.01x ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
Price to earnings over growth
Why n/a

We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.

n/a ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
Diluted earnings per share0.64 USD FiledFY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
Graham number
Why n/a

We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.

n/a ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380

We publish no fair value or price target of our own. Value LINC on your own assumptions in the DCF workbench, starting from the filed figures.

Its own record, and companies like it

Valuation

What the market charges for Lincoln Educational Services Corporation today, and the multiples it has carried. No value of ours: the figures are the filings’ and the market’s.

Lincoln Educational Services Corporation: valuation
Share price22.56 USD
Market capitalisation715.6M USD
Enterprise value to EBITDA18.01x
Graham numbern/a
Diluted earnings per share, FY20250.64 USD

Price to earnings on trailing twelve months, a different basis from the fiscal-year P/E above, since Oct 3, 2016: low 3.49x, median 15.90x, high 80.53x, latest 30.90x. 1,687 trading days with a meaningful ratio, 836 more on a loss and left out. Each close over the trailing twelve months of earnings as known that day: a quarter counts from the day it was filed.

Companies like Lincoln Educational Services Corporation

  1. Gaotu Techedu Inc. (GOTU)Market cap 961.7M USD
  2. Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (UTI)Market cap 1.13B USD
  3. Phoenix Education Partners, Inc (PXED)Market cap 864.4M USD
  4. American Public Education, Inc. (APEI)Market cap 899.2M USD
  5. Strategic Education, Inc. (STRA)Market cap 1.83B USD

Same industry (Education & Training Services) and size band (Small, 300M to 2B), nearest in market value, net margin and current ratio. Each of those counts equally, by how many of the companies considered sit between the two on it. Closest first: the order is likeness and nothing else.

6 of 10

Cash generation

Whether profit arrives as cash, and what is paid back to shareholders.

SEC filingComputed

Lincoln Educational Services Corporation: cash generation and what is paid out, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Free cash flow yield-3.8% ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
Free cash flow-27.3M USD ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
Free cash flow margin-5.3% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
Dividend yield
Why n/a

We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.

n/a ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
Payout ratio
Why n/a

We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.

n/a ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
FY2016 Free cash flow: -9.7M USDFY2016 Net income: -28.3M USDFY2017 Free cash flow: -16.1M USDFY2017 Net income: -11.5M USDFY2018 Free cash flow: -6.4M USDFY2018 Net income: -11.5M USDFY2019 Free cash flow: -4.4M USDFY2019 Net income: 2.0M USDFY2020 Free cash flow: 17.9M USDFY2020 Net income: 48.6M USDFY2021 Free cash flow: 19.9M USDFY2021 Net income: 34.7M USDFY2022 Free cash flow: -8.1M USDFY2022 Net income: 12.6M USDFY2023 Free cash flow: -15.1M USDFY2023 Net income: 26.0M USDFY2024 Free cash flow: -27.6M USDFY2024 Net income: 9.9M USDFY2025 Free cash flow: -27.3M USDFY2025 Net income: 20.0M USD
Free cash flow Net incomeProfit that arrives as cash stands level with net income; a gap year after year is worth reading about.

7 of 10

Filings

Every figure, the year it is for and the document it was read from.

SEC filingMarket data

The filed figures

Computed from the accounts this company filed with the SEC and, in a ratio with a price in it, the last close, dated on this page. Every filed figure below carries the fiscal year and the filing date its accounts were read from, and every blank carries the reason it is blank. Nothing here is a view on this company.

Lincoln Educational Services Corporation: the eight ratios, with the fiscal year and filing date behind each.
FigureValueYearAs of
34.71xFY2025Oct 15, 2026
3.58xFY2025Oct 15, 2026
29.39xFY2025Oct 15, 2026
-3.8%FY2025Oct 15, 2026
6.2%FY2025Mar 2, 2026
n/aFY2025Oct 15, 2026
n/a The filed cash flow statement reports no dividend paid at all. That is not the same as a filed zero, and we will not read it as one.
1.02FY2025Mar 2, 2026
0.86FY2025Mar 2, 2026
1.38xFY2025Oct 15, 2026
n/aFY2025Oct 15, 2026
n/a This figure compares a year against the one before it, and we hold one filed year for this company.
2.97FY2025Oct 15, 2026
-2.83FY2025Mar 2, 2026
6/9FY2025Mar 2, 2026

The figures are computed from the accounts for fiscal 2025, the newest full year on file. 16 filed fiscal years on record, FY2009 to FY2025, from SEC EDGAR. Prices as of Oct 15, 2026. Ratios recomputed Oct 15, 2026. Two facts, because a recompute is not a fresh quote.

The year and the filing date name the statement each figure’s accounts are read from, and they stand even where the figure itself could not be computed: the line beneath a blank says what that statement did not carry. A figure’s name opens its formula and the filings behind it; a statement that names no SEC filing has no filing date, and reads n/a.

Ten years of filed figures, year by year

Ten years of filed figures

10 filed fiscal years, FY2016 to FY2025, read from the annual reports Lincoln Educational Services Corporation filed with the SEC. Each year names its filing. Amounts in USD, as filed.

Lincoln Educational Services Corporation: revenue, earnings, free cash flow and returns, by fiscal year, with the filing each year was read from
YearRevenueOperating incomeNet incomeEPS, dilutedFree cash flowOperating marginReturn on equityFiling
FY2025518.2M30.3M20.0M0.64-27.3M5.8%10.0%10-K, Mar 2, 20260001140361-26-007380
FY2024440.1M15.2M9.9M0.32-27.6M3.5%5.5%10-K, Mar 4, 20250001140361-25-006937
FY2023378.1M33.4M26.0M0.85-15.1M8.8%15.6%10-K, Mar 5, 20240001140361-24-011175
FY2022348.3M16.3M12.6M0.36-8.1M4.7%8.7%10-K, Mar 7, 20230001140361-23-010514
FY2021335.3M49.3M34.7M1.0419.9M14.7%26.8%10-K, Mar 3, 20220001140361-22-007738
FY2020293.1M14.8M48.6M1.4917.9M5.0%53.3%10-K, Mar 9, 20210001140361-21-007700
FY2019273.3M5.2M2.0M0.08-4.4M1.9%4.7%10-K, Mar 6, 20200001140361-20-005108
FY2018263.2M-4.0M-11.5M-0.48-6.4M-1.5%-28.8%10-K, Mar 13, 20190001567619-19-006729
FY2017261.9M-4.7M-11.5M-0.48-16.1M-1.8%-25.1%10-K, Mar 9, 20180001140361-18-012880
FY2016285.6M-28.9M-28.3M-1.21-9.7M-10.1%-51.5%10-K, Mar 10, 20170001140361-17-011579
  • Revenue, compound annual growth FY2016 to FY2025: 6.8%
  • Earnings: Earnings was not positive in both 2016 and 2025, so a compound rate across the window is not defined. Both figures are in the table.
  • Earnings per share: Earnings per share was not positive in both 2016 and 2025, so a compound rate across the window is not defined. Both figures are in the table.
  • Free cash flow: Free cash flow was not positive in both 2016 and 2025, so a compound rate across the window is not defined. Both figures are in the table.

Every figure in this section is a line of a filed annual statement or a ratio of two of them. Nothing here is estimated or smoothed. Earnings per share filed before a share split are put on today's share count, and say so. Nothing here is a verdict on the company.

8 of 10

Risks and guardrails

The accounting screens, the published tests, and the lines you can set to be told.

ComputedCompany statement

Lincoln Educational Services Corporation: accounting screens and published tests, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Beneish M-score-2.83 ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
Piotroski F-score6/9 ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2026, 0001140361-26-007380
Named tests met2 of 30 Computed
Beta0.84 ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026

The named tests

Of 30 tests value investors published: 2 met, 26 not met, 2 we could not complete. Counts, never a score: a single figure would have to decide that meeting one investor’s criteria and meeting another’s are worth the same.

Which tests, by name(all 30)
Meets
Gross margin, turnover (Robert Novy-Marx); Low P/S, rising earnings (James O'Shaughnessy)
Does not
Defensive investor (Benjamin Graham); Deep value; Large cap, low P/E; Earnings yield and ROIC (Joel Greenblatt); High F-score, low P/B (Joseph Piotroski); Three forensic scores; Low PEG, low debt (Peter Lynch); High returns and growth; EV/EBITDA and coverage; High yield, low payout; Dividends and buybacks; Low beta, profitable; ROIC at or above WACC; Near the 52-week low; Z-score and coverage (Edward Altman); Two thirds of NCAV (Benjamin Graham); High returns, low debt; Owner earnings yield; High return on tangibles; Book or below, low debt (Walter Schloss); Tangible book or below; Cash-flow yield and ROIC; Clean books, high ROIC; Cheapest quarter on P/E (David Dreman); Cheapest quarter on P/B (David Dreman); Low P/E, growth, yield (John Neff)
Not measured
P/E times P/B (Benjamin Graham); Cash-covered dividend. A test with a figure we could not read is incomplete, never met and never failed.
Figures we could not read(6)
  • PEG Ratio: We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.
  • Dividend Yield: We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.
  • Payout Ratio: We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.
  • Price To Graham: We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.
  • Dividend Coverage Ratio: We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.
  • Dividend Streak: We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.

9 of 10

Declared positions

Whether anybody here owns this company.

Positions declared by the founder: no holding in any company shown here, as of October 3, 2026.

10 of 10

Next step

What to do with what you have read.

A thesis is your reason for owning it, in your words, with the figures that must stay true. Checking those figures every night against the newest filed accounts, and telling you once when one breaks, is what the subscription adds.

More on this company

What this cannot tell you

  • 6 figures could not be read on this company, among them PEG Ratio, Dividend Yield, Payout Ratio. Each blank in the table above names the rest, with its reason. 2 named tests come back incomplete because of them, which is neither met nor missed.

And the one that is true of all of it: This is what the numbers say today. It cannot tell you the day one of them stops being true. Nothing here can, because the reasons are not written down.

Running this once is arithmetic on public documents and you are welcome to it. Writing down why you own each company, in your own words and with the numbers that have to stay true for it to hold, and then having those numbers re-checked every night against the newest filed accounts, and against the latest close where a rule watches a price, is Professional, the plan a new account starts on for 30 days, one trial per person. It writes to you the day one breaks, and stays quiet when nothing does. The check runs every night at 23:30 UTC. A filing is picked up the night after it is published.

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ValueScreener · valuescreener.ai · Computed from accounts filed with the SEC by this company, read from EDGAR, and from dated closing prices. On this page a filed figure opens into its formula, its inputs and the statement, fiscal year and filing date it was read from, and a price into the day of its close. A figure that cannot show that trail says so.

A computation on accounts filed with the SEC, not a recommendation and not advice. Past filings do not indicate future results. Risk disclaimer.

Once a week, what changed in the filings of US-listed companies, why it can matter to a thesis, and what deserves a closer review. Grounded in filings, not market noise.

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Risk disclaimer. This service is provided for research and education only. Nothing on it is investment advice, a recommendation, or an offer to buy or sell any security. Capital is at risk, and past performance does not indicate future results. Figures come from filed accounts and may be incomplete, delayed or later restated, so verify a number against the filing before you act on it.