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ESI: PEAKS Losses Inform Investors as Much about the Present as the Past; Lowering Estimates Due to Reduced Starts...

March 25th, 2014

It what has become standard practice for ESI, the company filed an 8-K last Friday after the market close which delivered more unfavorable news.   If bulls are to be believed the latest development...

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COCO: The Reasons Why We Think COCO Could Have a Significant Liquidity Crisis over the Next 6-12 Months

February 5th, 2014

In many respects, we are stunned that COCO shares did not trade down more today.  Let’s consider what “new” information we learned as a result of the company’s earnings release: 1) starts trends are...

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ESI: In a Web of Partial Truths, Mis-statements, and False Promises, Focus on These Realities

January 30th, 2014

Really, who would trust this management team?  The current management team of ESI has been wrong on almost every front over the past 3-4 years whether it be: student start prospects, market clearing tuition levels, or actual...

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For-Profit EDU: The Hope for Hope Trade Could Be Coming To an End as Winter Term Enrollment Results Bring a Cold Dose...

January 29th, 2014

The for-profit postsecondary education sector has been a “contrarian’s delight” for the better part of 12-months.  Initially what started as a long trade predicated on overly bearish sentiment...

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ESI: The PEAKS Problem – It’s Bigger than You Think

November 14th, 2013

“On the cost reduction efforts….As far as opportunities going forward there aren't a ton of opportunities right now, so we're not throwing another target out there, we're not throwing another bogey out there right now.” 10/24/13 Kevin Modany,...

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COCO: What Will Happen First? Evaluating Key Catalysts as the Company’s Options Appear More and More Limited

November 5th, 2013

Tick, tick, tick…..  From where we sit, it certainly feels like the walls are closing in on COCO as the company’s weak enrollment results, shrinking EBITDA generation, tenuous liquidity position, and...

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ESI: Despite the Stock Action, All Evidence Suggests the Downward Spiral in Earnings Power Could Continue

October 24th, 2013

Only in this environment might some people view an 10% move in a stock as a “relief”, but that is certainly how we feel today with ESI. That’s not to say our conviction in our short thesis has wavered in any...

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For-Profit EDU: The Stocks Have Been Telling Us For the Past 6-Months That the Fall Term Enrollment Intake Would...

October 22nd, 2013

“It’s real the pain you feel, you trust, you must confess Is someone getting the best, the best, the best of you?”-          Foo FightersOften wrong, never in doubt…. If we could use...

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COCO: Hanging on By a Thread While the Challenges Continue to Mount

August 29th, 2013

We watched the stock price action in COCO over the past two weeks with considerable befuddlement and consternation. After all, the stock rallied more than 25% following the announcement that the Department of Education had preliminarily sided with the...

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ESI: Robbing Peter to Pay Paul in a Race to the Bottom

July 26th, 2013

In a vacuum, there might be legitimate cause for excitement.  After 11 consecutive quarters during which ESI reported a YOY decline in new student starts the company was finally able to identify an elixir to its enrollment woes – aggressive tuition discounting...

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For-Profit EDU: Just When You Think You Have All of the Answers, We Change the Questions; Feedback from Privately Held...

July 24th, 2013

“And you all know how the story go….Not bad meaning bad but bad meaning good…”-          Run-DMCWith all due respect to Monsieurs Simmons, McDaniels, and Mizell we doubt that they...

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For-Profit EDU: Has a New Legal Precedent Been Established For Institutions? A Recent CECO Case Warrants Closer...

June 19th, 2013

Earlier this week, the American Arbitration Association ruled on a dispute between a former student of CECO’s California School of Culinary Arts (since rebranded the Le Cordon Bleu College of...

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ESI: The Latest 90/10 Compliance Strategy/”Work Around” – Charter Schools and Free Associate’s Degrees

June 12th, 2013

In a move that received little fanfare this past February, ESI’s board of directors established a short term element to the company’s compensation policy for senior management that could be payable in...

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ESI: The Absurdity of Reported “Earnings” As FCF Collapses and Balance Sheet (Off and On) Obligations Loom Large

April 26th, 2013

How much are 400-600 ITT Tech students worth?  In a report in which we will outline some of the critical questions surrounding ESI, this is the question we have been pondering all day.  Afterall, it...

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ESI: 10-K Highlights – the SEC Subpoena Is Not the Sole Cause for Concern

February 25th, 2013

We have little doubt that among the kernels of information included in ESI’s 2012 10-K filing that the disclosure of the subpoena from the SEC will receive the greatest attention – as it should.  However, for anyone who has followed the...

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COCO: With $200MM Left to Go, Things Could Be Coming to a Head

January 31st, 2013

Despite all of the levers the company has pulled (cohort default rate “management”, asset sales, off-loading student loan credit risk temporarily, sale lease backs) over the past two years, it finally appears that COCO is starting to run out of...

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ESI: And So It Begins…. What Do You Believe?

January 25th, 2013

Who said volatility is dead?  In a day that will go down in infamy for ESI investors, the stock traded in an astounding 40%+ range today.  After gaping down in excess of 20% in early trading ESI shares rebounded over the course of the day to close up 17.7% - efficient...

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ESI: The True Nature of ESI’s Educational Outcomes Finally Coming to Light, Liquidity Position Looks Tenuous, Taking...

January 6th, 2013

If you were to distill our short thesis on ESI into its central elements (which we’ve now had in place for almost four years now) it can be succinctly summarized in two points: 1. The company’s...

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COCO: The Games Continue…. The Three Most Important Questions for COCO Stakeholders Now

October 31st, 2012

In some respects, given all that has happened over the past 2-3 years in the for-profit postsecondary education space it’s hard to imagine that COCO is still hanging around.  After all, in an era when brand, price, and return...

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ESI: After The Worst Fall Term Enrollment Intake in ESI’s History, It’s Clear the Emperor Has No Clothes, Taking...

October 25th, 2012

Losing Altitude and Gaining Speed…..At the simplest level, here are the five things that you need to know about ESI following the company’s 3Q12 earnings release and fall term enrollment...

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For-Profit EDU: Checks with Privately Held Institutions Suggest We’re On the Cusp of Yet Another Round of Meaningful...

October 15th, 2012

On Tuesday, October 16th APOL will kick-start the earnings season in the for-profit postsecondary education sector.  Investor expectations for the company’s results, particularly surrounding new...

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ESI: More Correspondence with the SEC, but It’s not related to the Off-Balance Sheet Treatment of PEAKS

September 25th, 2012

More Correspondence with the SEC….We just wanted to flag a round of correspondence between ESI and the SEC that occurred in July and August of this year.  The letters were just released through the SEC’s...

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COCO: Another Log on the “Regulatory Fire”

September 18th, 2012

“The investment thesis for us is pretty straightforward, as I said earlier, career-oriented, that's a big deal to us. I mean, we're teaching students how to become prepared for their first job. Not only do we teach them and get them through the process, we also spend a...

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COCO: All Available Levers Pulled, The Focus Should Increasingly Turn to COCO’s Liquidity and Leverage

August 20th, 2012

After gapping down earlier in the morning, COCO shares rallied over the course of the day to end down only 1% following 4Q12 results and management commentary that should create significant cause for concern among...

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WPO: The Song Remains the Same, Lowering Estimates to Reflect Weakening Prospects for Kaplan

August 3rd, 2012

In many respects, WPO’s 2Q12 earnings results represent a complete validation of our short thesis on the stock.  At a time when it appears most bulls on the stock own it based on some theoretical breakup value, two...

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For-Profit EDU: Checks with Privately Held Institutions Suggest Trends Are Not Getting Better; Be Wary of the 150%...

July 24th, 2012

Make no mistake, as we navigate earnings season in the for-profit education space over the next 2-3 weeks, the poor operating results from DeVry will look like an accurate gauge of the operating...

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For-Profit EDU: The CFPB Frames the Private Student Lending Industry

July 20th, 2012

Early this morning, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its long awaited report on the Private Student Loan (PSL) industry.  The report provides a broad overview of the characteristics of the private student loan market for the...

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For-Profit EDU: Another Log on the Fire? The Pell Grant Party Might Be Over

June 20th, 2012

There is little doubt that the for-profit postsecondary education sector has been under siege for the past 2-3 years.  Most stocks in the space are trading at or near their 52-week lows and at valuations most investors and management teams in...

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APOL: Closing Out Our Short Idea with a 32% Gain (vs. S&P 500 +11.3%), Core Thesis Remains Intact

May 8th, 2012

On 12/15/11 we introduced APOL as a short idea (see “The Monster is Out of the Cage and APOL’s Secular Decline Begins in Earnest”).  Our thesis at that time was predicated on the following: Demographic trends were...

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Z: Zillow Provides a Glimpse of the Future, While Investing In It

May 3rd, 2012

Some investors might be perplexed by the strength in Zillow shares after hours.  Yes, the company did report strong 1Q12 results that handily beat estimates.  Yes, the operating metrics delivered in 1Q12 were fantastic and well above what most...

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