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Graham Holdings Company

GHC
48
Education & Training Services · Consumer Defensive
Price
$1177.86
-24.19 (-2.01%)
Market Cap
$5.10B
Winston Score
48
Winston is serious
Mixed quality — meaningful strengths and weaknesses.

Share count falling — buybacks

11.9% over 4y

The company has reduced its share count over this period, returning value to shareholders through buybacks.

Diluted shares outstanding: 5.0M (2021) → 4.4M (2025)

Graham Holdings Company is a diversified media and education company that owns several different businesses under one roof. Its most well-known asset is Kaplan, a test-prep and higher-education company that helps students prepare for exams like the SAT, GRE, and professional certifications. The company also owns television stations, home health services, and a handful of smaller businesses across different industries.

Graham Holdings makes money in multiple ways — Kaplan charges tuition and course fees, the TV stations sell advertising, and other units generate service revenue. The company operates mainly in the United States but Kaplan has a meaningful international presence, particularly in the UK and Asia. Its diversified structure reduces reliance on any single business, but that same complexity makes it harder to grow efficiently, as reflected in its low operating margin and modest return on invested capital. The key risk is that Kaplan faces ongoing pressure from free and low-cost online learning alternatives that compete directly with its paid courses.

Winston Score History

Growth Profile

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+6.0% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Slow revenue growth

EPS Growth

+21.5% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Steady EPS growth

R&D Spend

$0/ year

0.0% of revenue

Below sector average (2%)

Research and development spending

Insider Activity

6.8%ownership

Flat

Insiders holding steady — not selling despite ability to

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

$136M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↓ Burn rate worsening

Company generates more cash than it spends — no dilution risk from fundraising

Growth context

Graham Holdings Company is growing revenue at 6% year-over-year. The Winston Score measures business quality today — these growth metrics show what could matter tomorrow.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

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Quality

Gross Margin
30.6%
Modest — 30.6% gross margin
Operating Margin
6.2%
Modest — 6.2% operating margin
ROCE
1.4%
Weak — 1.4% return on capital

ROIC between 0% and 5%. They earn a few cents back per dollar invested in the business.

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Growth

Sales YoY
+3.7%
Slow sales growth (3.7% YoY)
EPS YoY
-51.9%
Earnings shrinking (-51.9% YoY)

Earnings per share down more than 10%. Either a bad year, or a real decline.

EPS Consistency
6/8 quarters
Earnings grew in most of the last 8 quarters

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Cash Flow

Cash Conversion
121%
Turns 121% of profit into real cash
FCF Margin
5.7%
Thin free cash flow (5.7%)

FCF margin between 0% and 10%. Some cash from sales, but not a lot.

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Stability

Debt / Equity
0.17
Conservative — low debt load (0.17)
Interest Cover
5.33x
Adequate interest coverage (5.3x)

Interest coverage between 3 and 8. Profits cover interest several times over.

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Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)
17.3x
Fair value — P/E 17.3

P/E in the normal range. Price is roughly $15 for every $1 of yearly profit.

P/E vs Forward
+0.1
GROWING
Earnings roughly flat

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Dividends

Dividend Yield
0.62%
Small dividend — 0.62% yield

Modest yield. The bulk of any return needs to come from price appreciation.

Dividend Growth
+4.5%
Dividend growing modestly (4.5% YoY)

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