Apollo Group (APOL) ended Monday up 7% on a great second-quarter report. While analysts estimated $0.18 per share this quarter, Apollo came in with $0.34 per share.
For the second quarter, net revenues were $834 million. That's down to $963 million from the second quarter in 2012, or a 13.3% decrease. Net income came in at $13.7 million, working out to diluted earnings per share of $0.12, or $0.34 per share excluding special items. For comparison, earnings per share were $0.49 and $0.57, respectively, in Q2 2012.
In addition, the Board of Directors announced that they had approved a share-repurchase authorization of up to $250 million on March 22. There is no expiration date on the repurchase authorization and repurchases, though management retains discretion.
As Apollo re-engineers its business processes and refines its educational delivery structure, the company believes that it should see a $50 million increase in anticipated savings from the company's previous outlook.
Moving forward, Apollo expects net revenues for fiscal year 2013 to be around $3.65 billion to $3.75 billion.
In the press release, Chief Executive Officer Greg Cappelli said:
"Higher education is rapidly evolving as workforce demands and technological innovations drive change in our global economy. We are further positioning our organization and brand with our continued commitment to help students acquire real workplace skills, achieve their academic goals, and -- through the power of education -- realize their career aspirations."
