What happened
Shares of TAL Education (TAL +2.77%) have popped today, up by 15% as of 11:35 a.m. EST, after the company reported fiscal third-quarter earnings. The results were mixed relative to analyst expectations.
So what
Revenue in the fiscal third quarter increased 35% to $1.12 billion, which was ahead of the $1.08 billion in sales that Wall Street was looking for. That resulted in adjusted net income of $10.4 million, or $0.02 per American depositary share (ADS). The consensus estimate called for $0.08 per ADS in adjusted profits. The Chinese tutoring company now has nearly 3.4 million students enrolled in long-term courses.
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"In the third quarter, along with the effective measures China's government has taken to continuously improve the public health situation and economy, we are pleased to see our tutoring business has also demonstrated on-track performance in this fiscal quarter," CFO Rong Luo said in a statement. "Looking ahead, we will keep making every effort to optimize our products, service and technology, and further build up our all-round education services with top quality content and customer experience."
Now what
TAL has been expanding its physical network of learning centers and now has 990 facilities. The consumer discretionary company issued guidance for the fiscal fourth quarter that calls for revenue of $1.175 billion to $1.2 billion, which translates into growth of 37% to 40%. That forecast is a little light compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion.
