What happened
Shares of Laureate Education (LAUR 0.49%) popped on Friday, rising 15.8% for the session. The stock rose because the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has decided to drop an investigation involving the company.
So what
Laureate Education offers online degree programs in various countries around the world. In the U.S., it goes by Walden University. It plans to divest this part of the business soon, but for now, it still belongs to the company and there's been a concern regarding a potential investigation from the DOJ.
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According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), there were questions as to whether Walden University's nursing program was making false claims. Credibility is a big issue in the online degree space, so the potential fallout was big. However, in today's SEC filing, Laureate Education disclosed that the DOJ is declining to look into the matter further.
Now what
With this issue now behind it, Laureate Education shareholders can turn their attention back to the financial news. The company's upcoming financial results for the first quarter of 2021 are scheduled for release on May 6 before the market opens. Revenue in 2020 was roughly $1 billion, which was down 15% year over year. However, for Q1, management said in February it is optimistic its declines are slowing and that it expects business to be essentially flat from the same period last year.
