Coursera Provides Strategic and Financial Outlook at 2023 Investor Day

Rhea-AI Summary

Coursera (NYSE: COUR) held its first Investor Day on March 9, 2023, outlining long-term revenue targets, reflecting strong consumer demand and growth in its Degrees segment. The company aims for 25-30% revenue growth in the long-term and anticipates achieving positive Adjusted EBITDA in 2024. CFO Ken Hahn noted that Degrees revenue is expected to grow by over 25% year-over-year in 2024, driven by enrollment trends among working adults. Coursera emphasizes the importance of micro-credentials and flexible learning opportunities for global skill development.

Positive

• Long-term revenue growth target of 25-30%.
• Expected positive Adjusted EBITDA in 2024.
• 25% year-over-year growth anticipated in Degrees segment revenue for 2024.

Negative

• None.

• Updates long-term revenue targets to reflect durable Consumer demand and accelerating Degrees growth
• Expects to achieve positive Adjusted EBITDA in 2024

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Coursera (NYSE: COUR) will hold its first Investor Day, today, March 9, 2023 at 7:00 a.m. PT / 10:00 a.m. ET to present an updated view of the company’s long-term strategy, key initiatives, and financial targets.

“Emerging technologies and globalization are transforming the labor market, requiring individuals and institutions to keep up with skills at an unprecedented speed and scale,” said Coursera CEO, Jeff Maggioncalda. “We believe the rise of industry micro-credentials and the growing demand for flexible, affordable, and job-relevant degrees represent a global opportunity to better serve learners seeking to unlock their career at every stage.”

Financial Targets

During today’s event, Coursera will affirm its 2023 outlook and discuss its updated financial targets, including:

• 25-30% Revenue growth in the long-term
• 58-63% Non-GAAP gross margin in the long-term
• Positive Adjusted EBITDA in 2024
• 15-20% Adjusted EBITDA margin in the long-term

“In 2024, we expect our Degrees segment revenue growth will accelerate to more than 25% year-over-year, reflecting strong enrollment trends in programs designed for working adults,” said Ken Hahn, Coursera’s CFO. “We believe our differentiated business model, including multiple levers of growth with operational efficiencies, will allow us to achieve positive Adjusted EBITDA in 2024 while investing in our long-term strategy.”

Webcast Information

As previously announced, the Investor Day will begin at approximately 10:00 am ET in New York City. Presentation materials and access to a live webcast of the event are available in the Events & Presentations section of our Investor Relations page at investor.coursera.com. For those unable to listen to the broadcast live, an archived replay will be accessible in the same location for one year.

Disclosure Information

In compliance with disclosure obligations under Regulation FD, Coursera announces material information to the public through a variety of means, including filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), press releases, company blog posts, public conference calls, and webcasts, as well as via Coursera’s investor relations website.

About Coursera

Coursera was launched in 2012 by two Stanford Computer Science professors, Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller, with a mission to provide universal access to world-class learning. It is now one of the largest online learning platforms in the world, with 118 million registered learners as of December 31, 2022. Coursera partners with over 300 leading university and industry partners to offer a broad catalog of content and credentials, including courses, Specializations, Professional Certificates, Guided Projects, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Institutions around the world use Coursera to upskill and reskill their employees, citizens, and students in fields such as data science, technology, and business. Coursera is a Delaware public benefit corporation and became a B Corp in February 2021.

Key Business Metrics Definitions

Registered Learners

We count the total number of registered learners at the end of each period. For purposes of determining our registered learner count, we treat each customer account that registers with a unique email as a registered learner and adjust for any spam, test accounts, and cancellations. Our registered learner count is not intended as a measure of active engagement. New registered learners are individuals that register in a particular period.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In addition to financial information presented in accordance with GAAP, this press release includes non-GAAP gross margin, Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted EBITDA margin, each of which is a non-GAAP financial measure. These are key measures used by our management to help us analyze our financial results, establish budgets and operational goals for managing our business, evaluate our performance, and make strategic decisions. Accordingly, we believe that these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating our operating results in the same manner as our management and board of directors. In addition, we believe these measures are useful for period-to-period comparisons of our business. We also believe that the presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures provides an additional tool for investors to use in comparing our core business and results of operations over multiple periods with other companies in our industry, many of which present similar non-GAAP financial measures to investors. However, the non-GAAP financial measures presented may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies due to differences in the way that these measures are calculated. These non-GAAP financial measures are presented for supplemental informational purposes only and should not be considered as a substitute for or in isolation from financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. These non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as analytical tools.

Non-GAAP Gross Margin

We define non-GAAP gross margin as GAAP gross profit excluding the impact of stock-based compensation, restructuring charges, and payroll tax expense related to stock-based activities divided by revenue. We believe the presentation of this adjusted operating measure provides useful supplemental information to investors and facilitates the analysis and comparison of our operating results across reporting periods.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin

We define Adjusted EBITDA as our GAAP net loss excluding: (1) depreciation and amortization; (2) interest income; (3) other (income) expense, net; (4) stock-based compensation expense; (5) restructuring charges; (6) income tax expense; and (7) payroll tax expense related to stock-based activities. We define Adjusted EBITDA margin as Adjusted EBITDA divided by revenue.

A reconciliation of our non-GAAP guidance measures (non-GAAP gross margin, Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted EBITDA margin) to the corresponding GAAP guidance measures is not available on a forward-looking basis without unreasonable effort due to the uncertainty regarding, and the potential variability of, expenses that may be incurred in the future. Stock-based compensation expense-related charges, including employer payroll tax-related items on employee stock transactions, are impacted by the timing of employee stock transactions, the future fair market value of our common stock, and our future hiring and retention needs, all of which are difficult to predict and subject to constant change.

Special Note on Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Any statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as: “accelerate,” “anticipate, “believe,” “can,” “continue,” “could,” “demand,” “estimate,” “expand,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “mission,” “objective,” “ongoing,” “outlook”, “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would,” or the negative of these terms, or other comparable terminology intended to identify statements about the future. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: Coursera’s ability to deliver the in-demand skills and branded credentials, including micro-credentials, desired by both individuals and institutions for today’s digital jobs; Coursera’s mission to provide universal access to world-class learning; the demand for online learning; anticipated features and benefits of our customer and partner relationships and our content and platform offerings; the anticipated utility of non-GAAP financial measures; anticipated growth rates and enrollment trends; and our financial outlook, future financial performance, long-term strategy, and expectations, among others. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following: our ability to manage our growth; our limited operating history; the relative nascency of online learning solutions and risks related to market adoption of online learning; our ability to maintain and expand our partnerships with our university and industry partners and to create opportunities with new partners; our dependence on our partners for content available on our platform; our ability to attract and retain learners; our ability to increase sales of our Enterprise offering; our ability to compete effectively; the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on our business and our industry; regulatory matters impacting us or our partners; risks related to intellectual property; cybersecurity and privacy risks and regulations; potential disruptions to our platform; risks related to international operations, including regulatory, economic, and geopolitical conditions, and our status as a B Corp, as well as the risks and uncertainties discussed in our most recently filed periodic reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and subsequent filings and as detailed from time to time in our SEC filings. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee that the future results, levels of activity, performance, or events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur. Moreover, neither we nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements relate only to events as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements except to the extent required by law.

Source Code: COUR-IR

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230309005459/en/

For investors: Cam Carey, ir@coursera.org

For media: Arunav Sinha, press@coursera.org

Source: Coursera

FAQ

What are Coursera's long-term revenue growth targets?

Coursera targets long-term revenue growth of 25-30%.

When is Coursera expected to achieve positive Adjusted EBITDA?

Coursera expects to achieve positive Adjusted EBITDA in 2024.

What growth is expected in Coursera's Degrees segment for 2024?

Coursera anticipates over 25% year-over-year growth in its Degrees segment revenue in 2024.

What is the significance of micro-credentials for Coursera?

Micro-credentials represent a global opportunity for Coursera to serve learners seeking relevant skills.