BFAM NYSE Russell 1000 Earnings call
Bright Horizons (BFAM) · Q2 2026 results and valuation
Share price: $51.91 · 2026-11-11
Results Q2 2026 vs Q1 2026 · previous quarter · published 30 Jul 2026 and 5 May 2026
Net income up 19.1% on the previous quarter, guidance raised. Management sounded cautious, in its script and in answers to analysts.
Only a basic analysis is available for this company at the moment.
1 · Numbers
+19.1%
Net income vs Q1 2026
Guidance raised
Net income 40.6M vs 34.1M
Revenue +9.4%
Against the same quarter last year (Q2 2025) it is −25.8%, so the move on last quarter looks seasonal or timing-related rather than a trend.
2 · How management spoke
Cautious
Among the least upbeat of all company calls
Answers to analysts: upbeat, in line with the script.
Similar to last call.
3 · What stood out
Key theme
Revenue grew 7% to $779 million and adjusted operating margins expanded 95 basis points.
Valuation
Is Bright Horizons undervalued?
Reverse DCF on net income from the last full fiscal year (no meaningful free cash flow: a bank, insurer or a year of negative cash flow) (2025-12-31), grown for 10 years, discounted back, plus a terminal value. “Implied growth” is the rate the current price assumes.
At 10.0% growth a year (3-year revenue growth), the model's fair value is $90.36 a share — the stock trades 43% below it. Today's price assumes 1.9% growth a year.
Current price
$51.91
close of 2026-11-11
Market implies growth of iThe yearly free-cash-flow growth, for the next 10 years, that today’s share price already assumes. If you believe the company grows faster than this, the stock is cheap under this model; slower, and it is expensive.
+1.9% for 10 yrs
Fair value / share
$90.36
Buy below
$67.77
Price vs fair value
Undervalued 43%
Price vs buy-below price
Undervalued 23%
Management expects
Revenue +3% · from the Q2 2026 report: “Full service reported revenue is expected to grow between 2.5% and 3% from enrollment gains and tuition increases, offset by approximately 200 basis points of…”
A guidance figure for revenue, usually one year ahead, not a 10-year free-cash-flow rate.
Read between the lines
-
Guidance ↑
Full-year revenue outlook is now $3.085 billion-$3.115 billion and adjusted EPS guidance was raised.
Source quote
“As we look ahead to the remainder of the year, we are narrowing our full-year revenue outlook to a range of $3.085 billion-$3.115 billion and raising adjusted EPS...”
-
Guidance
Full service reported revenue is expected to grow between 2.5% and 3% from enrollment gains and tuition increases, offset by approximately 200 basis points of headwind.
Source quote
“In full service, we expect reported revenue to grow in the range of 2.5%-3% on enrollment gains and tuition increases, offset by approximately 200 basis points of headwind...”
-
Guidance
BFAM is narrowing its full-year revenue outlook to a specific range for the remainder of the year.
Tone
How upbeat the language was, compared with other companiesiTone counts positive minus negative finance words, adjusted for length. Executives mostly speak positively, so the labels compare each call with every company's latest call: “typical” is the middle third, “very upbeat” the top tenth, “cautious” the bottom tenth.. Dot: Q2 2026. Ring: Q1 2026.
Script and answers carried a similar tone, so the script's message held up under questioning.
Sentences that drove the tone
“More notably, our bottom cohort, that is centers below 40% occupied, declined to 5% of these centers from 10% in the prior year, reflecting both the enrollment progress and the...”
“Enrollment in centers that are open for the last year was approximately flat in the second quarter, after taking into account the roughly 100 basis points of headwind from the...”
“I think I might have missed one additional question that you had, Stephanie.”
Full figures
USD · SEC EDGAR XBRL (10-Q, period end 2026-06-30)
| Metric | Q2 2026period end 2026-06-30 | Q1 2026period end 2026-03-31 | Change | Q2 2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 779.2M | 712.2M | +9.4% | 731.6M | +6.5% |
| Gross profit | 189.0M | 163.5M | +15.6% | 182.6M | +3.5% |
| Operating income | 79.8M | 64.9M | +22.9% | 86.1M | −7.2% |
| Net income | 40.6M | 34.1M | +19.1% | 54.8M | −25.8% |
| EPS | 0.79 | 0.62 | +27.4% | 0.95 | −16.8% |
| P/E today 20.4 | 22.5 | 24.7 | −2.2 | 40.5 | −18.0 |
Topics
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Latest announcements
Official filings, newest first.
- Results of operations · SEC 8-K
- Shareholder vote results · SEC 8-K
- Material agreement; New financial obligation · SEC 8-K
- Results of operations; Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
- Other events · SEC 8-K
- Results of operations; Director or officer change · SEC 8-K
- Results of operations · SEC 8-K
- Other events · SEC 8-K