Coursera (COUR): Evaluating Valuation Following Anthropic AI Collaboration and New Course Launches

Coursera (COUR) recently unveiled a partnership with Anthropic to launch two new AI-focused Specializations. By teaming up, the companies aim to make advanced generative AI skills accessible to both developers and business professionals.

See our latest analysis for Coursera.

Coursera’s recent moves, including the Anthropic partnership and new CFO appointment, arrive as the company focuses on AI upskilling and talent development. While the share price is off nearly 31% over the past three months and 6% year-to-date, this follows a period of volatility, and total shareholder return has broken even for the past year. The attention surrounding Coursera’s AI offerings and renewed leadership brings cautious optimism, but momentum has not yet resulted in sustained gains.

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Given this backdrop and a meaningful discount to analyst price targets, is Coursera an overlooked play in AI education, or is the market already anticipating the company’s potential for future growth?

Most Popular Narrative: 35% Undervalued

Compared to the last close price of $7.95, the most widely followed narrative estimates Coursera's fair value at $12.23. This suggests the current price reflects a substantial discount relative to projections, with investor focus on the company's future revenue and margin evolution amid ongoing innovation.

Continuous product innovation, especially through AI-powered features like personalized tutoring (Coach), AI-driven catalog expansion, and advanced go-to-market strategies such as localized pricing and onboarding enhancements, is expected to drive higher conversion rates, increase paid user retention, and boost engagement, positively influencing both revenue growth and margin leverage.

Read the complete narrative.

Curious why this narrative sets such a bold valuation? The story hinges on much more than just steady user growth. Intriguing financial assumptions about earnings, margins, and a shift in business fundamentals drive these numbers. Which metric has analysts betting on a turnaround? Read the full narrative to see the calculations for yourself.

Result: Fair Value of $12.23 (UNDERVALUED)

Have a read of the narrative in full and understand what's behind the forecasts.

However, growing competition from free alternatives and ongoing skepticism about online credentials could reduce Coursera's revenue potential in the coming years.

Find out about the key risks to this Coursera narrative.

Another View: What Do Multiples Say?

Looking from a price-to-sales perspective, Coursera trades at 1.8x, which is above the US Consumer Services industry average of 1.4x, its peer average of 1.5x, and also above the fair ratio of 1.2x that the market could come to expect. This signals a risk that the stock is expensive by comparison. What happens if sentiment shifts and the market starts to prize lower multiples?

See what the numbers say about this price — find out in our valuation breakdown.

Build Your Own Coursera Narrative

If you see things differently or want to dig into the data yourself, you can easily build your own narrative in just a few minutes: Do it your way

A great starting point for your Coursera research is our analysis highlighting 3 key rewards and 2 important warning signs that could impact your investment decision.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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