Does “Ghost Student” Fraud Allegations Upend Stride’s Reported Enrollment Story And Change The Bull Case For Stride (LRN)?

• In recent months, multiple law firms have filed securities class action lawsuits against Stride, Inc., alleging inflated enrollment figures using “ghost students,” compliance failures, and suppression of whistleblowers between October 22, 2024 and October 28, 2025.
• These coordinated legal actions focus sharply on whether Stride’s reported enrollment metrics and operational practices accurately reflected the health and integrity of its underlying business.
• Next, we’ll examine how these fraud allegations around “ghost students” could reshape Stride’s investment narrative and future risk profile.

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Stride Investment Narrative Recap

To own Stride today, you need to believe its online and hybrid education model can keep converting demand into sustained enrollment and earnings, despite tighter scrutiny. The new “ghost student” fraud allegations make data integrity and regulatory relationships the central near term catalyst and the biggest risk, as any adverse legal findings or contract losses could matter far more in the short run than incremental growth initiatives.

The most relevant recent announcement here is the wave of securities class actions, including the Scott+Scott case filed in November 2025, which directly challenges Stride’s reported enrollment and compliance practices. Until there is more clarity on these legal outcomes, the prior earnings driven narrative and consensus catalysts sit alongside a materially higher risk that contract partners or regulators reassess their ties with Stride.

Yet investors should be aware that, if public sentiment shifts further against online education quality and oversight, Stride’s exposure to contract loss and reputational risk...

Read the full narrative on Stride (it's free!)

Stride's narrative projects $3.1 billion revenue and $523.9 million earnings by 2028. This implies 9.3% yearly revenue growth and an earnings increase of about $236 million from $287.9 million today.

Uncover how Stride's forecasts yield a $115.50 fair value, a 76% upside to its current price.

Exploring Other Perspectives

Seven members of the Simply Wall St Community currently see Stride’s fair value between US$105 and about US$342 per share, showing very different expectations. You should weigh those views against the emerging legal and compliance overhang, which could influence how reliably Stride converts enrollment relationships into future earnings.

Explore 7 other fair value estimates on Stride - why the stock might be worth just $105.00!

Build Your Own Stride Narrative

Disagree with existing narratives? Create your own in under 3 minutes - extraordinary investment returns rarely come from following the herd.

• A great starting point for your Stride research is our analysis highlighting 4 key rewards and 1 important warning sign that could impact your investment decision.
• Our free Stride research report provides a comprehensive fundamental analysis summarized in a single visual - the Snowflake - making it easy to evaluate Stride's overall financial health at a glance.

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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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