Key Highlights

  • Third quarter Revenue climbed 94% to $376.7 million from $194.2 million.
  • Adjusted EBITDA was $61.5 million, up 294% from $15.6 million.
  • Net loss was $25.6 million, or $0.10 per share, compared with $8.6 million, or $0.05.
  • Full-year 2026 revenue guidance was narrowed to $1.229 billion to $1.237 billion.
  • The $115 million synergy target is now expected by year-end.

Revenue almost doubles after the Udemy deal

Coursera (NYSE:COUR), an online learning platform based in Mountain View, California, reported third quarter 2026 results on October 29, 2026. Revenue reached $376.7 million, up 94% from $194.2 million. Guidance reflects completion of the Udemy transaction on May 11, 2026, with Udemy's results included from the Acquisition date.

Gross profit rose 108% to $220.1 million, and gross Margin widened to 58.4% from 54.6%. Adjusted EBITDA climbed from $15.6 million to $61.5 million, with the margin rising to 16.3% from 8.0%.

Most of the revenue gain stems from the acquisition, so the release's comparison with a standalone prior year quarter does not show organic growth.

GAAP loss widens as Cash Flow falls

The net loss was $25.6 million, or $0.10 per share, compared with $8.6 million, or $0.05. The net loss margin was negative 6.8%, versus negative 4.4%.

Operating cash flow was $15.5 million, down 54% from $33.9 million, and free cash flow fell 83% to $4.6 million from $26.6 million.

Adjusted EBITDA excludes merger, integration and restructuring costs, stock-based compensation, Depreciation and amortization, taxes and other items. That explains why it rose sharply while the GAAP result slipped.

Synergy plan accelerated to eight months

The company said it accelerated integration to reach the synergy target by year-end, within eight months of close against the original 24-month timeline. Actions taken represent more than $150 million of annualized gross cost savings, supporting early delivery of the full $115 million annual run-rate net synergy target.

CEO Greg Hart said organizations are investing at extraordinary scale in AI infrastructure, and that the payoff depends on workers who know how to use it. He added that Coursera and Udemy are positioned to address that skills gap.

Calculated changes and guidance midpoints

Revenue increased by about $182.5 million and Gross Profit by about $114.1 million year over year, while the net loss widened by about $17.0 million. The fourth quarter guidance midpoints of $362 million in revenue and $57 million in adjusted EBITDA imply a margin of about 15.7%.

The full-year revenue midpoint is $1.233 billion. The roughly 14% adjusted EBITDA margin target implies about $173 million of adjusted EBITDA for the year on a calculated basis.

Customer metrics before the merger

The release notes that, on a standalone basis for the third quarter of 2025, Coursera reported a net retention rate of 89%, while Udemy reported a net dollar retention rate of 93%. At September 30, 2025, Coursera had 1,724 paid enterprise customers and Udemy had 17,111 Udemy Business customers.

Because the combined company now reports on a merged basis, those legacy figures cannot be compared directly with current metrics, and the release flags the difference in how they were calculated.

Guidance and Project Helix

For the fourth quarter, the company expects revenue of $358 million to $366 million and adjusted EBITDA of $55 million to $59 million. For full-year 2026, it narrowed revenue guidance to $1.229 billion to $1.237 billion and targets an adjusted EBITDA margin of about 14%.

Coursera previewed Project Helix, a new AI-native skills platform linking trusted learning to verified proof of skills, expected to become broadly available to enterprise customers in the first half of 2027.

Investors following the name will likely watch synergy delivery, cash flow recovery and the timing of the Helix launch.