Stride (LRN) risk factors, FY2026 10-K

Risks Related to Government Funding and Regulation of Public Education

1. 01Opponents of public charter schools, including virtual and blended, have sought to challenge the establishment and expansion of such schools through the judicial process. If these interests prevail, it could damage our ability to sustain or grow our current business or expand in certain jurisdictions
2. 02Should we fail to comply with the laws and regulations applicable to our business, such failures could result in a loss of public funding and an obligation to repay funds previously received, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations
3. 03As an emerging form of public education with unique attributes, enabling legislation for online public schools is often ambiguous and subject to discrepancies in interpretation by regulatory authorities, which may lead to disputes over our ability to invoice and receive payments for services rendered
4. 04The operation of virtual and blended public charter schools depends on the maintenance of the authorizing charter and compliance with applicable laws. If these charters are not renewed, our contracts with these schools would be terminated
5. 05Actual or alleged misconduct by current or former directors, officers, key employees or officials could make it more difficult for us to enter into new contracts or renew existing contracts
6. 06New laws or regulations could be enacted and negatively impact our operations and financial results23% rewritten

Risks Related to Our Business and Our Industry

1. 07The schools we contract with and serve are governed by independent governing bodies that may shift their priorities or change objectives in ways that are adverse to us and to the students who attend the school programs we administer, or they may react negatively to acquisitions or other transactions
2. 08A majority of our revenues are a direct function of how many students are enrolled in our school-as-a-service offerings, the number of school districts and students who subscribe to such district programs, and the enrollments in our international and private schools
3. 09The enrollment data we present is subject to certain limitations and may not fully capture trends in the performance of our business
4. 10Accordingly, changes in enrollment data may not entirely correspond with changes in the financial performance of our business, and if the mix of enrollments changes, our revenues will be impacted to the extent the average revenues per enrollments are significantly different
5. 11The student demographics of the schools we serve can lead to higher costs and affect our ability to sustain or grow our operating income43% rewritten
6. 12schools we serve also enroll a significant percentage of special needs students with learning and/or physical disabilities, which also adds to the total costs incurred by the schoolsNew
7. 13As our cost structure evolves due to the demographics, educational profile and mix of the students enrolled in our school-as-a-service offerings, our profit margins may decline, and we may have increasing difficulty in sustaining or growing our operating income commensurate with our revenues
8. 14Mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures present many risks, and we may not realize the financial and strategic goals that formed the basis for the transaction
9. 15Our business could be negatively affected as a result of actions by activist stockholders, and such activism could impact the trading value of our securities and harm our business, financial condition and results of operations
10. 16If market demand for online options in public schooling does not increase or continue or if additional states do not authorize or adequately fund virtual or blended public schools, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected
11. 17Increasing competition in the education industry sectors that we serve could lead to pricing pressures, reduced operating margins, loss of market share, departure of key employees and increased capital expenditures
12. 18Regulatory frameworks on the accessibility of technology and curriculum are continually evolving due to legislative and administrative developments and the rapid evolution of technology, which could result in increased product development costs and compliance risks
13. 19Our business is subject to seasonal fluctuations, which may cause our operating results to fluctuate from quarter-to-quarter and adversely impact our working capital and liquidity throughout the year

Risks Related to Our Operations

1. 20Our failure to manage these business expansion programs, or any new business expansion program or new distribution channel we pursue, may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows
2. 21We rely on third-party service providers to host some of our solutions and any interruptions or delays in services from these third parties could impair the delivery of our products and harm our business97% rewritten
3. 22We operate a complex Company-wide ERP system, and if it were to experience significant operating problems, it could adversely affect our business and results of operations
4. 23The continued development of our product and service brands is important to our business. If we are not able to maintain and enhance these brands, our business and operating results may suffer
5. 24Our intellectual property rights are valuable, and any inability to protect them could reduce the value of our products, services and brand
6. 25Lawsuits against us alleging infringement of the intellectual property rights of others would be costly to defend, could require us to pay damages or royalty payments and could limit our ability or increase our costs to use certain technologies in the future
7. 26We may be subject to legal liability or named as a party in legal proceedings resulting from the actions of third parties, including independent contractors, business partners, teachers, or employees, which could cause us to incur substantial costs and damage our reputation70% rewritten
8. 27We operate in markets that are dependent on IT Systems and technological change. Failure to maintain and support customer-facing services, systems, and platforms, including addressing quality issues and execution on time of new products and enhancements, could negatively impact our revenues and reputationNew
9. 28unauthorized parties. Moreover, any use or integration of generative or other AI in our, or any third party’s, operations, products or services will pose new and/or unknown cybersecurity risks and challengesNew
10. 29The failure to prevent a cybersecurity incident affecting our systems, including, but not limited to, disruption of services, could harm our reputation, decrease demand for our services and products, expose us to liability, penalties, and remedial costs, or otherwise adversely affect our financial performance41% rewritten
11. 30We rely on the Internet to enroll students and to deliver our products and services and to market ourselves and schools that contract with us, all of which exposes us to a growing number of legal risks and increasing regulation28% rewritten
12. 31Any significant interruption in the operation of AWS or Azure could cause a loss of data and disrupt our ability to manage our technological infrastructure
13. 32We rely on third-party cloud infrastructure and related services to deliver and operate our platform and deliver our solutions, and any disruption, limitation, or change in these cloud services could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial conditionNew
14. 33Scale and capacity limits on some of our technology, transaction processing systems and network hardware and software may be difficult to project and we may not be able to expand and upgrade our systems in a timely manner to meet significant unexpected increased demand21% rewritten
15. 34Our efforts to expand capacity may not produce the operational and financial results for which those investments were intended
16. 35We may be unable to keep pace with changes in our industry and advancements in technology as our business and market strategy evolves, including AI63% rewritten
17. 36or reputational damage, competitive harm, legal and regulatory risk, and additional costs, any of which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operationsNew
18. 37We may be unable to attract and retain key executives, skilled employees, and trained staff because our employees are located throughout the United States, we may incur additional compliance and litigation costs that could adversely impact our business, financial condition and our results of operations
19. 38We may need additional capital in the future, but there is no assurance that funds will be available on acceptable terms
20. 39We cannot guarantee that our stock repurchase program will be fully consummated or that it will enhance long-term stockholder value. Stock repurchases could also increase the volatility of the trading price of our stock and will diminish our cash reserves and increase our debtNew
21. 40Changes in our effective tax rate and additional tax liabilities, including those related to our stock repurchases, and global tax developments may impact our financial resultsNew
22. 41We are also subject to tax examinations or engaged in alternative resolutions in multiple jurisdictions. While weNew