Shares in IDP Education Ltd (ASX: IEL) surged more than 16% higher on Tuesday after the company was upgraded from a hold to a buy by the team at Jefferies, who also assigned a bullish new price target.
As reported by The Australian, Jefferies analysts now have a price target of $8.60 on IDP shares, 72% higher than their previous target.
The company's shares rocketed 16.2% on the upgrade, to be the number one gainer on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), ahead of Capstone Copper Corp (ASX: CSC) shares, which were 4.3% higher at $13.14.
IDP shares have traded in a wide range over the past year, hitting levels as high as $16.38 around this time last year before bottoming out at $3.40 in June.
In announcing its full-year results in August, the international student placement and English language curriculum company said the results "reflect challenging industry conditions".
The company's revenue came in at $882.2 million, down 14% on the previous full year, with student placement volumes down 29%, language testing volumes down 18%, and language teaching volumes up 1%.
The company sought to mitigate these volume declines with price increases, with average student placement prices up 15% and language testing prices up 5%.
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Recovery program underway
The company said it had committed to "a multi-year transformation that will see IDP become a more efficient, technology-enabled business positioned to capture profitable growth''.
Phase one of the transformation will strengthen and simplify the business and deliver $25 million net reduction in the cost base in FY26, with one-off restructuring costs of $35 million – $45 million. As IDP moves into the next phase of the transformation, it will look to capture additional productivity and revenue benefits. In FY26, transformation priorities include resetting the cost base, simplifying and strengthening IDP's operating model, leveraging global purchasing power to reduce vendor spend, consolidating systems and platforms, and accelerating digital and AI adoption to drive productivity.
On the outlook, the company said it expected adjusted earnings before interest and tax of $115 to $125 million, compared with $119 million for FY25, which was a 48% fall on the previous year.
The company expected challenging industry conditions to continue and was planning for volumes to fall another 20% to 30% on FY25 numbers.
The transformation program was expected to deliver $25 million in savings this year, weighted to the second half.
IDP was valued at $1.58 billion at the close of trade on Monday. IDP shares were removed from the S&P/ASX 100 Index (ASX: XTO) at its most recent rebalance on September 22.
