Universal Technical Institute Reports Fiscal Year 2025 First Quarter Results

Delivers Financial and Operational Outperformance in Fiscal Q1; Raises Fiscal 2025 Guidance Ranges for All Metrics

PHOENIX, Feb. 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE:UTI), a leading workforce solutions provider of transportation, skilled trades and healthcare education programs, reported financial results for the fiscal 2025 first quarter ended December 31, 2024. Universal Technical Institute, Inc. operates in two reportable segments, Universal Technical Institute (UTI) and Concorde Career Colleges (Concorde), and together with its segments and subsidiaries is referred to as the "Company," "we," "us" or "our."

• Revenue of $201.4 million representing 15.3% growth versus the comparable period.
• Total new student starts grew 22.3% while average full-time active students grew 11.1% versus the comparable period.
• Net income of $22.2 million, an increase of 113.2% over the comparable period.
• Adjusted EBITDA⁽¹⁾ of $35.5 million, an increase of 44.8% over the comparable period.
• Full year guidance raised for all key metrics.

"In the first quarter of 2025, we continued to deliver on our growth, diversification, and optimization strategy, leading to outperformance across our key financial and operational metrics," said Jerome Grant, CEO of Universal Technical Institute, Inc. "Both divisions experienced strong year-over-year growth, with consolidated revenue increasing 15%, average full-time active students growing 11%, and new student starts growing over 22%, while considerably increasing our bottom line. As a result, I'm proud to report that we are increasing our guidance ranges for fiscal 2025. We are fully aligned with our strategic growth objectives and are making steady progress toward achieving them throughout the year.

"As a reminder, the beginning of this year officially marked the start of our North Star Phase II strategy, building on our proven track record of success and leveraging our strong balance sheet to create value for all stakeholders. Our focus on strategic investments, technological innovation, and strong partnerships positions us to expand our brand, drive enrollment, and continue delivering industry-leading student outcomes. With a clear vision and a commitment to excellence, we are well-positioned to achieve sustainable growth and create a positive impact for our students, faculty, staff, and shareholders in the years to come."

Financial Results for the Three-Month Period Ended December 31, 2024 Compared to 2023

• Revenues increased 15.3% to $201.4 million compared to $174.7 million primarily due to the growth in average full-time active students at both UTI and Concorde.
• Operating expenses increased by 8.4% to $174.0 million, compared to $160.5 million primarily due the growth in average full-time active students at both UTI and Concorde and costs associated with program expansions.
• Operating income increased to $27.5 million compared to $14.2 million.
• Net income increased to $22.2 million compared to $10.4 million.
• Basic and diluted earnings per share ("EPS") were $0.41 and $0.40, respectively, compared to $0.18 and $0.17, respectively.
• Adjusted EBITDA⁽¹⁾ increased 44.8% to $35.5 million compared to $24.5 million.
• Net cash provided by operating activities increased by 111.9% to $23.0 million.
• Adjusted free cash flow increased 85.1% to $18.9 million.
• New student starts of 5,313 compared to 4,346, with average full-time active students increasing 11.1%.

UTI

• Revenues of $131.5 million, an increase of 14.0% from the comparable period revenues of $115.4 million due primarily to growth in average full-time active students.
• Operating expenses were $106.0 million compared to $100.3 million. The increase was primarily due to growth in average full-time active students and additional expenses incurred related to new program launches.
• Adjusted EBITDA⁽¹⁾ was $31.9 million compared to $21.6 million.
• New student starts increased 19.0% to 2,753, while average full-time active students increased 8.0%.

Concorde

• Revenues of $70.0 million, an increase of 17.9% over the comparable period revenues of $59.3 million due primarily to growth in average full-time active students.
• Operating expenses were $58.8 million compared to $52.2 million. The increase was primarily due to growth in average full-time active students and additional expenses incurred during the current year related to new program launches.
• Adjusted EBITDA⁽¹⁾ was $13.0 million compared to $8.8 million.
• New student starts increased 26.0% to 2,560, while average full-time active students increased by 16.4%.

"Our first quarter results exceeded our expectations across both the top and bottom line," said Christine Kline, Interim CFO of Universal Technical Institute, Inc. "The Concorde division continued its growth trajectory, driven by investments in marketing and admissions efforts that led to higher average full-time student enrollment and improved start rates. The UTI division demonstrated significant year-over-year growth, primarily driven by an increase in new student starts and higher average full-time students, with some of the growth driven by start deferrals from the fourth quarter into the first quarter as a result of FAFSA delays. The top-line growth combined with a shift in timing for strategic investments resulted in lower than anticipated spend in the quarter, and drove the outperformance on the bottom line.

"As we look at the remainder of 2025, we are raising our annual guidance ranges for all key metrics with the expectation to generate $810 million to $820 million in revenue, $122 million to $126 million in adjusted EBITDA, and 28,500 to 29,500 in new student starts. With favorable macro-economic dynamics, a healthy balance sheet, and an experienced team with a strong focus on executing our strategic growth initiatives, we believe we are well-positioned to meet our expectations for fiscal year 2025, along with our longer-term growth targets for Phase II of our North Star Strategy."

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

At December 31, 2024, the Company's total available cash liquidity was $246.0 million which includes $74.0 million available from its revolving credit facility. Capital expenditures ("capex") for the year-to date period were $3.3 million. The primary driver of capex for the quarter was the program expansions at both UTI and Concorde.

Updated Fiscal 2025 Financial Outlook

For the Company's most recent investor presentation and quarterly financial supplement, please see its investor relations website at https://investor.uti.edu. 

Conference Call

Management will hold a conference call to discuss the financial results for the fiscal 2025 first quarter ended December 31, 2024, on Wednesday, February 5, 2025, at 4:30 p.m. ET.

To participate in the live call, investors are invited to dial (844) 881-0138 (domestic) or (412) 317-6790 (international). A live webcast of the call will be available via the Universal Technical Institute, Inc. investor relations website at https://investor.uti.edu. Please go to the website at least 10 minutes early to register, download and install any necessary audio software. The conference call webcast will be archived for fourteen days at https://investor.uti.edu. Alternatively, the telephone replay can be accessed through February 19, 2025, by dialing (877) 344-7529 (domestic) or (412) 317-0088 (international) and entering passcode 8302718.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information

In addition to disclosing financial results that are determined in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"), the Company also discloses certain non-GAAP financial information in this press release and may similarly disclose non-GAAP financial information on the related conference call. These financial measures are not recognized measures under GAAP and are not intended to be and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. The Company discloses these non-GAAP financial measures because it believes that they provide investors an additional analytical tool to clarify its results of operations and identify underlying trends. Additionally, the Company believes that these measures may also help investors compare its performance on a consistent basis across time periods. Additional details on our non-GAAP measures and the tables reconciling these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measure are provided below.

Adjusted EBITDA: The Company defines adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) before interest expense, interest income, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, adjusted for stock-based compensation expense and items not considered normal recurring operations. 

Adjusted Free Cash Flow: The Company defines adjusted free cash flow as net cash provided by (used in) operating activities less capital expenditures, adjusted for items not considered normal recurring operations.

Management utilizes adjusted figures as performance measures internally for operating decisions, strategic planning, annual budgeting and forecasting. For the periods presented, our adjustments for items that management does not consider to be normal recurring operations include:

• Integration-related costs for completed acquisitions: We have excluded integration costs related to business structure realignment and new programs for recent acquisitions to allow for comparable financial results to historical operations and forward-looking guidance. In addition, the nature and amount of such charges vary significantly based on the size and timing of the programs. By excluding the referenced expenses from our non-GAAP financial measures, our management is able to further evaluate our ability to utilize existing assets and estimate their long-term value. Furthermore, our management believes that the adjustment of these items supplements the GAAP information with a measure that can be used to assess the sustainability of our operating performance.
• Restructuring charges: In December 2023, we announced plans to consolidate the two Houston, Texas campus locations to align the curriculum, student facing systems, and support services to better serve students seeking careers in in-demand fields. As part of the transition, the MIAT Houston campus, acquired in November 2021, began a phased teach-out in May 2024, and such campus began operating under the UTI brand. MIAT-Houston students who have not completed their programs before their program's teach-out date may enroll at UTI-Houston to complete their program. Both facilities will remain in use post-consolidation.

To obtain a complete understanding of our performance, these measures should be examined in connection with net income (loss) and net cash provided by (used in) operating activities, determined in accordance with GAAP, as presented in the financial statements and notes thereto included in the annual and quarterly filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").  Because the items excluded from these non-GAAP measures are significant components in understanding and assessing our financial performance under GAAP, these measures should not be considered to be an alternative to net income (loss) or net cash provided by (used in) operating activities as a measure of our operating performance or liquidity.  Exclusion of items in the non-GAAP presentation should not be construed as an inference that these items are unusual, infrequent or non-recurring. Other companies, including other companies in the education industry, may define and calculate non-GAAP financial measures differently than we do, limiting their usefulness as a comparative measure across similarly titled performance measures presented by other companies. A reconciliation of the historical non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures is provided below and investors are encouraged to review the reconciliations.

Forward Looking Statements

All statements contained in this press release and the related conference call, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the safe harbor from civil liability provided for such statements by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (set forth in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended). These forward-looking statements which address our expected future business and financial performance, may contain words such as "goal," "target," "future," "estimate," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "seek," "project," "may," "should," "will," the negative form of these expressions or similar expressions. Examples of forward-looking statements include, among others, statements regarding (1) the Company's expectation that it will meet its fiscal year 2025 guidance for new student start growth, revenue growth, net income, diluted earnings per share, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Free Cash Flow; (2) the Company's expectation that it will continue to expand its value proposition and build a business that can grow in double digits with potential upside, regardless of the economic environment; and (3) the Company's expectation that it will succeed in new program launches next year. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on the Company's current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of its business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could affect our actual results include, among other things, failure of our schools to comply with the extensive regulatory requirements for school operations; our failure to maintain eligibility for or our ability to process federal student financial assistance funds; the effect of current and future Title IV Program regulations arising out of negotiated rulemakings, including any potential reductions in funding or restrictions on the use of funds received through Title IV Programs; the effect of future legislative or regulatory initiatives related to veterans' benefit programs; continued Congressional examination of the for-profit education sector; regulatory investigations of, or actions commenced against, us or other companies in our industry; changes in the state regulatory environment or budgetary constraints; our failure to execute on our growth and diversification strategy, including effectively identifying, establishing and operating additional schools, programs or campuses; our failure to realize the expected benefits of our acquisitions, or our failure to successfully integrate our acquisitions.; our failure to improve underutilized capacity at certain of our campuses; enrollment declines or challenges in our students' ability to find employment as a result of macroeconomic conditions; our failure to maintain and expand existing industry relationships and develop new industry relationships; our ability to update and expand the content of existing programs and develop and integrate new programs in a timely and cost-effective manner while maintaining positive student outcomes; a loss of our senior management or other key employees; failure to comply with the restrictive covenants and our ability to pay the amounts when due under the credit agreement; the effect of our principal stockholder owning a significant percentage of our capital stock, and thus being able to influence certain corporate matters and the potential in the future to gain substantial control over our company; the effect of public health pandemics, epidemics or outbreak, including COVID-19, and other risks that are described from time to time in our public filings. Further information on these and other potential factors that could affect the financial results or condition may be found in the company's filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements made by us in this press release and the related conference call are based only on information currently available to us and speak only as of the date on which it is made. We expressly disclaim any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments, changes in expectations, any changes in events, conditions or circumstances, or otherwise.

Social Media Disclosure

Universal Technical Institute, Inc uses its websites (https://www.uti.edu/, https://concorde.edu, and https://investor.uti.edu/) and LinkedIn pages (https://www.linkedin.com/school/universal-technical-institute/ and https://www.linkedin.com/school/concorde-career-colleges/) as channels of distribution of information about its programs, its planned financial and other announcements, its attendance at upcoming investor and industry conferences, and other matters. Such information may be deemed material information, and the Company may use these channels to comply with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Therefore, investors should monitor the company's website and its social media accounts in addition to following the company's press releases, SEC filings, public conference calls, and webcasts.

About Universal Technical Institute, Inc.

Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE:UTI) was founded in 1965 and is a leading workforce solutions provider of transportation, skilled trades and healthcare education programs, whose mission is to serve students, partners, and communities by providing quality education and support services for in-demand careers across a number of highly-skilled fields. The Company is comprised of two divisions: Universal Technical Institute ("UTI") and Concorde Career Colleges ("Concorde"). UTI operates 15 campuses located in 9 states and offers a wide range of transportation and skilled trades technical training programs under brands such as UTI, MIAT College of Technology, Motorcycle Mechanics Institute, Marine Mechanics Institute and NASCAR Technical Institute. Concorde operates across 17 campuses in 8 states, offering programs in the Allied Health, Dental, Nursing, Patient Care and Diagnostic fields. For more information, visit www.uti.edu or www.concorde.edu, or visit us on LinkedIn at @UniversalTechnicalInstitute and @Concorde Career Colleges or on X (formerly Twitter) @news_UTI or @ConcordeCareer.

Company Contact:

Christine Kline

Interim Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer

Universal Technical Institute, Inc.

(623) 445-9464

Media Contact:

Susan Aspey

Vice President, Corporate Affairs & External Communications

Universal Technical Institute, Inc.

(202) 549-0534

[email protected] 

Investor Relations Contact:

Matt Glover or Cody Cree

Gateway Group, Inc.

(949) 574-3860

[email protected] 

(Tables Follow)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/universal-technical-institute-reports-fiscal-year-2025-first-quarter-results-302369235.html

SOURCE Universal Technical Institute, Inc.