Education finance company Nelnet (NYSE: NNI) reported Q3 CY2025 results beating Wall Street’s revenue expectations, with sales up 47.6% year on year to $427.8 million. Its GAAP profit of $2.94 per share was 93.4% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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"Strong results this quarter were driven by ongoing strength across our core businesses in loan servicing, consumer lending, payments, and technology along with some one-time transactions that had a positive impact," said Jeff Noordhoek, chief executive officer of Nelnet.

Company Overview

Starting as a student loan servicer in the 1970s and evolving through the changing landscape of education finance, Nelnet (NYSE: NNI) provides student loan servicing, education technology, payment processing, and banking services while managing a portfolio of education loans.

Revenue Growth

A company’s long-term sales performance is one signal of its overall quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but the best consistently grow over the long haul. Thankfully, Nelnet’s 9.9% annualized revenue growth over the last five years was decent. Its growth was slightly above the average financials company and shows its offerings resonate with customers.

We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within financials, a half-decade historical view may miss recent interest rate changes, market returns, and industry trends. Nelnet’s annualized revenue growth of 18% over the last two years is above its five-year trend, suggesting its demand recently accelerated. Note: Quarters not shown were determined to be outliers, impacted by outsized investment gains/losses that are not indicative of the recurring fundamentals of the business.

This quarter, Nelnet reported magnificent year-on-year revenue growth of 47.6%, and its $427.8 million of revenue beat Wall Street’s estimates by 15%.

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Key Takeaways from Nelnet’s Q3 Results

It was good to see Nelnet beat analysts’ EPS expectations this quarter. We were also excited its revenue outperformed Wall Street’s estimates by a wide margin. On the other hand, its net interest income slightly missed. Zooming out, we think this quarter featured some important positives. The stock traded up 2.4% to $133 immediately after reporting.

Sure, Nelnet had a solid quarter, but if we look at the bigger picture, is this stock a buy? If you’re making that decision, you should consider the bigger picture of valuation, business qualities, as well as the latest earnings. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it’s free for active Edge members.