Can E-Commerce Pivot Revive New Oriental Education’s Fortunes?

Chinese education giant New Oriental Education & Technology is undergoing a profound strategic shift. As its core tutoring business continues to face regulatory challenges, the company is aggressively expanding into livestream e-commerce and agricultural products. This radical repositioning raises critical questions about whether it can reverse the stock’s downward trajectory.

Recent quarterly results revealed a mixed financial landscape. While total revenue climbed 9.4% to reach $1.24 billion in the fourth quarter, net profit experienced a dramatic contraction of 73.7%. Notably, the educational segment itself demonstrated resilience with 18.7% growth when excluding the East Buy business operations, indicating underlying strength in traditional operations.

Management’s forward guidance suggests only modest expansion of 2-5% for the current quarter. This cautious outlook has contributed to... Read more...