Education finance company Nelnet (NYSE: NNI) fell short of the market’s revenue expectations in Q2 CY2026, with sales falling 20.5% year on year to $410 million. Its non-GAAP profit of $1.77 per share was 16.9% below analysts’ consensus estimates.
Is now the time to buy Nelnet? Find out by accessing our full research report, it’s free.
Nelnet (NNI) Q2 CY2026 Highlights:
- Net Interest Income: $96.01 million vs analyst estimates of $105 million
- Revenue: $410 million vs analyst estimates of $420 million (20.5% year-on-year decline, 2.4% miss)
- Pre-tax Profit: $65.41 million (16% margin)
- Adjusted EPS: $1.77 vs analyst expectations of $2.13 (16.9% miss)
- Market Capitalization: $4.88 billion
"We delivered another quarter of solid results, reflecting the strength of our diversified strategy across consumer lending, servicing, payments, and technology, with a continued focus on education," 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
Examining a company’s long-term performance can provide clues about its quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but many enduring ones grow for years. Regrettably, Nelnet’s revenue grew at a sluggish 4.3% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years. This was below our standard for the financials sector and is a rough starting point for our analysis.
Long-term growth is the most important, but within financials, a half-decade historical view may miss recent interest rate changes and market returns. Nelnet’s annualized revenue growth of 9.5% over the last two years is above its five-year trend, suggesting some bright spots. 
Note: Quarters not shown were determined to be outliers because they were impacted by outsized investment gains/losses that are not indicative of the recurring fundamentals of the business.
This quarter, Nelnet missed Wall Street’s estimates and reported a rather uninspiring 20.5% year-on-year revenue decline, generating $410 million of revenue.
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Key Takeaways from Nelnet’s Q2 Results
We struggled to find many positives in these results. Its net interest income missed and its EPS fell short of Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, this was a softer quarter. The stock remained flat at $135.20 immediately after reporting.
So should you invest in Nelnet right now? When making that decision, it’s important to consider its valuation, business qualities, as well as what has happened in the latest quarter. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).
