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Side-by-side financial comparison of AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION INC (APEI) and BOX INC (BOX). Click either name above to swap in a different company.

BOX INC is the larger business by last-quarter revenue ($301.1M vs $158.3M, roughly 1.9× AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION INC). AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION INC runs the higher net margin — 8.0% vs 4.0%, a 4.0% gap on every dollar of revenue. On growth, BOX INC posted the faster year-over-year revenue change (9.1% vs -3.5%). BOX INC produced more free cash flow last quarter ($71.3M vs $-15.6M). Over the past eight quarters, BOX INC's revenue compounded faster (7.0% CAGR vs 1.3%).

Strategic Education, Inc. (SEI) is an education services holding company and is formerly known as Strayer Education, Inc. The company owns for-profit, online Capella University and Strayer University, as well as non-degree programs schools such as DevMountain, Hackbright Academy, and Sophia Learning.

Box, Inc. is an American public company based in Redwood City, California. It develops and markets cloud-based content management, collaboration, and file sharing tools for businesses. Box was founded in 2005 by Aaron Levie and Dylan Smith. Initially, it focused on consumers, but around 2009 and 2010 Box pivoted to focus on business users. The company raised about $500 million over numerous funding rounds before going public in 2015. Its software allows users to store and manage files in an o...

APEI vs BOX — Head-to-Head

Bigger by revenue
BOX
BOX
1.9× larger
BOX
$301.1M
$158.3M
APEI
Growing faster (revenue YoY)
BOX
BOX
+12.7% gap
BOX
9.1%
-3.5%
APEI
Higher net margin
APEI
APEI
4.0% more per $
APEI
8.0%
4.0%
BOX
More free cash flow
BOX
BOX
$86.9M more FCF
BOX
$71.3M
$-15.6M
APEI
Faster 2-yr revenue CAGR
BOX
BOX
Annualised
BOX
7.0%
1.3%
APEI

Income Statement — Q4 FY2025 vs Q3 FY2026

Metric
APEI
APEI
BOX
BOX
Revenue
$158.3M
$301.1M
Net Profit
$12.6M
$12.1M
Gross Margin
56.4%
79.6%
Operating Margin
12.0%
8.3%
Net Margin
8.0%
4.0%
Revenue YoY
-3.5%
9.1%
Net Profit YoY
-2.7%
-6.4%
EPS (diluted)
$0.67
$0.05

Green = leading value per metric. Periods may differ when fiscal calendars don't align.

8-Quarter Revenue & Profit Trend

Side-by-side quarterly history. Quarters aligned by calendar period so offset fiscal years line up.

Revenue
APEI
APEI
BOX
BOX
Q4 25
$158.3M
$301.1M
Q3 25
$163.2M
$294.0M
Q2 25
$162.8M
$276.3M
Q1 25
$164.6M
$279.5M
Q4 24
$164.1M
$275.9M
Q3 24
$153.1M
$270.0M
Q2 24
$152.9M
$264.7M
Q1 24
$154.4M
$262.9M
Net Profit
APEI
APEI
BOX
BOX
Q4 25
$12.6M
$12.1M
Q3 25
$5.6M
$13.4M
Q2 25
$4.5M
$8.2M
Q1 25
$8.9M
$194.0M
Q4 24
$13.0M
$12.9M
Q3 24
$2.3M
$20.5M
Q2 24
$371.0K
$17.2M
Q1 24
$516.0K
$99.2M
Gross Margin
APEI
APEI
BOX
BOX
Q4 25
56.4%
79.6%
Q3 25
54.2%
79.1%
Q2 25
51.8%
78.0%
Q1 25
54.5%
79.0%
Q4 24
56.3%
79.9%
Q3 24
50.8%
79.4%
Q2 24
50.2%
78.0%
Q1 24
53.1%
76.1%
Operating Margin
APEI
APEI
BOX
BOX
Q4 25
12.0%
8.3%
Q3 25
5.9%
7.0%
Q2 25
4.3%
2.3%
Q1 25
7.4%
6.4%
Q4 24
13.1%
8.5%
Q3 24
2.7%
7.5%
Q2 24
1.5%
6.8%
Q1 24
3.4%
8.1%
Net Margin
APEI
APEI
BOX
BOX
Q4 25
8.0%
4.0%
Q3 25
3.4%
4.6%
Q2 25
2.8%
3.0%
Q1 25
5.4%
69.4%
Q4 24
7.9%
4.7%
Q3 24
1.5%
7.6%
Q2 24
0.2%
6.5%
Q1 24
0.3%
37.7%
EPS (diluted)
APEI
APEI
BOX
BOX
Q4 25
$0.67
$0.05
Q3 25
$0.30
$0.05
Q2 25
$-0.02
$0.02
Q1 25
$0.41
$1.13
Q4 24
$0.63
$0.05
Q3 24
$0.04
$0.10
Q2 24
$-0.06
$0.08
Q1 24
$-0.06
$0.57

Balance Sheet & Financial Strength

Snapshot of each company's liquidity, leverage and book value from the latest quarter.

Metric
APEI
APEI
BOX
BOX
Cash + ST InvestmentsLiquidity on hand
$174.1M
$729.6M
Total DebtLower is stronger
$94.7M
Stockholders' EquityBook value
$294.8M
$-286.6M
Total Assets
$521.4M
$1.6B
Debt / EquityLower = less leverage
0.32×

8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.

Cash + ST Investments
APEI
APEI
BOX
BOX
Q4 25
$174.1M
$729.6M
Q3 25
$191.3M
$757.9M
Q2 25
$174.9M
$790.4M
Q1 25
$161.6M
$722.8M
Q4 24
$131.9M
$697.9M
Q3 24
$135.4M
$482.2M
Q2 24
$129.8M
$566.1M
Q1 24
$125.3M
$480.7M
Total Debt
APEI
APEI
BOX
BOX
Q4 25
$94.7M
Q3 25
$94.4M
Q2 25
$94.1M
Q1 25
$93.7M
Q4 24
$93.4M
Q3 24
$93.1M
Q2 24
$92.8M
Q1 24
$95.0M
Stockholders' Equity
APEI
APEI
BOX
BOX
Q4 25
$294.8M
$-286.6M
Q3 25
$279.3M
$-269.4M
Q2 25
$272.2M
$-280.1M
Q1 25
$310.0M
$-297.0M
Q4 24
$303.9M
$-479.9M
Q3 24
$290.4M
$-439.4M
Q2 24
$288.7M
$-397.9M
Q1 24
$288.5M
$-431.1M
Total Assets
APEI
APEI
BOX
BOX
Q4 25
$521.4M
$1.6B
Q3 25
$525.3M
$1.6B
Q2 25
$537.4M
$1.6B
Q1 25
$578.7M
$1.7B
Q4 24
$570.1M
$1.4B
Q3 24
$569.6M
$1.1B
Q2 24
$560.7M
$1.2B
Q1 24
$559.0M
$1.2B
Debt / Equity
APEI
APEI
BOX
BOX
Q4 25
0.32×
Q3 25
0.34×
Q2 25
0.35×
Q1 25
0.30×
Q4 24
0.31×
Q3 24
0.32×
Q2 24
0.32×
Q1 24
0.33×

Cash Flow & Capital Efficiency

How much cash each business actually produces after reinvestment. Cash flow is harder to manipulate than net income.

Metric
APEI
APEI
BOX
BOX
Operating Cash FlowLast quarter
$-11.6M
$73.0M
Free Cash FlowOCF − Capex
$-15.6M
$71.3M
FCF MarginFCF / Revenue
-9.9%
23.7%
Capex IntensityCapex / Revenue
2.6%
0.6%
Cash ConversionOCF / Net Profit
-0.92×
6.05×
TTM Free Cash FlowTrailing 4 quarters
$46.1M
$343.5M

8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.

Operating Cash Flow
APEI
APEI
BOX
BOX
Q4 25
$-11.6M
$73.0M
Q3 25
$21.7M
$46.0M
Q2 25
$14.8M
$127.1M
Q1 25
$37.0M
$102.2M
Q4 24
$1.6M
$62.6M
Q3 24
$14.1M
$36.3M
Q2 24
$12.5M
$131.2M
Q1 24
$20.7M
$89.3M
Free Cash Flow
APEI
APEI
BOX
BOX
Q4 25
$-15.6M
$71.3M
Q3 25
$17.5M
$43.9M
Q2 25
$11.1M
$126.7M
Q1 25
$33.1M
$101.5M
Q4 24
$-1.8M
$62.3M
Q3 24
$7.8M
$35.9M
Q2 24
$7.3M
$129.9M
Q1 24
$14.5M
$89.1M
FCF Margin
APEI
APEI
BOX
BOX
Q4 25
-9.9%
23.7%
Q3 25
10.7%
14.9%
Q2 25
6.8%
45.9%
Q1 25
20.1%
36.3%
Q4 24
-1.1%
22.6%
Q3 24
5.1%
13.3%
Q2 24
4.7%
49.1%
Q1 24
9.4%
33.9%
Capex Intensity
APEI
APEI
BOX
BOX
Q4 25
2.6%
0.6%
Q3 25
2.6%
0.7%
Q2 25
2.3%
0.1%
Q1 25
2.4%
0.2%
Q4 24
2.0%
0.1%
Q3 24
4.1%
0.1%
Q2 24
3.4%
0.5%
Q1 24
4.0%
0.1%
Cash Conversion
APEI
APEI
BOX
BOX
Q4 25
-0.92×
6.05×
Q3 25
3.90×
3.42×
Q2 25
3.29×
15.51×
Q1 25
4.16×
0.53×
Q4 24
0.12×
4.85×
Q3 24
6.22×
1.77×
Q2 24
33.57×
7.62×
Q1 24
40.20×
0.90×

Financial Flow Comparison

Revenue → gross profit → operating profit → net profit for each company.

Revenue Breakdown by Segment

APEI
APEI

American Public Education Inc Segment$71.0M45%
Rasmussen University Segment$66.6M42%
Hondros College Of Nursing Segment$20.7M13%

BOX
BOX

Segment breakdown not available.

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