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Side-by-side financial comparison of AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION INC (APEI) and Iridium Communications Inc. (IRDM). Click either name above to swap in a different company.
Iridium Communications Inc. is the larger business by last-quarter revenue ($219.1M vs $158.3M, roughly 1.4× AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION INC). Iridium Communications Inc. runs the higher net margin — 9.9% vs 8.0%, a 1.9% gap on every dollar of revenue. On growth, Iridium Communications Inc. posted the faster year-over-year revenue change (1.9% vs -3.5%). Over the past eight quarters, Iridium Communications Inc.'s revenue compounded faster (4.4% 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.
Iridium Communications Inc. is a publicly traded American company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, United States. Iridium operates the Iridium satellite constellation, a system of 80 satellites: 66 are active satellites and the remaining fourteen function as in-orbit spares. Iridium Satellites are used for worldwide voice and data communication from handheld satellite phones, satellite messenger communication devices and integrated transceivers, as well as for two-way satellite messaging se...
APEI vs IRDM — Head-to-Head
Income Statement — Q4 FY2025 vs Q1 FY2026
| Metric | | |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $158.3M | $219.1M |
| Net Profit | $12.6M | $21.6M |
| Gross Margin | 56.4% | — |
| Operating Margin | 12.0% | 23.2% |
| Net Margin | 8.0% | 9.9% |
| Revenue YoY | -3.5% | 1.9% |
| Net Profit YoY | -2.7% | — |
| EPS (diluted) | $0.67 | — |
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.
| Q1 26 | — | $219.1M | ||
| Q4 25 | $158.3M | $212.9M | ||
| Q3 25 | $163.2M | $226.9M | ||
| Q2 25 | $162.8M | $216.9M | ||
| Q1 25 | $164.6M | $214.9M | ||
| Q4 24 | $164.1M | $213.0M | ||
| Q3 24 | $153.1M | $212.8M | ||
| Q2 24 | $152.9M | $201.1M |
| Q1 26 | — | $21.6M | ||
| Q4 25 | $12.6M | $24.9M | ||
| Q3 25 | $5.6M | $37.1M | ||
| Q2 25 | $4.5M | $22.0M | ||
| Q1 25 | $8.9M | $30.4M | ||
| Q4 24 | $13.0M | $36.3M | ||
| Q3 24 | $2.3M | $24.4M | ||
| Q2 24 | $371.0K | $32.3M |
| Q1 26 | — | — | ||
| Q4 25 | 56.4% | — | ||
| Q3 25 | 54.2% | — | ||
| Q2 25 | 51.8% | — | ||
| Q1 25 | 54.5% | — | ||
| Q4 24 | 56.3% | — | ||
| Q3 24 | 50.8% | — | ||
| Q2 24 | 50.2% | — |
| Q1 26 | — | 23.2% | ||
| Q4 25 | 12.0% | 25.9% | ||
| Q3 25 | 5.9% | 30.9% | ||
| Q2 25 | 4.3% | 23.2% | ||
| Q1 25 | 7.4% | 28.1% | ||
| Q4 24 | 13.1% | 24.5% | ||
| Q3 24 | 2.7% | 25.8% | ||
| Q2 24 | 1.5% | 21.7% |
| Q1 26 | — | 9.9% | ||
| Q4 25 | 8.0% | 11.7% | ||
| Q3 25 | 3.4% | 16.4% | ||
| Q2 25 | 2.8% | 10.1% | ||
| Q1 25 | 5.4% | 14.2% | ||
| Q4 24 | 7.9% | 17.1% | ||
| Q3 24 | 1.5% | 11.5% | ||
| Q2 24 | 0.2% | 16.1% |
| Q1 26 | — | — | ||
| Q4 25 | $0.67 | $0.24 | ||
| Q3 25 | $0.30 | $0.35 | ||
| Q2 25 | $-0.02 | $0.20 | ||
| Q1 25 | $0.41 | $0.27 | ||
| Q4 24 | $0.63 | $0.30 | ||
| Q3 24 | $0.04 | $0.21 | ||
| Q2 24 | $-0.06 | $0.27 |
Balance Sheet & Financial Strength
Snapshot of each company's liquidity, leverage and book value from the latest quarter.
| Metric | | |
|---|---|---|
| Cash + ST InvestmentsLiquidity on hand | $174.1M | — |
| Total DebtLower is stronger | $94.7M | — |
| Stockholders' EquityBook value | $294.8M | — |
| Total Assets | $521.4M | — |
| Debt / EquityLower = less leverage | 0.32× | — |
8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.
| Q1 26 | — | — | ||
| Q4 25 | $174.1M | $96.5M | ||
| Q3 25 | $191.3M | $88.5M | ||
| Q2 25 | $174.9M | $79.3M | ||
| Q1 25 | $161.6M | $50.9M | ||
| Q4 24 | $131.9M | $93.5M | ||
| Q3 24 | $135.4M | $159.6M | ||
| Q2 24 | $129.8M | $63.5M |
| Q1 26 | — | — | ||
| Q4 25 | $94.7M | $1.8B | ||
| Q3 25 | $94.4M | — | ||
| Q2 25 | $94.1M | — | ||
| Q1 25 | $93.7M | — | ||
| Q4 24 | $93.4M | $1.8B | ||
| Q3 24 | $93.1M | — | ||
| Q2 24 | $92.8M | — |
| Q1 26 | — | — | ||
| Q4 25 | $294.8M | $462.6M | ||
| Q3 25 | $279.3M | $450.5M | ||
| Q2 25 | $272.2M | $473.6M | ||
| Q1 25 | $310.0M | $518.4M | ||
| Q4 24 | $303.9M | $576.6M | ||
| Q3 24 | $290.4M | $663.8M | ||
| Q2 24 | $288.7M | $786.7M |
| Q1 26 | — | — | ||
| Q4 25 | $521.4M | $2.5B | ||
| Q3 25 | $525.3M | $2.6B | ||
| Q2 25 | $537.4M | $2.6B | ||
| Q1 25 | $578.7M | $2.6B | ||
| Q4 24 | $570.1M | $2.7B | ||
| Q3 24 | $569.6M | $2.8B | ||
| Q2 24 | $560.7M | $2.7B |
| Q1 26 | — | — | ||
| Q4 25 | 0.32× | 3.80× | ||
| Q3 25 | 0.34× | — | ||
| Q2 25 | 0.35× | — | ||
| Q1 25 | 0.30× | — | ||
| Q4 24 | 0.31× | 3.05× | ||
| Q3 24 | 0.32× | — | ||
| Q2 24 | 0.32× | — |
Cash Flow & Capital Efficiency
How much cash each business actually produces after reinvestment. Cash flow is harder to manipulate than net income.
| Metric | | |
|---|---|---|
| Operating Cash FlowLast quarter | $-11.6M | — |
| Free Cash FlowOCF − Capex | $-15.6M | — |
| FCF MarginFCF / Revenue | -9.9% | — |
| Capex IntensityCapex / Revenue | 2.6% | 13.7% |
| Cash ConversionOCF / Net Profit | -0.92× | — |
| TTM Free Cash FlowTrailing 4 quarters | $46.1M | — |
8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.
| Q1 26 | — | — | ||
| Q4 25 | $-11.6M | $108.6M | ||
| Q3 25 | $21.7M | $100.8M | ||
| Q2 25 | $14.8M | $129.6M | ||
| Q1 25 | $37.0M | $61.1M | ||
| Q4 24 | $1.6M | $104.8M | ||
| Q3 24 | $14.1M | $118.6M | ||
| Q2 24 | $12.5M | $81.1M |
| Q1 26 | — | — | ||
| Q4 25 | $-15.6M | $75.1M | ||
| Q3 25 | $17.5M | $79.2M | ||
| Q2 25 | $11.1M | $108.9M | ||
| Q1 25 | $33.1M | $36.5M | ||
| Q4 24 | $-1.8M | $80.5M | ||
| Q3 24 | $7.8M | $100.0M | ||
| Q2 24 | $7.3M | $68.7M |
| Q1 26 | — | — | ||
| Q4 25 | -9.9% | 35.3% | ||
| Q3 25 | 10.7% | 34.9% | ||
| Q2 25 | 6.8% | 50.2% | ||
| Q1 25 | 20.1% | 17.0% | ||
| Q4 24 | -1.1% | 37.8% | ||
| Q3 24 | 5.1% | 47.0% | ||
| Q2 24 | 4.7% | 34.2% |
| Q1 26 | — | 13.7% | ||
| Q4 25 | 2.6% | 15.7% | ||
| Q3 25 | 2.6% | 9.5% | ||
| Q2 25 | 2.3% | 9.5% | ||
| Q1 25 | 2.4% | 11.4% | ||
| Q4 24 | 2.0% | 11.4% | ||
| Q3 24 | 4.1% | 8.7% | ||
| Q2 24 | 3.4% | 6.2% |
| Q1 26 | — | — | ||
| Q4 25 | -0.92× | 4.37× | ||
| Q3 25 | 3.90× | 2.71× | ||
| Q2 25 | 3.29× | 5.90× | ||
| Q1 25 | 4.16× | 2.01× | ||
| Q4 24 | 0.12× | 2.88× | ||
| Q3 24 | 6.22× | 4.85× | ||
| Q2 24 | 33.57× | 2.51× |
Financial Flow Comparison
Revenue → gross profit → operating profit → net profit for each company.
Revenue Breakdown by Segment
APEI
| American Public Education Inc Segment | $71.0M | 45% |
| Rasmussen University Segment | $66.6M | 42% |
| Hondros College Of Nursing Segment | $20.7M | 13% |
IRDM
| Voice and data | $57.4M | 26% |
| IoT data (2) | $46.0M | 21% |
| Government | $39.5M | 18% |
| Government service revenue (5) | $27.6M | 13% |
| Subscriber equipment | $20.2M | 9% |
| Hosted payload and other data service (4) | $14.8M | 7% |
| Broadband (3) | $12.2M | 6% |
| Commercial | $1.3M | 1% |
