# Cogna Educação (COGN3.SA)

Canonical: https://gigainvestors.com/s/COGN3.SA

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:43:28.570Z. Financial observations: FY2011–FY2025.

Listing currency: BRL. Reporting currency: BRL.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

Quality tests for Buy: not passed (profit record: fail; earnings resilience is evidence only). Published buy qualification: no.

Share price: BRL 2.90 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

## Checklist

### understandable: fail

- 3 revenue declines in the last 10 years (informational)

- more than 2 net loss years

- operating margin variation exceeds 0.35

- Financial history: 10 years

- Years with declining revenue: 3

- Years with a net loss: 4

- Operating margin variation: 1.07×

Chart: Operating margin; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 0.34×

- FY2017: 0.30×

- FY2018: 0.21×

- FY2019: 0.14×

- FY2020: -0.23×

- FY2021: 0.02×

- FY2022: 0.10×

- FY2023: 0.13×

- FY2024: 0.23×

- FY2025: 0.20×

### moat: fail

- ROIC worst years below threshold (more than 1 bad year allowed)

- ROIC, median of available years: 18.5%

- ROIC, second-lowest year: 1.6%

- Typical minus recent gross margin: -4.1 pp

- Typical gross margin (annual median): 62.8%

- Recent gross margin (lower of latest and 3-year median): 66.9%

- Years with nonpositive capital: 0

- Capital spending / revenue: 8.2%

- ROIC including acquisitions, ten-year median: 1.5%

Chart: ROIC excluding acquisitions; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 79.9%

- FY2017: 31.5%

- FY2018: 20.2%

- FY2019: 11.7%

- FY2020: -18.4%

- FY2021: 1.6%

- FY2022: 10.3%

- FY2023: 16.8%

- FY2024: 36.2%

- FY2025: 27.0%

### economics: fail

- owner earnings cash conversion below threshold

- incremental invested capital return below threshold

- Cash conversion uses consolidated totals: No

- Owner earnings, five-year total: BRL -208M

- Net income, five-year total: BRL -5.5M

- Return on incremental invested capital: 0.0%

- Working capital / revenue, annual change: 0.7 pp

- Working capital / revenue, change between three-year averages: 4.7 pp

- Working capital / revenue, final three-year average: 28.1%

Chart: Owner earnings · five years; fiscal year observations.

- FY2021: BRL -388M

- FY2022: BRL -643M

- FY2023: BRL -601M

- FY2024: BRL 821M

- FY2025: BRL 603M

### management: fail

- Historical market-dollar context (not the management verdict): 2016 to 2025 (9 years)

- buybacks leaned toward cheaper years (informational)

- ROIC first 3 years vs last 3 years: 31.5% vs 27.0%

- Per-share earnings: 1.13 to 0.31 (three-year endpoint medians)

- per-share value declined or ends nonpositive

- five-year and ten-year diluted share growth both above threshold

- Management verdict uses per-share economic progress: Yes

- Ordinary dilution, 10-year annual growth: 2.2%

- Ordinary dilution, 5-year annual growth: 1.3%

- Market cap gain: BRL -14B

- Cumulative retained earnings: BRL 1.9B

- Diluted shares, 10-year annual growth: 2.2%

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: 1.3%

- $1 test, starting fiscal year: FY2016

- $1 test, ending fiscal year: FY2025

- Per-share value growth: -14.9%

- Per-share value change: BRL -0.82

- Per-share value, starting three-year median: BRL 1.13

- Per-share value, ending three-year median: BRL 0.31

- Buybacks concentrated in cheaper years (correlation): 0.94

- Average buyback yield: 1.2%

- Buyback history: 6 years

- Debt-funded buybacks: No

- Acquisition spending: BRL 29B

- Cumulative net income, 10 years: BRL -425M

- ROIC, first three-year median: 31.5%

- ROIC, last three-year median: 27.0%

Chart: Earnings per share; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: BRL 1.13

- FY2017: BRL 1.14

- FY2018: BRL 0.86

- FY2019: BRL 0.14

- FY2020: BRL -3.11

- FY2021: BRL -0.26

- FY2022: BRL -0.28

- FY2023: BRL -0.26

- FY2024: BRL 0.46

- FY2025: BRL 0.31

### accounting: pass

- Sloan accruals: -2.7%

- Receivables to sales index (DSRI): 0.92×

- Restructuring years, last five: 0

- Stock compensation / operating cash flow: 1.6%

- Earnings backed by cash: Yes

- Operating cash / earnings: 2.06×

- Accounting red flags: 0

- Goodwill and intangibles / equity: 1.09×

Chart: Sloan accruals; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 0.3%

- FY2017: 0.3%

- FY2018: 0.9%

- FY2019: -0.5%

- FY2020: -19.7%

- FY2021: -3.5%

- FY2022: -2.4%

- FY2023: -4.7%

- FY2024: 0.1%

- FY2025: -2.7%

## Holders

## Price story

Down 36% since Jan 2026 · sales +9.8%

Story as of 2026-10-16T10:00:12.720Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

### Sales · FY2024–2025

sales +9.8%; source https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/; observed 2026-10-16.

- FY2016: BRL 5.2B 

- FY2017: BRL 5.6B 

- FY2018: BRL 6.1B 

- FY2019: BRL 6.4B 

- FY2020: BRL 5.3B 

- FY2021: BRL 4.8B 

- FY2022: BRL 5.0B 

- FY2023: BRL 5.8B 

- FY2024: BRL 6.4B 

- FY2025: BRL 7.0B 

### Gross margin · FY2025

gross margin 68.8%; source https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/; observed 2026-10-16.

- FY2016: 58.9% 

- FY2017: 62.1% 

- FY2018: 62.6% 

- FY2019: 61.6% 

- FY2020: 63.1% 

- FY2021: 60.2% 

- FY2022: 63.7% 

- FY2023: 63.7% 

- FY2024: 66.9% 

- FY2025: 68.8% 

## Owner memo

Memo as of 2026-10-16T08:06:05.509Z.

### How it makes money

Operates in education & training services; annual sales are BRL 7 billion.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:43:28.570Z); FY2025: revenue 7016663000; grossProfit 4827044000; margin = grossProfit / revenue.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); COGN3.SA: Cogna Educação S.A. operates as an educational organization in Brazil and internationally. It operates through three segments: Kroton, Vasta, and Saber. The company provides in-person and distance learning for higher education and postgraduate courses; and editing, marketing, and distribution of textbooks, paradidactic books and handouts. It also offers basic education, pre-university preparatory courses, and language courses; educational solutions for technical and higher education; and complementary activities, such as education technology development for services to complement management and training. In addition, the company advises on and/or facilitates direct and indirect financing for students; and develops software for adaptive teaching and academic management optimization. The company was incorporated in 1966 and is headquartered in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

### Why customers stay

Margins ranged from 63.7% to 68.8% during 2023–25; it earns 18.5% on its capital.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:43:28.570Z); FY2023: grossProfit / revenue = 63.7%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:43:28.570Z); FY2024: grossProfit / revenue = 66.9%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:43:28.570Z); FY2025: grossProfit / revenue = 68.8%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:43:28.570Z); 10-year return on capital observations [[2016,0.7991431680831325],[2017,0.3145596662973433],[2018,0.2016289063335128],[2019,0.1165718753739208],[2020,-0.1844738686413903],[2021,0.01593838835932274],[2022,0.10320623384893432],[2023,0.1676720219113398],[2024,0.3616833143827454],[2025,0.27024914848185805]]; median 0.1846504641224263. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Where the cash goes

Paid dividends in 5 of 10 years; bought back BRL 59.8 million of shares.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:43:28.570Z); FY2016: growth capex 0; upkeep 445500000; owner earnings 1820741000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:43:28.570Z); FY2017: growth capex 99578685.14577186; upkeep 497776314.85422814; owner earnings 1801253685.145772. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.055282987603000044.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:43:28.570Z); FY2018: growth capex 177942210.11631513; upkeep 769601789.8836849; owner earnings 1110924210.1163151. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.16017493227344856.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:43:28.570Z); FY2024: growth capex 0; upkeep 410086000; owner earnings 821445000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:43:28.570Z); FY2025: growth capex 0; upkeep 146462000; owner earnings 602610600. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:43:28.570Z); Dividend observations: [[2016,564518000],[2017,692357000],[2018,638867000],[2019,196357000],[2020,0],[2021,0],[2022,0],[2023,0],[2024,0],[2025,120297000]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:43:28.570Z); FY2025: cash repurchases 59814000 BRL.

### Are managers owners

Insiders own 0% of the company.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); COGN3.SA SharesStats.PercentInsiders = 0 percentage points; cache date 2026-10-16.

### What the price says

The price is 0.8 times annual sales.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:43:28.570Z); Closing price 2.9 BRL; reporting-to-trading FX 1; FY2025 annual sales per share 3.5160876377200467; price multiple 0.8247803521417517. FY2025 cash earnings/share 0.3019714187526264. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

## Monthly share-price history (BRL per share)

- 2016-11: BRL 13.14 per share

- 2016-12: BRL 12.12 per share

- 2017-01: BRL 12.28 per share

- 2017-02: BRL 12.43 per share

- 2017-03: BRL 12.07 per share

- 2017-04: BRL 13.59 per share

- 2017-05: BRL 13.18 per share

- 2017-06: BRL 13.52 per share

- 2017-07: BRL 13.71 per share

- 2017-08: BRL 16.34 per share

- 2017-09: BRL 18.23 per share

- 2017-10: BRL 16.35 per share

- 2017-11: BRL 16.47 per share

- 2017-12: BRL 16.73 per share

- 2018-01: BRL 14.77 per share

- 2018-02: BRL 14.09 per share

- 2018-03: BRL 12.36 per share

- 2018-04: BRL 12.74 per share

- 2018-05: BRL 9.83 per share

- 2018-06: BRL 8.47 per share

- 2018-07: BRL 10.27 per share

- 2018-08: BRL 9.29 per share

- 2018-09: BRL 10.36 per share

- 2018-10: BRL 10.38 per share

- 2018-11: BRL 9.55 per share

- 2018-12: BRL 8.06 per share

- 2019-01: BRL 10.39 per share

- 2019-02: BRL 9.97 per share

- 2019-03: BRL 9.64 per share

- 2019-04: BRL 8.86 per share

- 2019-05: BRL 9.40 per share

- 2019-06: BRL 9.97 per share

- 2019-07: BRL 11.42 per share

- 2019-08: BRL 9.16 per share

- 2019-09: BRL 10.16 per share

- 2019-10: BRL 8.79 per share

- 2019-11: BRL 9.32 per share

- 2019-12: BRL 10.39 per share

- 2020-01: BRL 10.56 per share

- 2020-02: BRL 9.17 per share

- 2020-03: BRL 3.64 per share

- 2020-04: BRL 5.04 per share

- 2020-05: BRL 4.78 per share

- 2020-06: BRL 6.01 per share

- 2020-07: BRL 7.53 per share

- 2020-08: BRL 5.18 per share

- 2020-09: BRL 4.71 per share

- 2020-10: BRL 3.90 per share

- 2020-11: BRL 4.26 per share

- 2020-12: BRL 4.21 per share

- 2021-01: BRL 4.11 per share

- 2021-02: BRL 3.40 per share

- 2021-03: BRL 3.62 per share

- 2021-04: BRL 3.52 per share

- 2021-05: BRL 3.84 per share

- 2021-06: BRL 3.94 per share

- 2021-07: BRL 3.31 per share

- 2021-08: BRL 2.92 per share

- 2021-09: BRL 2.46 per share

- 2021-10: BRL 2.25 per share

- 2021-11: BRL 2.25 per share

- 2021-12: BRL 2.24 per share

- 2022-01: BRL 2.35 per share

- 2022-02: BRL 2.05 per share

- 2022-03: BRL 2.57 per share

- 2022-04: BRL 2.23 per share

- 2022-05: BRL 2.41 per share

- 2022-06: BRL 1.95 per share

- 2022-07: BRL 2.05 per share

- 2022-08: BRL 2.25 per share

- 2022-09: BRL 2.67 per share

- 2022-10: BRL 2.99 per share

- 2022-11: BRL 2.04 per share

- 2022-12: BRL 1.93 per share

- 2023-01: BRL 2.16 per share

- 2023-02: BRL 1.84 per share

- 2023-03: BRL 1.70 per share

- 2023-04: BRL 1.85 per share

- 2023-05: BRL 2.63 per share

- 2023-06: BRL 2.96 per share

- 2023-07: BRL 3.05 per share

- 2023-08: BRL 2.65 per share

- 2023-09: BRL 2.42 per share

- 2023-10: BRL 2.18 per share

- 2023-11: BRL 2.94 per share

- 2023-12: BRL 3.17 per share

- 2024-01: BRL 2.65 per share

- 2024-02: BRL 2.29 per share

- 2024-03: BRL 2.15 per share

- 2024-04: BRL 1.97 per share

- 2024-05: BRL 1.69 per share

- 2024-06: BRL 1.61 per share

- 2024-07: BRL 1.38 per share

- 2024-08: BRL 1.25 per share

- 2024-09: BRL 1.16 per share

- 2024-10: BRL 1.28 per share

- 2024-11: BRL 1.17 per share

- 2024-12: BRL 0.99 per share

- 2025-01: BRL 1.28 per share

- 2025-02: BRL 1.38 per share

- 2025-03: BRL 1.90 per share

- 2025-04: BRL 2.35 per share

- 2025-05: BRL 2.70 per share

- 2025-06: BRL 2.55 per share

- 2025-07: BRL 2.51 per share

- 2025-08: BRL 2.65 per share

- 2025-09: BRL 3.04 per share

- 2025-10: BRL 3.40 per share

- 2025-11: BRL 3.55 per share

- 2025-12: BRL 3.16 per share

- 2026-01: BRL 4.55 per share

- 2026-02: BRL 3.50 per share

- 2026-03: BRL 3.16 per share

- 2026-04: BRL 2.78 per share

- 2026-05: BRL 2.50 per share

- 2026-06: BRL 2.25 per share

- 2026-07: BRL 2.28 per share

- 2026-08: BRL 2.30 per share

- 2026-09: BRL 2.32 per share

- 2026-10: BRL 2.99 per share

## Annual estimated value (BRL per share)

- FY2016: low BRL 5.07 per share, central BRL 5.42 per share, high BRL 5.82 per share

- FY2017: low BRL 5.36 per share, central BRL 5.73 per share, high BRL 6.15 per share

- FY2018: low BRL 5.91 per share, central BRL 6.32 per share, high BRL 6.78 per share

- FY2019: low BRL 6.18 per share, central BRL 6.60 per share, high BRL 7.09 per share

- FY2020: low BRL 3.10 per share, central BRL 3.31 per share, high BRL 3.55 per share

Historical values use today's bond yield for every fiscal year

Historical values use today's FX rate into trading currency for every fiscal year

Historical values use current restated fundamentals and current commodity classification; they are not point-in-time estimates

## Sources

Estimates depend on assumptions and are not guarantees or investment advice. Underlying data remains subject to its source licenses; public reading does not grant bulk redistribution rights.

## Reported holder observations