At a glance
Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc is worth $3.32B, about 21 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue grew 9.2% to $2.93B in fiscal 2025, with 6.6% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 14.1% a year. It pays no dividend; it spent $706.4M buying back its shares over FY2021–FY2025. The stock returned −29.5% over the past year with dividends reinvested and −15.8% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 60.0% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 59.5% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and was back at its earlier high 11 months and 23 months after the lows.
The business in plain English
Bright Horizons Family Solutions provides early education, child care and related services that employers offer their staff as benefits. It works mainly under multi-year contracts with employers, which use these services to help recruit, keep and engage workers. As of December 31, 2025, it served more than 1,450 employers, including more than 220 Fortune 500 companies, and ran 1,010 early education and child care centers with room for about 115,000 children in the US, the UK, the Netherlands, Australia and India.
Full service center-based child care is the core of the business. It brought in about 71% of 2025 revenue of $2.93 billion. Employers often pay for much of a new center's construction and part of its running costs, and families pay tuition. Back-up care, about 25% of revenue, steps in when an employee's usual arrangements fall through. It offers short-term center or in-home care, camps and tutoring, and even senior and pet care. Educational advisory services, about 4%, cover workforce education, tuition assistance, student loan repayment and college admissions advice.
About 71% of revenue came from North America in 2025 and 29% from elsewhere. No single client dominates: the largest was about 1% of revenue and the top 10 together about 8%. The company says it has kept about 95% of its clients over the past 10 years.
Price history
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BFAM -29.5% over the year to Oct 28, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
How it makes money
By business segment
| Full service center-based child care | $2.08B | 70.9% |
| Back-up care | $728.0M | 24.8% |
| Educational advisory services | $124.5M | 4.2% |
By geography
| North America | $2.09B | 71.3% |
| Outside North America | $842.7M | 28.7% |
Latest results
- In Q3 FY2026 (ended Sep 30, 2026), revenue was $841.5M, up 4.8% from a year earlier, and net income was $-230.7M (-393.7%).
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $2.93B (+9.2% year over year; +14.1% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 6.6% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2020–FY2025) | +14.1% good |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 10.7% watch |
| Free cash flow margin | 8.8% watch |
| Return on equity (FY2025) | 14.4% watch |
| Return on assets (FY2025) | 5% watch |
| Net cash (cash minus debt) | $-960.0M weak |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $1.52B | $27.0M | $124.8M |
| FY2021 | $1.76B | $70.5M | $163.8M |
| FY2022 | $2.02B | $80.6M | $117.9M |
| FY2023 | $2.42B | $74.2M | $165.1M |
| FY2024 | $2.69B | $140.2M | $240.2M |
| FY2025 | $2.93B | $193.1M | $258.5M |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $3.32B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 20.6 |
| Dividend yield | None |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
Bright Horizons Family Solutions’s market value went from $4.17B at the end of 2016 to $3.32B on Oct 28, 2026, down 20%; since the end of 2025 it is down 42%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 28, 2026 | $3.32B | -42.1% |
| 2025 | $5.73B | -11.1% |
| 2024 | $6.45B | +18.2% |
| 2023 | $5.46B | +49.8% |
| 2022 | $3.64B | -52.0% |
| 2021 | $7.60B | -27.5% |
| 2020 | $10.48B | +19.8% |
| 2019 | $8.74B | +35.1% |
| 2018 | $6.47B | +16.1% |
| 2017 | $5.57B | +33.8% |
| 2016 | $4.17B |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BFAM price data to Oct 28, 2026 | -31.7% | -29.5% | -1.4% | -15.8% | +0.4% |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | -31.7% |
| 2025 | -8.5% |
| 2024 | +17.6% |
| 2023 | +49.4% |
| 2022 | -49.9% |
| 2021 | -27.2% |
| 2020 | +15.1% |
| 2019 | +34.9% |
| 2018 | +18.6% |
| 2017 | +34.3% |
| 2016 | +4.8% |
| 2015 | +42.1% |
| 2014 | +27.9% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Before this security existed |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Lost 51.1% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 60%, back to its old high 10.8 months after the low |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 54.4% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 59.5%, back to its old high 22.6 months after the low |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-31 to 2026-10-31 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 4 sales ($657K), 3 of them under pre-arranged 10b5-1 trading plans.
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2, 2026 | Mary Ann Tocio Director | sell | $436K |
| Aug 3, 2026 | Mary Lou Burke COO North America Center Ops | sell (plan) | $91K |
| Sep 1, 2026 | Mary Lou Burke COO North America Center Ops | sell (plan) | $90K |
| Jul 28, 2026 | Mary Lou Burke COO North America Center Ops | sell (plan) | $40K |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| BlackRock, Inc. | 12.5% | May 31, 2026 |
| JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. | 6.4% | Jun 30, 2025 |
| AQR Capital Management, LLC | 6.04% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Abrams Bison Investments, L.L.C. | 5.6% | Sep 10, 2026 |
| Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management, LLC | 5.5% | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Vanguard Capital Management | 5.31% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | 5.09% | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Massachusetts Financial Services Company | 4.4% | Dec 31, 2024 |
| T. Rowe Price Investment Management, Inc. | 3.9% | Jun 30, 2025 |
| Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. | 3.1% | Mar 31, 2026 |
ETFs with the most weight in BFAM
| MID American Century Mid Cap Growth Impact | 4.88% |
| RISN Inspire Tactical Balanced ETF | 2.76% |
| BKWO BNY Mellon Women's Opportunities ETF | 2.08% |
| CGMM Capital Group U.S. Small and Mid Cap ETF | 1.2% |
| FXD First Trust Consumer Discretionary AlphaDEX Fund | 0.78% |
| FNY First Trust Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund | 0.57% |
| BTAL AGF U.S. Market Neutral Anti-Beta Fund | 0.39% |
| IQSM NYLI Candriam U.S. Mid Cap Equity ETF | 0.38% |
What could go wrong
- Teacher shortages can cap enrollment. Child care needs a lot of staff, and rules set minimum teacher-to-child ratios. When Bright Horizons can't hire enough qualified staff, it has had to limit enrollment, close classrooms or pay for costlier agency workers.
- Hybrid work could cut demand at centers. Many centers sit at or near employer worksites. If work-from-home and hybrid patterns persist, demand could move away from those locations, leading to center closures or write-downs in their value.
- Child-safety incidents could hurt its reputation. The company calls its reputation critical to its business. Bad publicity about incidents or allegations of harm to a child could reduce demand from both families and employers.
- Rising wages may outrun price increases. Bright Horizons has raised pay and benefits to attract teachers. Its profits depend on passing those costs on through tuition increases and employer contract terms. If families or clients resist, profit margins could shrink.
- Employers may cut benefit spending. The business relies on employers valuing child care and education benefits. In a weaker economy, clients may scale back or drop sponsorship, cut staff or decline to renew contracts, which would reduce enrollment.
- Sizable debt with variable interest rates. Debt totaled about $1.08 billion as of June 30, 2026, against $164 million in cash and investments. Its variable-rate debt means rising rates can lift interest costs, and loan terms restrict some actions.
Recent events
- Quarterly results released; Executive or board change
- Quarterly results released
- Shareholder vote results
- Major agreement signed; New debt or financial obligation
- Quarterly results released; Investor presentation or announcement
- Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released; Executive or board change
For income and retirement investors
Bright Horizons pays no dividend and paid none from fiscal 2021 through 2025, so it provides no regular income. Investors who need cash from it would have to trim their position. The company returns cash through share buybacks instead: about $706 million over those five years, including about $225 million in 2025. The share count fell about 20% between July 2021 and July 2026, to about 48.6 million, giving each remaining share a larger slice of profits.
The shares have fallen sharply in market downturns. They dropped 60% in the 2020 COVID crash and took about 11 months to recover. In the 2022 bear market they fell about 60% again and needed nearly 23 months to regain their peak. As of October 28, 2026, the stock was down about 30% over one year. A single stock like this carries more risk than a diversified fund.
Questions investors ask
Does Bright Horizons pay a dividend?
No. Bright Horizons paid no dividends in fiscal years 2021 through 2025 and had no dividend yield as of October 28, 2026. It returns cash through share buybacks instead, spending about $706 million over those five years. That helped cut the share count by about 20% between July 2021 and July 2026. Investors who rely on portfolio income would get none from this stock.
How does Bright Horizons make money?
Mainly by running child care centers, largely for employers that offer care as an employee benefit. Full service center-based child care brought in about 71% of 2025 revenue of $2.93 billion, back-up care about 25% and educational advisory services about 4%. Employers sign multi-year contracts and often fund much of a new center's construction and part of its running costs, while families pay tuition. Back-up care fills gaps when usual care falls through.
Is Bright Horizons stock volatile?
Yes. As of October 28, 2026, the shares were down about 32% year to date and about 30% over one year. Their one-year volatility, a measure of how widely the price swings, was about 48%. The largest peak-to-low drop over that year was about 46%. The stock also fell 60% in the 2020 COVID crash and about 60% in the 2022 bear market, and took nearly 23 months to recover from the 2022 drop.
Is Bright Horizons profitable?
Yes. In 2025 it earned net income of $193 million on revenue of $2.93 billion, or about 6.6 cents of profit per dollar of sales. Diluted earnings per share rose to $3.36 from $2.40 in 2024. Revenue grew 9.2% in 2025 and about 14% a year since 2020. Results softened in the quarter ended June 30, 2026: revenue rose 6.5% from a year earlier, but net income fell about 26%. The stock traded at about 20.6 times 2025 earnings as of October 28, 2026.
How much debt does Bright Horizons have?
About $1.08 billion in total debt as of June 30, 2026, against about $164 million in cash and investments. That left net debt (debt minus cash) of roughly $918 million. Shareholders' equity (assets minus liabilities) was about $944 million. The company warns that some of this borrowing carries variable interest rates, so rising rates could increase its payments, and that its loan terms restrict some of its actions. A June 1, 2026 filing reported a major agreement and a new financial obligation.