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Bright Horizons BFAM

Bright Horizons scores average on business quality (5.1 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.

Last price$69.45Oct 9, 2026
Business qualityAverage
Next earningsNov 3, 2026, after the close
Insiders, 90 daysSelling

Why it matters

  1. What Bright Horizons does

    Bright Horizons Family Solutions runs employer-sponsored child care, day care, and early education centers. Working parents rely on its facilities while corporate partners foot part of the bill to recruit and retain talent.

  2. What it does best

    Bright Horizons dominates employer-sponsored child care, leveraging deep corporate partnerships that rivals struggle to duplicate. Its operating margin of 11.1% outpaces peers like GHC at 5.7%, showing it converts scale into better profit conversion.

  3. The main risk

    A debt-to-equity ratio of 0.7 paired with an interest coverage ratio of 6.7x exposes the business to rising financing costs if center utilization dips or corporate clients trim discretionary perks.

Quality, check by check

Scored against its own industry, from company filings.

ProfitabilityWeak

Operating margin stands at 11.1% with an FCF margin near 7.8% based on $236 million in free cash flow on $3.0 billion in revenue. Profitability improves as centers mature, though labor costs weigh on near-term conversion.

MoatWeak

Corporate relationships form a narrow moat, locking in enterprise clients who view child care as a vital recruitment tool. Its gross margin sits in the bottom quartile of its sector at 23.5%, limiting pricing power.

GrowthSteady

Revenue grew to $3.0 billion, backed by a revenue growth rate of 9.2%. History shows consistent top-line expansion climbing from $1.5 billion in 2020.

Financial healthFair

Total debt sits at $947 million against $155 million in cash, leaving net debt at $792 million. Free cash flow reached $236 million, showing steady generation but carrying material leverage.

Insiders

Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.

1 sold $436K outside pre-planned sales.

Our sealed record on BFAM

Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.

The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.

Questions

Is BFAM a good business?

Bright Horizons scores average on the Cluenex quality check (5.1 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is weak, moat weak, growth steady and financial health fair.

Are insiders buying BFAM?

In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: 1 sold $436K outside pre-planned sales.

When does BFAM report earnings?

Nov 3, 2026, after the close.

For members

See BFAM today

  • Today's verdict on BFAM, and why
  • Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
  • The exact price that would change the verdict
  • Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
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Cite this page: Cluenex, “Bright Horizons (BFAM)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/bfam/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.