Ahead of the Bell: Apollo Group

NEW YORK (AP) — Apollo Group Inc. said it had strong growth in student enrollments during its fiscal third quarter, and analysts on Tuesday boosted their earnings estimates due to the education provider's confident stance on the current quarter.

Shares jumped $4.27, or 6.5 percent, to $70.26 in premarket trading. The stock has ranged from $43.54 to $90 over the past year.

"Apollo Group beat consensus on all key metrics," said Deutsche Bank analyst Paul Ginocchio in a note to investors.

Apollo's management said its enrollment trends in the fourth quarter looked similar to the third quarter, "a very bullish statement," Ginocchio added.

The Phoenix-based company, which operates the University of Phoenix, said on Monday that its profit rose 44 percent in the three months ended May 31, while sales grew nearly 26 percent.

Student enrollments grew 22 percent to 420,700, while new enrollments were up 23 percent to 87,500, beating expectations, Ginocchio said.

He raised his earnings estimates to $4.19 per share for fiscal 2009 and $5.21 per share for 2010.

William Blair analyst Brandon Dobell also boosted his earnings-per-share estimates to $4.18 for the year ending Aug. 31 and $5.04 for fiscal 2010.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, expect profit of $3.97 per share in 2009 and $4.79 per share in 2010.