Graham Holdings Co
Graham Holdings Co. is a diversified U.S. holding company built around education, media, healthcare, manufacturing, automotive retail and a collection of smaller operating businesses. Its largest operating platform is Kaplan, which serves students, universities and employers with test prep, higher education support and professional training, while the rest of the portfolio provides cash flow from a mix of local, niche and industrial businesses.
Fiscal year 2025 · change from previous year
Development 2020–2025
Business
Share of revenueKaplan's global education businesses, including test preparation, language training, university support and professional certification services.
Home health, hospice, infusion therapy, physician services, ABA therapy and healthcare software offerings.
Television stations, retransmission consent, local digital media and related audience/advertising products.
Industrial and building-product manufacturing businesses serving construction, electrical and utility end markets.
Franchise dealerships and related repair and valet services.
Restaurants, magazines, art marketplaces, marketing services and software/data businesses.
Products
Reported · share of revenue- Services54.3 %
- Products45.7 %
Source: 10-K FY2025, revenue the company reports per product line (SEC XBRL). Shares are of the lines shown and add up to 100 %.
Customers
The company sells to a broad mix of consumers, institutions and businesses rather than a single end market. Kaplan serves students, universities, schools and corporate clients; healthcare businesses serve patients and referral sources; and manufacturing, automotive and media businesses sell to dealers, advertisers, distributors and local consumers.
Buy Kaplan exam preparation, language training and admissions support to improve academic and professional outcomes.
Use Kaplan's operations support, pathway and program services to expand enrollment and delivery capacity.
Purchase or refer home health, hospice, infusion and therapy services based on care needs and provider access.
Buy broadcast inventory, retransmission rights and digital marketing services to reach local and targeted audiences.
Buy manufactured components and building products for commercial construction, electrical and utility applications.
Visit dealerships, restaurants, magazines and niche consumer platforms for local services and discretionary spending.
Strategy
The company's strategy is to manage a portfolio of businesses that can generate cash across different cycles while limiting dependence on any single end market. Recent disclosures emphasize liquidity, disciplined capital allocation, and continued monitoring of tariffs, macro slowdown risk and portfolio-specific operational issues. Kaplan remains the most important growth and scale platform, while the rest of the portfolio is managed for cash generation, selective investment and occasional restructuring.
Kaplan is the largest and most globally exposed operating platform, so enrollment trends and regulation directly affect group performance.
A holding company structure with multiple operating businesses requires cash to fund capex, acquisitions, dividends and buybacks.
The company spans education, media, healthcare, manufacturing and consumer businesses, which helps offset weakness in any one segment.
Geography
2025Graham Holdings is primarily a U.S.-based company, but its operations are diversified across domestic businesses and a meaningful international education footprint. Management discloses that non-U.S. operations, mainly within Kaplan, represented about 22% of consolidated revenue in 2025, 2024 and 2023, and about 18% of consolidated assets at year-end 2025 and 2024. That international exposure makes the company sensitive to immigration policy, travel restrictions, foreign regulation and U.K./global education demand.
Risks
The main risks come from Kaplan's exposure to international regulation, immigration policy and travel restrictions, plus the cyclical and policy-sensitive nature of broadcasting, restaurants and manufacturing. Company-specific issues also include goodwill/intangible impairment, integration risk from acquisitions, cybersecurity and privacy exposure, and the possibility that tariffs or a broader slowdown could pressure margins and demand.
- International laws, travel restrictions and immigration policy changesImpact: HighLikelihood: High
Kaplan's non-U.S. education businesses depend on cross-border student flows and local regulatory approvals.
Exposure: Kaplan international operations
- Goodwill and intangible asset impairmentImpact: HighLikelihood: High
Underperformance at acquired businesses can trigger non-cash write-downs and signal weaker future cash generation.
Exposure: Acquired businesses and franchise rights
- Cord-cutting and media distribution shiftsImpact: HighLikelihood: Medium
Broadcast retransmission and advertising economics weaken as consumers move away from cable and satellite.
Exposure: Television broadcasting
- Tariffs and supply-chain cost inflationImpact: MediumLikelihood: Medium
Manufacturing businesses use aluminum, lumber and other inputs that can be affected by trade policy and pricing volatility.
Exposure: Manufacturing segment
- Cybersecurity, privacy and AI-related liabilityImpact: MediumLikelihood: Low
Digital media, software and customer-data businesses handle sensitive information and depend on uninterrupted systems.
Exposure - Controlled company governanceImpact: LowLikelihood: Low
Class A control remains with Graham family interests, limiting voting power for Class B holders.
Exposure: Corporate governance
Accounting
Judgemental itemsManagement explicitly notes that underperformance can lead to future write-downs, which would reduce earnings without affecting cash.
Impact: Can materially affect reported net income in a given quarter or year
The company records changes in estimated fair value as interest expense, creating large non-operating swings.
Impact: Can significantly distort EPS and operating trend analysis
The portfolio is marked through earnings, so market movements can create gains or losses unrelated to operations.
Impact: Adds volatility to non-operating income
SIP and VRIP charges recur across businesses and can make period-to-period comparisons less comparable.
Impact: Affects operating profit and adjusted earnings interpretation
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Last updated: 24/09/2026