New York, May 25, 2026, 16:05 EDT
- Afya closed Friday at $14.00, putting shares up roughly 0.2% for the week ahead of the Memorial Day holiday.
- NYSE trading is shut for Memorial Day on Monday. Usual hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET.
- Investors go into the short week with Afya’s reaffirmed 2026 outlook in focus, facing ongoing margin pressure and higher spending in its medical-practice tools segment.
Afya Limited stock stuck around $14 as the new trading week kicked off, with the Brazilian medical education company finishing last week nearly unchanged. U.S. exchanges were closed Monday for Memorial Day.
Tuesday’s market open is shaping up as the next check for the Nasdaq-listed stock. Afya hasn’t had much new news to drive trading since it posted first-quarter numbers earlier this month. Now investors are weighing steady cash flows and a buyback against thinner margins and some uncertainty on digital medical product growth.
Afya ended Friday at $14.00, off 0.6% for the session and a touch above last week’s $13.97 finish. The stock traded from $13.68 to $14.50 over the week. Volume stayed below 82,000 shares a day, so moves after the holiday have looked bigger than the news behind them.
The company, which says it is Brazil’s top medical education group and also provides medical practice solutions to doctors, posted first-quarter revenue of 1.01 billion reais, rising 8.2% over the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA was 511.4 million reais, up 4.0%. The margin dropped by 200 basis points to 50.5%. One basis point equals one-hundredth of a percentage point.
Afya is sticking to its 2026 targets, with management holding guidance at 3.95 billion to 4.10 billion reais in revenue and adjusted EBITDA between 1.70 billion and 1.80 billion reais. The board signed off on a 307.4 million real dividend. The company has now bought back more than half of the 4 million Class A shares it had cleared for repurchase under its buyback plan.
The core medical-school business is still the backbone. Afya reported a 7.2% rise in medical-school revenue for the quarter. Approved medical seats climbed to 3,768. The net average ticket for the medical school, not counting acquisitions, went up 4.6% from a year ago.
Afya CEO Virgilio Gibbon told analysts first-half intake was “a very healthy intake cycle” with “100% occupancy” at schools. For non-medical health courses, Gibbon said organic growth was “almost a 20%,” citing Afya’s healthcare branding as a boost. Investing
The competitive picture is moving. YDUQS, seen as a broader Brazilian education peer, flagged its Unifametro University Center buy. The deal gives it over 8,000 students and possible medical seats, which keeps medical capacity in focus for the sector.
Afya is staying careful on deals for now. Chief Financial Officer Luis Blanco said Afya is sticking to medicine-focused targets and “do[es] not pursue a deal just for the growth itself.” He said the company wants acquisitions with over 60% of revenue from medicine and returns above its hurdle rate. Investing
Afya’s margin dropped in the quarter, with management blaming higher costs and spending tied to continuing education and medical practice solutions. On the Whitebook product, where free public large language models are an issue, CEO Blanco told investors not to expect much impact on active payers or revenue this year. Blanco sees benefits “from 2027 ahead.” Investing
The week won’t be about a single session’s move, but whether buyers come back in force after the holiday to get Afya moving out of its holding pattern. Unless the company issues an update or adjusts guidance, shares may just drift on thin volume, sector mood in Brazil, and any new margin numbers.
