Is Schoo profitable in 2026?

Schoo swung to a small net loss of about negative 2 million yen in Q1 FY2026 (quarter ended December 2025), reversing a prior-year profit, per financial data reported November 13 2025. FY2025 (ended September 2025) net income was 175.31 million yen, down 4.9% year over year, so profitability is thin and now under pressure.

Who owns Schoo and is it publicly traded?

Schoo, Inc. is a public company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth market under ticker 264A since its IPO on October 22 2024 at 690 yen per share. It was founded October 3 2011 in Shibuya, Tokyo, by CEO Kenshiro Mori, and prior backers included Incubate Fund and Dai-ichi Life.

Could AI replace Schoo's learning platform?

Schoo's roughly 9,000 recorded business-skills videos (Excel, PowerPoint, management theory) are the kind of generic content generative AI tutors can replicate. Its defense is a live-broadcast Q&A format, in-house content production, and about 4,500 enterprise LMS contracts with just 0.04% net revenue churn reported at its October 2024 IPO.

Who is Schoo's biggest competitor?

SmartHR poses the sharpest threat by bundling learning modules into the HR system-of-record seat it already owns inside client companies. Schoo also competes directly with Globis Manabi-hodai and Udemy Business for the same corporate training budgets, and Kaonavi is adding learning features to its talent-management platform.

Did Schoo miss its IPO growth guidance?

Yes. At its September 2024 fiscal year-end filing, Schoo guided FY2025 revenue growth of 37.2% to 3.9 billion yen. Actual FY2025 (ended September 2025) revenue came in at 3.36 billion yen, up only 17.8% year over year, roughly half the promised growth rate.

How many companies use Schoo for Business?

Schoo for Business had more than 4,500 contracted companies as of November 2025, up from over 4,000 in June 2024 and about 2,900 in early 2023. The B2B product now generates over 90% of Schoo's total revenue, per the company's own IPO-linked disclosures.

Education companies · Japan

Schoo

schoo.jp ↗

Schoo runs live online video courses for adult learners and corporate training in Japan.

Losing its protection

Assessed 26 July 2026 · Evidence as of 26 July 2026

The structural protection is eroding.

On the recordSince 26 July 2026 · Checkable from November 2026 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: FY2026 full-year results, testing whether growth reaccelerates past FY2025's missed guidance

The call

Schoo's contracts stay stuck at almost no churn while its stock has fallen about 70% from peak on growth that missed its own IPO promise.

Schoo sells online business training videos and live classes to Japanese companies, with about 4,500 paying customers and very low cancellation rates. The company is hard to replace because it produces its own videos in-house, has deep relationships with local governments, and customers rarely leave, but SmartHR is now selling training modules bundled directly into its HR software that companies already use for payroll, and Udemy Business plus Globis are winning the same deals. The critical question is whether Schoo's low churn holds up when competitors are actively attacking, and whether the recent shift from profit to loss in early 2026 is temporary or the start of a longer squeeze on earnings.

Why

AI pressure: Generic AI tutors and chatbots teaching business skills. AI can already explain Excel or management basics for free, pressuring the value of Schoo's generic video library. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.

Bigger players: SmartHR. SmartHR owns the HR system seat and is bundling learning modules into it, competing for the same training budget. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.

What protects it. About 4,500 B2B contracts with 0.04% net revenue churn, in-house live content, and 82 local-government ties.

What would change this call

Schoo reports Q2 FY2026 results (net profit or loss) around early 2026. Shows whether the Q1 FY2026 net loss was a one-off or a margin trend.
Schoo's FY2026 full-year results, due around November 2026, show revenue growth rate. Reveals whether growth reaccelerates toward guided 25%+ or stays below prior IPO guidance.
Schoo discloses net revenue churn figure in future earnings reports. Rising above 0.04% would signal customers switching to SmartHR, Globis, or AI tools.

Key numbers

FY2025 revenue grew 17.8%, far below 37.2% IPO guidance (2025-09-30)
Net revenue churn held at 0.04% (2024-06-30)
B2B contracts reached 4,500+ (2025-11-27)

Named risks

FY2025 revenue growth of 17.8% badly missed IPO guidance of 37.2%, denting credibility. Severity: high
Q1 FY2026 swing to net loss of -2 million yen could signal a margin trend, not a blip. Severity: high
SmartHR and Kaonavi can bundle learning into HR-suite seats they already own, no structural barrier stops them. Severity: high
Generic business-skills video content (Excel, PowerPoint, management theory) is directly replicable by generative AI tutors. Severity: medium
Stock down about 70% from all-time high by mid-2026, raising financing and takeover-target risk. Severity: medium

Rivals, as read in July 2026

Rival	Direction	Evidence
SmartHR	gaining on	Bundles learning modules into HR system-of-record seat it already owns in client firms, as of 2025
Kaonavi	gaining on	Adding learning-recommendation features to talent-management platform, encroaching on Schoo's turf
Globis Manabi-hodai	contesting	Head-to-head competitor for corporate reskilling budgets in Japan through 2026
Udemy Business	contesting	Compared directly against Schoo for Business on review site ITreview as of July 2026

Questions people ask

Is Schoo profitable in 2026?: Schoo swung to a small net loss of about negative 2 million yen in Q1 FY2026 (quarter ended December 2025), reversing a prior-year profit, per financial data reported November 13 2025. FY2025 (ended September 2025) net income was 175.31 million yen, down 4.9% year over year, so profitability is thin and now under pressure.
Who owns Schoo and is it publicly traded?: Schoo, Inc. is a public company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth market under ticker 264A since its IPO on October 22 2024 at 690 yen per share. It was founded October 3 2011 in Shibuya, Tokyo, by CEO Kenshiro Mori, and prior backers included Incubate Fund and Dai-ichi Life.
Could AI replace Schoo's learning platform?: Schoo's roughly 9,000 recorded business-skills videos (Excel, PowerPoint, management theory) are the kind of generic content generative AI tutors can replicate. Its defense is a live-broadcast Q&A format, in-house content production, and about 4,500 enterprise LMS contracts with just 0.04% net revenue churn reported at its October 2024 IPO.
Who is Schoo's biggest competitor?: SmartHR poses the sharpest threat by bundling learning modules into the HR system-of-record seat it already owns inside client companies. Schoo also competes directly with Globis Manabi-hodai and Udemy Business for the same corporate training budgets, and Kaonavi is adding learning features to its talent-management platform.
Did Schoo miss its IPO growth guidance?: Yes. At its September 2024 fiscal year-end filing, Schoo guided FY2025 revenue growth of 37.2% to 3.9 billion yen. Actual FY2025 (ended September 2025) revenue came in at 3.36 billion yen, up only 17.8% year over year, roughly half the promised growth rate.
How many companies use Schoo for Business?: Schoo for Business had more than 4,500 contracted companies as of November 2025, up from over 4,000 in June 2024 and about 2,900 in early 2023. The B2B product now generates over 90% of Schoo's total revenue, per the company's own IPO-linked disclosures.

Timeline

2025-12-26Tokyu Community Corp rollout to 5,000 employees announced in Schoo newsletter
2025-11-27Schoo Swing certified under IT subsidy program; 82 local government partnerships, 4,500+ contracts
2025-11-13FY2025 results reported: revenue 3.36 billion yen, Q1 FY2026 net loss of -2 million yen
2025-10Schoo Mesh regional talent-development service launched
2025-06-11Corporate user community rebranded as enpeer
2024-10-22IPO on Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth market at 690 yen per share, ticker 264A
2024-06-27Schoo for Business surpasses 4,000 contracted companies
2024-03-01GLIN Impact Capital makes ESG-linked investment in Schoo
2023-02-22Series E round closes totaling 2.15 billion yen, led by Incubate Fund
2011-10-03Schoo, Inc. founded in Shibuya, Tokyo by CEO Kenshiro Mori

Revision history

26 July 2026

First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.

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