Private prison operator CoreCivic (NYSE: CXW) reported Q4 CY2025 results exceeding the market’s revenue expectations, with sales up 26% year on year to $604 million. Its GAAP profit of $0.26 per share was 33.3% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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Company Overview

Originally founded in 1983 as the first private prison company in the United States, CoreCivic (NYSE: CXW) operates correctional facilities, detention centers, and residential reentry programs for government agencies across the United States.

Revenue Growth

A company’s long-term sales performance can indicate its overall quality. Any business can have short-term success, but a top-tier one grows for years.

With $2.21 billion in revenue over the past 12 months, CoreCivic is a mid-sized business services company, which sometimes brings disadvantages compared to larger competitors benefiting from better economies of scale.

As you can see below, CoreCivic grew its sales at a tepid 3% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years. This shows it failed to generate demand in any major way and is a rough starting point for our analysis.

We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within business services, a half-decade historical view may miss recent innovations or disruptive industry trends. CoreCivic’s annualized revenue growth of 8% over the last two years is above its five-year trend, suggesting its demand recently accelerated.

This quarter, CoreCivic reported robust year-on-year revenue growth of 26%, and its $604 million of revenue topped Wall Street estimates by 6%.

Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 13.8% over the next 12 months, an improvement versus the last two years. This projection is healthy and indicates its newer products and services will spur better top-line performance.

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Operating Margin

CoreCivic’s operating margin has risen over the last 12 months and averaged 11% over the last five years. Its profitability was higher than the broader business services sector, showing it did a decent job managing its expenses.

Analyzing the trend in its profitability, CoreCivic’s operating margin might fluctuated slightly but has generally stayed the same over the last five years. This raises questions about the company’s expense base because its revenue growth should have given it leverage on its fixed costs, resulting in better economies of scale and profitability.

In Q4, CoreCivic generated an operating margin profit margin of 22.2%, up 14.2 percentage points year on year. This increase was a welcome development and shows it was more efficient.

Earnings Per Share

We track the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) for the same reason as long-term revenue growth. Compared to revenue, however, EPS highlights whether a company’s growth is profitable.

CoreCivic’s EPS grew at an astounding 19.2% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years, higher than its 3% annualized revenue growth. This tells us the company became more profitable on a per-share basis as it expanded.

Like with revenue, we analyze EPS over a more recent period because it can provide insight into an emerging theme or development for the business.

For CoreCivic, its two-year annual EPS growth of 35.7% was higher than its five-year trend. We love it when earnings growth accelerates, especially when it accelerates off an already high base.

In Q4, CoreCivic reported EPS of $0.26, up from $0.17 in the same quarter last year. This print easily cleared analysts’ estimates, and shareholders should be content with the results. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects CoreCivic’s full-year EPS of $1.09 to grow 34.2%.

Key Takeaways from CoreCivic’s Q4 Results

It was good to see CoreCivic beat analysts’ EPS expectations this quarter. We were also excited its revenue outperformed Wall Street’s estimates by a wide margin. Zooming out, we think this quarter featured some important positives. The stock traded up 3.6% to $19.17 immediately following the results.

CoreCivic put up rock-solid earnings, but one quarter doesn’t necessarily make the stock a buy. Let’s see if this is a good investment. We think that the latest quarter is only one piece of the longer-term business quality puzzle. Quality, when combined with valuation, can help determine if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).