You’ve probably never heard of Timothy O’Shaughnessy, but if you’re looking at graham holdings company stock, he’s basically the guy holding the keys to a $5 billion treasure chest that most of the market is ignoring. It’s weird. Here is a company that once owned The Washington Post and now owns everything from luxury car dealerships to a world-famous restaurant near the White House, yet it trades like a boring, dusty utility.
Honestly, the stock—ticker GHC—is a bit of a riddle. It’s a conglomerate. People hate conglomerates. Investors like "pure plays" where they can say, "I’m betting on AI" or "I’m betting on electric cars." You can’t do that here. When you buy a share of GHC, you’re buying a piece of Kaplan’s global education empire, a bunch of local TV stations, a high-growth hospice business, and—this is the kicker—a massive pile of Berkshire Hathaway stock tucked away in a pension fund.
The Sum of the Parts Problem
Most analysts are lazy. They see a company with seven different business segments and they just give up. It’s too much work to model. But if you actually do the math, graham holdings company stock looks like a massive bargain.
Think about it this way:
The company owns a business called Graham Healthcare Group. Home health and hospice. In 2025, while everyone was obsessing over tech, this segment’s operating income was nearly doubling. People are getting older. They want to stay at home. It’s a massive tailwind that isn't going away. Then you’ve got Kaplan. Forget the old SAT prep books; the real money now is in international higher education and professional training.
But then there’s the "drag." The TV stations. Local broadcast is a tough business when everyone is moving to streaming. In the second quarter of 2025, TV revenue was down about 8%. This is why the stock price often feels stuck. The fast-growing healthcare stuff gets cancelled out by the shrinking media stuff in the eyes of a casual observer.
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That "Secret" Pension Fund
Here is something sort of crazy that most people miss. Graham Holdings has an overfunded pension plan. We’re talking about a surplus that is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. They’ve actually used this surplus to fund acquisitions, like buying an industrial manufacturing business using pension assets to cover the costs.
It’s a move straight out of the Warren Buffett playbook. In fact, the company owns about $600 million worth of Berkshire Hathaway stock. When you look at the $5.03 billion market cap (as of early 2026), and you start stripping away the cash, the Berkshire shares, and the value of the individual businesses, you realize you’re buying the core operations at a massive discount.
As of January 14, 2026, the stock is trading around $1,150. That sounds expensive. It’s not. A high share price doesn't mean a high valuation. With a P/E ratio sitting around 6.9, it’s arguably one of the cheapest quality stocks on the NYSE right now.
What Most People Get Wrong About Kaplan
People think Kaplan is dead because of YouTube and free online courses. They're wrong. Kaplan has pivoted. They are huge in Australia and the UK. They’ve moved into "education as a service," helping universities run their online programs.
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- International Growth: This is where the real margin is.
- Professional Education: Helping accountants and financial advisors get their certifications.
- Adaptability: They’ve closed the physical centers and moved the revenue online.
It’s a cash cow. And management uses that cash to buy back shares. They’ve been cannibalizing their own share count for years. If you own the stock, your "slice of the pizza" gets bigger every year without you doing anything.
The 2026 Outlook: Why Now?
Why does this matter right now? Well, the company just posted Q3 earnings (late 2025) that beat expectations. They did $14.08 in EPS when the market expected $12.36. Revenue hit $1.28 billion.
The market is finally starting to notice that the healthcare segment isn't just a side project—it’s a powerhouse. Plus, there’s constant talk about spinning off the TV stations. If they do that, the "conglomerate discount" might finally disappear.
Actionable Insights for Investors
If you’re looking at graham holdings company stock, don’t just watch the daily price swings. It’s a low-volume stock. It’s volatile. Instead:
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- Check the 10-K for the Pension Value: See how much that surplus has grown. It’s a hidden layer of protection for the stock price.
- Monitor Healthcare Margins: If Graham Healthcare Group continues to grow at 30%+, the market will eventually have to re-rate the entire company.
- Watch the Buybacks: Management is obsessed with per-share value. If they’re buying back stock at $1,100, they think it’s worth a lot more.
- Look Past the "Education" Label: Treat GHC as a private equity fund that happens to be traded on the stock market.
The Graham family still controls the company through supervoting shares. They aren't looking for a quick flip. They are playing the long game. If you’re a "get rich quick" person, this isn't for you. But if you want to own a collection of high-quality businesses managed by people who actually care about capital allocation, it’s hard to find a better setup.
The real risk? It stays "cheap" forever. Sometimes "value" is a trap if there’s no catalyst to wake up the rest of the market. But with the current earnings momentum in the healthcare and international education sectors, that "sleepy" phase might be coming to an end. Keep an eye on the February 6, 2026, earnings call—it could be the one that finally shifts the narrative.
Next Step: Review the latest quarterly report specifically for the "Healthcare" and "Manufacturing" segment margins to see if the growth is accelerating into 2026.