Udemy Merges... Online Education Stocks Lose $120 Billion in a Day

Coursera Inc. (NASDAQ: COUR) shares plunged 6.46% to close at $5.36 on the New York Stock Exchange on May 19. Its market capitalization fell to about $1.53 billion (roughly KRW 2.1 trillion), erasing approximately $93 million (KRW 126 billion) in a single day. Trading volume reached around 3 million shares, well above its average.

On May 11, Coursera completed a stock-for-stock merger with online education platform Udemy valued at about $2.5 billion. A few days later, the company unveiled a $500 million share-repurchase plan, signaling to investors that the combined entity remains undervalued.

Headquartered in California, Coursera partners with universities and corporations worldwide to deliver courses, degrees and professional certificate programs in areas such as data science, computer science and business. Originating from massive open online courses (MOOCs), it has grown into a leading edtech company by capturing corporate and government reskilling demand as well as workforce-transition needs in the AI era.