Stockerati

Signs of an economic crisis? A downturn? Well that’s nothing but good news for education providers– companies which focus on associate degrees and technical diplomas. Turns out that Apollo (APOL), an education provider and the company which owns University of Phoenix, is hauling @** this morning.  Their profits were up 85 cents/share—up from 75 cents/share same quarter a year ago. Interesting points to note

Its associate degree program continues to be a primary source of enrollment growth, an issue that has worried investors because the students tend to be less educated, make less money and are more likely to drop out than typical students at the University of Phoenix.

In a conference call with investors, Apollo officials said they’ve done a better job keeping students in school through expanded academic programs, improved curriculum and other support services for students.

Chief Accounting Officer Brian Swartz added that the company has done a better job collecting tuition up front before a student may drop out.

APOL has done well through downturns. Take a look at the chart below. It’s because

• people lose jobs and go back to school, and,
• people want to get jobs in a tough job market and therefore go to school

APOL competitors DeVry (DV) and ESI also did pretty well today (up 14% and 7% right now)

Riverbed Tech (RVBD) is up as an analyst boosted his price target and said the network technology company’s stock deserves to trade higher than its peers due to market leadership– target raised to $20 from $18, implying shares expected to rise 41 percent over Tuesday’s $14.21 close.

Finally, Sandisk (SNDK) is up 7% after hitting a super-low yesterday to 2003 levels. It’s up as the market’s responding to  potential layoffs after it delivers its quarterly earnings report in July, and rumors that SanDisk may reduce its stake in a flash manufacturing facility with Toshiba.