U.S. News & World Report Expands Services in India
WASHINGTON, May 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. News & World Report, a global leader in education rankings and data-driven insights, today announced a strategic investment in The Red Pen , India's premier education consultancy with an international presence.
U.S. News is widely recognized for its unbiased journalism, data and rankings, which help students find the college or university that is right for them. The Red Pen offers personalized guidance on university selection, application strategy, and interview preparation.
The Red Pen's expertise in international education will enhance U.S. News' understanding of the Indian landscape, enabling the development of more globally relevant content. Meanwhile, U.S. News' proprietary data and insights will strengthen The Red Pen's advisory services, providing students with a more comprehensive approach to admissions.
Similar to U.S. News' acquisition of CollegeAdvisor.com, this investment helps shape a more strategic, hands-on approach to global university admissions.
'The Red Pen's expertise in providing tailored support to students and families perfectly aligns with U.S. News' mission,' said Eric Gertler, U.S. News executive chairman & CEO. 'This partnership will deepen our global engagement, particularly with educators, students and families interested in international education.'
The Red Pen will continue to operate under Kim Dixit and Namita Mehta, who hold majority ownership. The terms of this investment were not disclosed.
'This partnership is a significant milestone for The Red Pen and the students we serve,' said Dr. Kim Dixit, co-founder and CEO of The Red Pen. 'U.S. News' investment validates our commitment to providing high-quality, personalized counseling and enhances our ability to support students with deeper insights.'
'Each year, nearly 40 million students and families visit USNews.com to access data on tuition, financial aid, academic programs and admissions trends,' said U.S. News CFO & COO Neil Maheshwari. 'This strategic investment will further consolidate our position as a global authority in education far beyond the American borders.'
Namita Mehta, president of The Red Pen, adds, 'This partnership will elevate The Red Pen's profile in the global market, expand its digital footprint and reinforce our credibility as a trusted education consultancy.'
About The Red Pen
The Red Pen is an independent global education consultancy that guides students through applications to boarding schools, colleges, master's and MBA programs worldwide. It has successfully guided students to prestigious institutions across the US, UK, Canada, Europe, Asia, India, and more, with many securing spots at Ivy League colleges, Oxbridge, M7 business schools, and other selective universities. The Red Pen also offers mentorship for middle and high school students. Its unique 2:1 counseling approach, with two counselors per student, offers personalized guidance through every admissions process step. The Red Pen also supports educational institutions by managing and enhancing their college and career counseling departments. Schools like Deutsche Schule Bombay, DY Patil International School, and Krea University have partnered with The Red Pen to benefit from their expert services.
Follow The Red Pen on LinkedIn , YouTube , WhatsApp and Instagram.
About U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is the global leader in journalism, empowering consumers, citizens, business leaders, and policy officials to make confident decisions in all aspects of their lives and communities. A multifaceted media company, U.S. News provides unbiased rankings, independent reporting and analysis, and consumer advice to millions of people on USNews.com each month. A pillar in Washington for more than 90 years, U.S. News is the trusted home for in-depth and exclusive insights on education, health, politics, the economy, personal finance, travel, automobiles, real estate, careers and consumer products and services.
Follow U.S. News & World Report on Facebook , LinkedIn , Instagram , TikTok and X (formerly Twitter)
View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-news--world-report-expands-services-in-india-302447978.html
SOURCE U.S. News & World Report
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Microsoft valuation surges above $4 trillion as AI lifts stocks
Shares of Microsoft spiked Thursday following blowout quarterly results, lifting the tech giant into the previously unprecedented $4 trillion club along with Nvidia, another artificial intelligence standout. The landmark valuation is the latest sign of growing bullishness about an AI investment boom that market watchers believe is still in the early stages -- even as companies like Microsoft plan $100 billion or more in annual capital spending to add new capacity. Microsoft reported profit of $27.2 billion on revenue of $76.4 billion in its fiscal fourth quarter, capping another year of growth amid massive customer interest in the company's cutting-edge AI capacity. Shortly after midday, Microsoft shares were up 4.3 percent, giving it a market capitalization slightly under $4 trillion after earlier eclipsing the benchmark. "Cloud and AI is the driving force of business transformation across every industry and sector," said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. "We're innovating across the tech stack to help customers adapt and grow in this new era." The results drew plaudits from Wall Street analysts on an earnings conference call at which Nadella boasted that the company had opened new data centers across six continents in the last year and touted major contracts for global companies like Nestle and Barclays. Microsoft was one of the first tech giants to double down on artificial intelligence when the launch of ChatGPT in 2022 rocked the tech industry. Microsoft has had a strategic partnership with ChatGPT maker OpenAI since 2019, holding rights to its intellectual property. At the heart of the results was a stunning 39 percent surge in Azure, the company's legacy cloud computing platform, which is getting "supercharged" with AI, said Angelo Zino, technology analyst at CFRA Research. Zino attributed "just about all of" Microsoft's recent surge in valuation to AI. - Legacy businesses - While Nvidia is part of a wave of tech companies that have risen to prominence with the AI boom of the last few years, Microsoft has long been among America's corporate elite, joining the prestigious Dow index in 1999, more than a decade after introducing the once-revolutionary Windows program. The company's revenue base includes such workplace mainstays as the Outlook email platform and the LinkedIn career website. Microsoft also has a significant gaming division with the Xbox console. All of these businesses are set to benefit from Microsoft's AI advantages. "We view (Microsoft) as kind of the enterprise king," said Zino. "What AI does is it provides new growth opportunities for this company." For all of fiscal 2025, Microsoft reported revenues of $281.7 billion, up 15 percent from the prior year. Microsoft's revenues have more than doubled from 2018, when they were $110.4 billion. Zino thinks Microsoft is poised for a comparable run over the next six or seven years when it could see annual revenue growth of 10 percent as greater use of AI creates even more opportunity. The biggest risk to this outlook -- and to the AI boom generally -- would be "if we get to the point where supply for AI exceeds demand," Zino said. "That could put pressure on pricing for cloud computing and space." jmb/jgc
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Pressure is on for Amazon to deliver strong Q2 earnings results following big beats by Google, Microsoft
Amazon (AMZN) will announce its second quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday, and the pressure is on to show that its AI investments are paying off. The company's report follows Google's (GOOG, GOOGL) and Microsoft's (MSFT) own blowout announcements, highlighting growth across their respective cloud businesses on the back of increased customer spending on AI. Microsoft reported that its Azure business brought $75 billion in its fiscal 2025, helping to push its market capitalization past the $4 trillion mark in early trading Thursday. Microsoft is only the second company to reach the milestone behind Nvidia (NVDA). Google parent Alphabet offered up its own strong results, noting cloud revenue climbed 32% and backlog, or purchase commitments from customers not yet realized, rose 38%. Search also performed better than expected during the quarter, with sales increasing 12% year over year. Now it's Amazon's turn to show that its AI buildout is driving revenue gains for AWS. The company's stock price is up more than 6% year to date and more than 25% over the last 12 months. Alphabet is up 1.8% year to date and 12% over the last 12 months. Microsoft is up 27% and 28%, respectively. For the quarter, Amazon is expected to report earnings per share (EPS) of $1.32 on revenue of $162.1 billion, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates. The company saw EPS of $1.26 and revenue of $147.9 in the same quarter last year. AWS revenue is expected to top $30.7 billion, up 17% versus the $26.2 billion it brought in last year. But like Microsoft, Amazon says it's contending with supply constraints as demand for AI outstrips the company's ability to stand up data centers. During the company's Q1 earnings call, CEO Andy Jassy said Amazon's AI business is a multibillion-dollar annual run rate business and that it's growing triple-digit percentages year-over-year. BofA Global Research analyst Justin Post wrote in an investor note that supply growth should support revenue trends in the second half of the year, which could accelerate AWS revenue. Outside of AWS, Amazon is expected to post online store revenue of $59.1 billion, up 6%, while advertising revenue is anticipated to hit $14.9 billion, a 17% jump. 'The consumer was far more resilient than expected in 2Q, with CEO Andy Jassy saying in May that "we have not seen any attenuation of demand at this point,' Wedbush analyst Scott Devitt wrote in a note to investors ahead of earnings. '[Foreign exchange] should also have a favorable impact to International Retail sales, with the dollar weakening on a [year-over-year] basis versus most European currencies,' he added. Investors will also be on the lookout for any potential tariff impact in retail sales in the quarter and beyond, as President Trump continues to threaten higher levies on countries that don't agree to new trade deals including, most recently, India. Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@ Follow him on X/Twitter at @DanielHowley. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
FAT Brands Inc (FAT) Q2 2025 Earnings Call Highlights: Navigating Challenges and Capitalizing ...
Release Date: July 30, 2025 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Positive Points FAT Brands Inc (NASDAQ:FAT) has been recognized on Time and Statista's best mid-sized company list for the second consecutive year. The company has a diversified global restaurant portfolio with approximately 2,300 locations across 49 states and 35 countries. FAT Brands Inc (NASDAQ:FAT) has a robust development pipeline with approximately 1,000 locations committed to open over the next 5 to 7 years. The company is seeing strong performance in its snack segment, with Great American Cookies and Marble Slab Creamery showing consistent strength. FAT Brands Inc (NASDAQ:FAT) has implemented over $5 million in annual SGNA reductions and identified further cost optimization opportunities. Negative Points Total revenues decreased by 3.4% to $146.8 million compared to the previous year's quarter. The company reported a net loss attributable to FAT Brands of $54.2 million, an increase from the previous year's net loss. General and administrative expenses increased significantly due to non-cash share-based compensation expenses. Market volatility has delayed the planned $75 to $100 million equity raise for Twin Peaks. The company is facing challenges in the QSR space, with brands like Fasoli's experiencing a tougher sales environment. Q & A Highlights Warning! GuruFocus has detected 8 Warning Signs with FAT. Q: Can you provide an update on the SEC civil action following the DOJ case dismissal, and will you recover any past legal costs from insurance? A: We are hopeful that the SEC civil case will be dismissed following the DOJ case, but we cannot comment further at this time. Regarding legal fees, which totaled $70 million over the last 3.5 years, we have filed with our insurance company and will recover the policy limits as part of the derivative case settlement. - Andy Weiderhorn, Chairman of the Board. Q: The increase in G&A costs was attributed to share-based compensation. Is this a one-time event, and should we expect G&A costs to decrease? A: Yes, the increase in G&A costs is a one-time event tied to the Twin Peaks spinoff, and costs will decrease moving forward. - Andy Weiderhorn, Chairman of the Board. Q: Can you provide a timeline for the rollout of the new manufacturing contract and its expected benefits? A: The contract is currently in production and will be fully rolled out in the next 30 to 60 days. We expect to announce further details in about 3 to 4 weeks. The contract involves different operators and will significantly benefit our cookie dough production. - Andy Weiderhorn, Chairman of the Board. Q: Are you seeing improved restaurant industry traffic similar to other companies like Cisco and Wingstop? A: The performance varies by brand category. Snack brands like cookies and ice cream are doing well, while QSR brands face challenges. However, the polished casual dining segment is improving, and we are optimistic about future consumer confidence. - Andy Weiderhorn, Chairman of the Board. Q: What is the current liquidity situation, and how are you managing financial flexibility? A: We have $130 to $150 million in retained notes for liquidity, which we can finance or sell as needed. We also have an ATM in place but have not used it much due to undervaluation concerns. We are focusing on G&A savings and accelerating the Smokey Bones portfolio conversion to improve liquidity. - Andy Weiderhorn, Chairman of the Board. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.