Wall Street can be a cold, unforgiving place. If you’ve looked at Chegg Inc stock price lately, you know exactly what I’m talking about. We are currently sitting in January 2026, and the numbers are, frankly, startling. As of the close on January 16, 2026, Chegg shares were trading around $0.86.
Think about that for a second.
This is a company that once saw its stock price peak at over $113 back in early 2021. The "pandemic darling" status is long gone. Now, it’s fighting to stay relevant in a world where students can get instant homework help from any number of free AI models. The market cap has shriveled to roughly $75 million, which is a far cry from the multi-billion dollar valuation it commanded just a few years ago.
The Reality of the Chegg Inc Stock Price Slide
The elephant in the room is ChatGPT. Well, ChatGPT and Gemini and Claude and every other LLM that decided to be a genius at calculus overnight. When OpenAI dropped its bombshell in late 2022, it didn't just change the tech world; it basically Nuked Chegg's traditional business model.
Chegg spent years building a massive "moat" of proprietary answers. If you were a student stuck on a physics problem, you paid Chegg a monthly subscription to see the solution. Suddenly, that moat felt more like a puddle. Why pay $15 or $20 a month when a free AI can explain the same concept in seconds?
By the third quarter of 2025, the damage was clear. Total net revenues fell 42% year-over-year to just $77.7 million. That’s a massive hit for a company that used to be a growth engine. Legacy traffic—the students coming in from Google searches—dropped by nearly 50% because Google started showing AI-generated answers directly in search results.
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Chegg actually sued Google in early 2025, claiming those AI overviews were killing their traffic. It’s a bold move, but the market didn't seem to care. The stock has been under a dollar for a while now, leading to a delisting warning from the NYSE in December 2025.
Restructuring or Rebuilding?
To survive, the company had to get lean. Very lean.
In late 2025, Chegg announced it was cutting about 45% of its workforce—roughly 388 people. This followed a 22% cut earlier in the year. Basically, they’ve halved the company in twelve months. They also closed their North American offices, shifting toward a remote or decentralized model to save on real estate costs.
The plan is to save over $100 million in 2026 through these cuts. Honestly, they didn't have much of a choice. When your revenue is falling that fast, you either cut costs or you go bankrupt. They are pivoting toward what they call "Chegg Skilling." This is a B2B move where they focus on professional training and language learning rather than just helping college kids pass their midterm.
The Shift to Skilling
Chegg is betting big on the $40 billion skilling market. In Q3 2025, this segment brought in $18 million. It’s growing—up about 14%—but it’s still a small piece of the pie compared to the shrinking subscription business.
The strategy is simple but risky.
- Use AI to automate content delivery and lower costs.
- Reposition the legacy study business as a "cash generator" (basically milk it for what it's worth).
- Reinvest that cash into the Skilling business.
What the Analysts are Saying
If you check the analyst reports from Goldman Sachs or Piper Sandler, the sentiment is pretty bearish. Most have a "Sell" or "Underperform" rating. However, there’s a weird glimmer of hope in the numbers for 2026.
The consensus EPS (Earnings Per Share) forecast for 2026 is actually positive, around $0.01 to $0.18 depending on who you ask. Because they’ve slashed costs so aggressively, they might actually turn a tiny profit even with much lower revenue. That’s why you see some investors—and even a Zacks "Strong Buy" rating recently—betting on a turnaround.
They are projecting 2026 revenue at about $253 million. That’s a huge drop from their peak years, but if they can stay profitable at that level, the stock might find a floor.
The NYSE Delisting Threat
The most immediate danger for the Chegg Inc stock price isn't actually AI; it's the New York Stock Exchange rules. When a stock stays below $1.00 for 30 consecutive trading days, the NYSE sends a "naughty list" notice.
Chegg received this notice in mid-December 2025. They have six months to get the price back above $1.00. Usually, companies do this via a "reverse stock split." It doesn't actually make the company more valuable—it’s like trading two nickels for one dime—but it satisfies the exchange rules.
If they get delisted and move to the "over-the-counter" (OTC) markets, institutional investors (pension funds, big ETFs) often have to sell. That would put even more downward pressure on the price.
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Practical Insights for Investors
So, where does that leave you? Honestly, Chegg is a "show me" story now.
- The Bull Case: They have $112 million in cash and investments. They've cut expenses so deep that they could become a "lean, mean, cash-flow machine" if the Skilling business takes off. At a market cap of $75 million, some argue the company is worth more than its current price just based on its assets.
- The Bear Case: AI isn't going away. If free models continue to get better, even the "Skilling" business might face the same commoditization that killed the "Study" business.
Actionable Next Steps
If you're watching this stock, here is what you should do:
- Watch the February 9, 2026 Earnings Call. This is the big one. It will cover the full year of 2025 and, more importantly, give the first real guidance for 2026. Look for specific numbers on the "Skilling" segment. If that growth isn't accelerating, the pivot might be failing.
- Monitor the NYSE Compliance. Keep an eye on whether the company announces a reverse split. This is often a sign of desperation, but it's necessary to avoid delisting.
- Compare with Peers. Look at how companies like Duolingo (DUOL) or Udemy (UDMY) are handling the AI wave. Duolingo has actually thrived by integrating AI, while Chegg has struggled. Understanding that difference is key to knowing if Chegg can ever recover.
The story of Chegg is a cautionary tale about how fast technology can move. It's a reminder that a "moat" built on static information is no match for a generative engine. Whether they can build a new moat in the B2B world is the only question that matters for the stock's future.