Yahoo Finance Bilfinger SE Beat Analyst Estimates: See What The Consensus Is Forecasting For This Year
Last week, you might have seen that Bilfinger SE (ETR:GBF) released its quarterly result to the market. The early response was not positive, with shares down 3.1% to €31.38 in the past week. It looks like a credible result overall - although revenues of €1.1b were what the analysts expected, Bilfinger surprised by delivering a (statutory) profit of €0.79 per share, an impressive 34% above what was forecast. This is an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance in its report, look at what experts are forecasting for next year, and see if there has been any change to expectations for the business. We've gathered the most recent statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their earnings models, following these results.
View our latest analysis for Bilfinger
Following last week's earnings report, Bilfinger's five analysts are forecasting 2023 revenues to be €4.41b, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to surge 87% to €2.67. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of €4.40b and earnings per share (EPS) of €2.68 in 2023. So it's pretty clear that, although the analysts have updated their estimates, there's been no major change in expectations for the business following the latest results.
The analysts reconfirmed their price target of €41.60, showing that the business is executing well and in line with expectations. Fixating on a single price target can be unwise though, since the consensus target is effectively the average of analyst price targets. As a result, some investors like to look at the range of estimates to see if there are any diverging opinions on the company's valuation. The most optimistic Bilfinger analyst has a price target of €48.00 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at €32.00. These price targets show that analysts do have some differing views on the business, but the estimates do not vary enough to suggest to us that some are betting on wild success or utter failure.
One way to get more context on these forecasts is to look at how they compare to both past performance, and how other companies in the same industry are performing. One more thing stood out to us about these estimates, and it's the idea that Bilfinger's decline is expected to accelerate, with revenues forecast to fall at an annualised rate of 1.5% to the end of 2023. This tops off a historical decline of 0.4% a year over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in a similar industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 5.1% per year. So it's pretty clear that, while it does have declining revenues, the analysts also expect Bilfinger to suffer worse than the wider industry.
The Bottom Line
The most obvious conclusion is that there's been no major change in the business' prospects in recent times, with the analysts holding their earnings forecasts steady, in line with previous estimates. On the plus side, there were no major changes to revenue estimates; although forecasts imply they will perform worse than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at €41.60, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.
Following on from that line of thought, we think that the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. We have forecasts for Bilfinger going out to 2025, and you can see them free on our platform here.
And what about risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Bilfinger you should know about.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
