Yahoo Finance Earnings Update: Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB) Just Reported Its Full-Year Results And Analysts Are Updating Their Forecasts
It's been a sad week for Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB), who've watched their investment drop 12% to US$7.96 in the week since the company reported its yearly result. Overall the results were a little better than the analysts were expecting, with revenues beating forecasts by 4.9%to hit US$62m. Following the result, the analysts have updated their earnings model, and it would be good to know whether they think there's been a strong change in the company's prospects, or if it's business as usual. With this in mind, we've gathered the latest statutory forecasts to see what the analysts are expecting for next year.
See our latest analysis for Rocket Lab USA
After the latest results, the six analysts covering Rocket Lab USA are now predicting revenues of US$231.2m in 2022. If met, this would reflect a major 271% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. Losses are predicted to fall substantially, shrinking 25% to US$0.19. Before this earnings announcement, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$231.2m and losses of US$0.19 per share in 2022.
As a result there was no major change to the consensus price target of US$18.86, implying that the business is trading roughly in line with expectations despite ongoing losses. The consensus price target is just an average of individual analyst targets, so - it could be handy to see how wide the range of underlying estimates is. There are some variant perceptions on Rocket Lab USA, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$28.00 and the most bearish at US$11.00 per share. This is a fairly broad spread of estimates, suggesting that analysts are forecasting a wide range of possible outcomes for the business.
These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Rocket Lab USA's past performance and to peers in the same industry. The analysts are definitely expecting Rocket Lab USA's growth to accelerate, with the forecast 271% annualised growth to the end of 2022 ranking favourably alongside historical growth of 77% per annum over the past year. Compare this with other companies in the same industry, which are forecast to grow their revenue 6.2% annually. It seems obvious that, while the growth outlook is brighter than the recent past, the analysts also expect Rocket Lab USA to grow faster than the wider industry.
The Bottom Line
The most important thing to take away is that the analysts reconfirmed their loss per share estimates for next year. Fortunately, they also reconfirmed their revenue numbers, suggesting sales are tracking in line with expectations - and our data suggests that revenues are expected to grow faster than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at US$18.86, 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 estimates - from multiple Rocket Lab USA analysts - going out to 2024, and you can see them free on our platform here.
That said, it's still necessary to consider the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Rocket Lab USA , and understanding these should be part of your investment process.
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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.
