Yahoo Finance Forecast: Analysts Think Viasat, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:VSAT) Business Prospects Have Improved Drastically
Shareholders in Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) may be thrilled to learn that the analysts have just delivered a major upgrade to their near-term forecasts. The consensus statutory numbers for both revenue and earnings per share (EPS) increased, with their view clearly much more bullish on the company's business prospects.
Following the upgrade, the latest consensus from Viasat's four analysts is for revenues of US$4.2b in 2024, which would reflect a substantial 63% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. The loss per share is anticipated to greatly reduce in the near future, narrowing 85% to US$0.42. However, before this estimates update, the consensus had been expecting revenues of US$2.7b and US$2.11 per share in losses. So there's been quite a change-up of views after the recent consensus updates, with the analysts making a sizeable increase to their revenue forecasts while also reducing the estimated loss as the business grows towards breakeven.
See our latest analysis for Viasat
The consensus price target rose 7.1% to US$54.00, with the analysts encouraged by the higher revenue and lower forecast losses for this year. It could also be instructive to look at the range of analyst estimates, to evaluate how different the outlier opinions are from the mean. The most optimistic Viasat analyst has a price target of US$81.00 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$34.00. Note the wide gap in analyst price targets? This implies to us that there is a fairly broad range of possible scenarios for the underlying business.
Another way we can view these estimates is in the context of the bigger picture, such as how the forecasts stack up against past performance, and whether forecasts are more or less bullish relative to other companies in the industry. The analysts are definitely expecting Viasat's growth to accelerate, with the forecast 63% annualised growth to the end of 2024 ranking favourably alongside historical growth of 8.7% per annum over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in a similar industry are forecast to grow their revenue at 4.6% per year. Factoring in the forecast acceleration in revenue, it's pretty clear that Viasat is expected to grow much faster than its industry.
The Bottom Line
The most important thing here is that analysts reduced their loss per share estimates for this year, reflecting increased optimism around Viasat's prospects. Fortunately, analysts also upgraded their revenue estimates, and our data indicates sales are expected to perform better than the wider market. Given that the consensus looks almost universally bullish, with a substantial increase to forecasts and a higher price target, Viasat could be worth investigating further.
Still, the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. We have estimates - from multiple Viasat analysts - going out to 2025, and you can see them free on our platform here.
Another way to search for interesting companies that could be reaching an inflection point is to track whether management are buying or selling, with our free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.
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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.
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