Yahoo Finance Results: CF Industries Holdings, Inc. Delivered A Surprise Loss And Now Analysts Have New Forecasts
The quarterly results for CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) were released last week, making it a good time to revisit its performance. It was a pretty negative result overall, with revenues of US$847m missing analyst predictions by 3.2%. Worse, the business reported a statutory loss of US$0.13 per share, a substantial decline on analyst expectations of a profit. 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. With this in mind, we've gathered the latest statutory forecasts to see what the analysts are expecting for next year.
Check out our latest analysis for CF Industries Holdings
Taking into account the latest results, the current consensus from CF Industries Holdings' 17 analysts is for revenues of US$4.32b in 2021, which would reflect a credible 6.2% increase on its sales over the past 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to swell 16% to US$1.54. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$4.32b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$1.56 in 2021. The consensus analysts don't seem to have seen anything in these results that would have changed their view on the business, given there's been no major change to their estimates.
There were no changes to revenue or earnings estimates or the price target of US$37.10, suggesting that the company has met expectations in its recent result. 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 CF Industries Holdings analyst has a price target of US$52.00 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$30.00. There are definitely some different views on the stock, but the range of estimates is not wide enough as to imply that the situation is unforecastable, in our view.
These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the CF Industries Holdings' past performance and to peers in the same industry. It's clear from the latest estimates that CF Industries Holdings' rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 6.2% revenue growth noticeably faster than its historical growth of 2.0%p.a. over the past five years. Other similar companies in the industry (with analyst coverage) are also forecast to grow their revenue at 5.6% per year. CF Industries Holdings is expected to grow at about the same rate as its industry, so it's not clear that we can draw any conclusions from its growth relative to competitors.
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. Happily, there were no real changes to sales forecasts, with the business still expected to grow in line with the overall industry. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.
With that in mind, we wouldn't be too quick to come to a conclusion on CF Industries Holdings. Long-term earnings power is much more important than next year's profits. We have forecasts for CF Industries Holdings going out to 2024, and you can see them free on our platform here.
It is also worth noting that we have found 4 warning signs for CF Industries Holdings that you need to take into consideration.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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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