Yahoo Finance Twitter, Inc. Just Reported And Analysts Have Been Lifting Their Price Targets
It's been a pretty great week for Twitter, Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) shareholders, with its shares surging 14% to US$37.03 in the week since its latest yearly results. Results were roughly in line with estimates, with revenues of US$3.5b and statutory earnings per share of US$1.87. Earnings are an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance, look at what top analysts are forecasting for next year, and see if there's been a change in sentiment towards the company. So we gathered the latest post-earnings forecasts to see what analysts' statutory forecasts suggest is in store for next year.
View our latest analysis for Twitter
Following the latest results, Twitter's 38 analysts are now forecasting revenues of US$3.99b in 2020. This would be a meaningful 15% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are expected to nosedive 81% to US$0.36 in the same period. Yet prior to the latest earnings, analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$3.95b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$0.47 in 2020. Analysts seem to have become more bearish following the latest results. While there were no changes to revenue forecasts, there was a pretty serious reduction to EPS estimates.
Despite cutting their earnings forecasts, analysts have lifted their price target 8.7% to US$37.15, suggesting that these impacts are not expected to weigh on the stock's value in the long term. There's another way to think about price targets though, and that's to look at the range of price targets put forward by analysts, because a wide range of estimates could suggest a diverse view on possible outcomes for the business. There are some variant perceptions on Twitter, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$50.00 and the most bearish at US$21.70 per share. 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.
Zooming out to look at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can make sense of these forecasts is to see how they measure up both against past performance, and against industry growth estimates. Next year brings more of the same, according to analysts, with revenue forecast to grow 15%, in line with its 13% annual growth over the past five years. Compare this with the wider market, which analyst estimates (in aggregate) suggest will see revenues grow 14% next year. So although Twitter is expected to maintain its revenue growth rate, it's only growing at about the rate of the wider market.
The Bottom Line
The most important thing to take away is that analysts downgraded their earnings per share estimates, showing that there has been a clear decline in sentiment following these results. They also reconfirmed their revenue estimates, with the company predicted to grow at about the same rate as the wider market. There was also a nice increase in the price target, with analysts feeling that the intrinsic value of the business is improving.
With that said, the long-term trajectory of the company's earnings is a lot more important than next year. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for Twitter going out to 2024, and you can see them free on our platform here..
You can also see our analysis of Twitter's Board and CEO remuneration and experience, and whether company insiders have been buying stock.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.
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