Yahoo Finance US$11.75 - That's What Analysts Think Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) Is Worth After These Results
Last week, you might have seen that Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) released its first-quarter result to the market. The early response was not positive, with shares down 6.0% to US$5.31 in the past week. Revenues of US$3.5m beat expectations by a respectable 4.5%, although statutory losses per share increased. Liquidia lost US$0.30, which was 45% more than what the analysts had included in their models. Earnings are an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance, look at what the analysts are forecasting for next year, and see if there's been a change in sentiment towards the company. So we collected the latest post-earnings statutory consensus estimates to see what could be in store for next year.
View our latest analysis for Liquidia
Following the latest results, Liquidia's four analysts are now forecasting revenues of US$17.9m in 2022. This would be a sizeable 35% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. Losses are forecast to balloon 44% to US$0.92 per share. Before this latest report, the consensus had been expecting revenues of US$17.0m and US$0.84 per share in losses. Overall it looks as though the analysts were a bit mixed on the latest consensus updates. Although there was a nice uplift to revenue, the consensus also made a moderate increase in its losses per share forecasts.
The average price target rose 15% to US$11.75, even thoughthe analysts have been updating their forecasts to show higher revenues and higher forecast losses. 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. Currently, the most bullish analyst values Liquidia at US$16.00 per share, while the most bearish prices it at US$6.00. This is a fairly broad spread of estimates, suggesting that analysts are forecasting a wide range of possible outcomes for the business.
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. It's clear from the latest estimates that Liquidia's rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 49% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2022 noticeably faster than its historical growth of 29% p.a. over the past three years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in a similar industry are forecast to grow their revenue at 3.0% per year. Factoring in the forecast acceleration in revenue, it's pretty clear that Liquidia is expected to grow much faster than its industry.
The Bottom Line
The most important thing to take away is that the analysts increased their loss per share estimates for next year. Pleasantly, they also upgraded their revenue estimates, and their forecasts suggest the business is expected to grow faster than the wider industry. We note an upgrade to the price target, suggesting that the analysts believes the intrinsic value of the business is likely to improve over time.
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 Liquidia going out to 2024, and you can see them free on our platform here..
However, before you get too enthused, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Liquidia that you should be aware of.
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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.
