Analyst Forecasts For Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) Are Surging Higher
Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) shareholders will have a reason to smile today, with the analysts making substantial upgrades to this year's forecasts. Consensus estimates suggest investors could expect greatly increased statutory revenues and earnings per share, with analysts modelling a real improvement in business performance. Investor sentiment seems to be improving too, with the share price up 4.9% to US$4.59 over the past 7 days. Could this big upgrade push the stock even higher?
After the upgrade, the eight analysts covering Wave Life Sciences are now predicting revenues of US$73m in 2023. If met, this would reflect a sizeable 99% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. Losses are predicted to fall substantially, shrinking 31% to US$0.91 per share. However, before this estimates update, the consensus had been expecting revenues of US$38m and US$1.26 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.
View our latest analysis for Wave Life Sciences
There was no major change to the consensus price target of US$7.69, perhaps suggesting that the analysts remain concerned about ongoing losses despite the improved earnings and revenue outlook.
Taking a look at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can understand these forecasts is to see how they compare to both past performance and industry growth estimates. The analysts are definitely expecting Wave Life Sciences' growth to accelerate, with the forecast 294% annualised growth to the end of 2023 ranking favourably alongside historical growth of 15% per annum over the past five years. Compare this with other companies in the same industry, which are forecast to grow their revenue 7.1% annually. Factoring in the forecast acceleration in revenue, it's pretty clear that Wave Life Sciences 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 Wave Life Sciences' prospects. Fortunately, analysts also upgraded their revenue estimates, and our data indicates sales are expected to perform better than the wider market. Some investors might be disappointed to see that the price target is unchanged, but we feel that improving fundamentals are usually a positive - assuming these forecasts are met! So Wave Life Sciences could be a good candidate for more research.
Analysts are definitely bullish on Wave Life Sciences, but no company is perfect. Indeed, you should know that there are several potential concerns to be aware of, including dilutive stock issuance over the past year. For more information, you can click through to our platform to learn more about this and the 3 other risks we've identified .
Of course, seeing company management invest large sums of money in a stock can be just as useful as knowing whether analysts are upgrading their estimates. So you may also wish to search this free list of stocks 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.
