Earnings Update: Here's Why Analysts Just Lifted Their BE Semiconductor Industries N.V. (AMS:BESI) Price Target To €152
BE Semiconductor Industries N.V. (AMS:BESI) shareholders are probably feeling a little disappointed, since its shares fell 5.2% to €153 in the week after its latest yearly results. The result was positive overall - although revenues of €579m were in line with what the analysts predicted, BE Semiconductor Industries surprised by delivering a statutory profit of €2.23 per share, modestly greater than expected. 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. We thought readers would find it interesting to see the analysts latest (statutory) post-earnings forecasts for next year.
View our latest analysis for BE Semiconductor Industries
Taking into account the latest results, the current consensus from BE Semiconductor Industries' 16 analysts is for revenues of €780.5m in 2024. This would reflect a sizeable 35% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to shoot up 38% to €3.17. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of €773.0m and earnings per share (EPS) of €3.32 in 2024. So it looks like there's been a small decline in overall sentiment after the recent results - there's been no major change to revenue estimates, but the analysts did make a minor downgrade to their earnings per share forecasts.
Althoughthe analysts have revised their earnings forecasts for next year, they've also lifted the consensus price target 12% to €152, suggesting the revised estimates are not indicative of a weaker long-term future for the business. The consensus price target is just an average of individual analyst targets, so - it could be handy to see how wide the range of underlying estimates is. The most optimistic BE Semiconductor Industries analyst has a price target of €200 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at €108. 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.
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 BE Semiconductor Industries' rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 35% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2024 noticeably faster than its historical growth of 12% p.a. 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 11% per year. Factoring in the forecast acceleration in revenue, it's pretty clear that BE Semiconductor Industries is expected to grow much faster than its industry.
The Bottom Line
The most important thing to take away is that the analysts downgraded their earnings per share estimates, showing that there has been a clear decline in sentiment following these results. Fortunately, they also reconfirmed their revenue numbers, suggesting that it's tracking in line with expectations. Additionally, our data suggests that revenue 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 in mind, we wouldn't be too quick to come to a conclusion on BE Semiconductor Industries. Long-term earnings power is much more important than next year's profits. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for BE Semiconductor Industries going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here..
Another thing to consider is whether management and directors have been buying or selling stock recently. We provide an overview of all open market stock trades for the last twelve months on our platform, here.
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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.
