Rainbows and Unicorns: The Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited (ASX:SOL) Analyst Just Became A Lot More Optimistic
Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited (ASX:SOL) shareholders will have a reason to smile today, with the covering analyst making substantial upgrades to this year's statutory forecasts. The consensus statutory numbers for both revenue and earnings per share (EPS) increased, with their view clearly much more bullish on the company's business prospects.
After this upgrade, Washington H. Soul Pattinson's solo analyst is now forecasting revenues of AU$2.7b in 2024. This would be a major 127% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are presumed to leap 29% to AU$2.50. Before this latest update, the analyst had been forecasting revenues of AU$1.9b and earnings per share (EPS) of AU$1.11 in 2024. There has definitely been an improvement in perception recently, with the analyst substantially increasing both their earnings and revenue estimates.
Check out our latest analysis for Washington H. Soul Pattinson
With these upgrades, we're not surprised to see that the analyst has lifted their price target 7.1% to AU$30.83 per share.
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 analyst is definitely expecting Washington H. Soul Pattinson's growth to accelerate, with the forecast 127% annualised growth to the end of 2024 ranking favourably alongside historical growth of 7.0% per annum over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the same industry are forecast to see their revenue shrink 3.6% per year. It seems obvious that as part of the brighter growth outlook, Washington H. Soul Pattinson is expected to grow faster than the wider industry.
The Bottom Line
The most important thing to take away from this upgrade is that the analyst upgraded their earnings per share estimates for this year, expecting improving business conditions. Fortunately, they also upgraded their revenue estimates, and our data indicates sales are expected to perform better than the wider market. With a serious upgrade to expectations and a rising price target, it might be time to take another look at Washington H. Soul Pattinson.
With that said, the long-term trajectory of the company's earnings is a lot more important than next year. We have analyst estimates for Washington H. Soul Pattinson going out as far as 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.
Another way to search for interesting companies that could be reaching an inflection point is to track whether management are buying or selling, with our free list of growing companies 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.
