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Shareholders might have noticed that Crane NXT, Co. (NYSE:CXT) filed its annual result this time last week. The early response was not positive, with shares down 3.4% to US$59.81 in the past week. It was a credible result overall, with revenues of US$1.5b and statutory earnings per share of US$3.19 both in line with analyst estimates, showing that Crane NXT is executing in line with expectations. This is an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance in its report, look at what experts are forecasting for next year, and see if there has been any change to expectations for the business. With this in mind, we've gathered the latest statutory forecasts to see what the analysts are expecting for next year.
View our latest analysis for Crane NXT
Taking into account the latest results, Crane NXT's five analysts currently expect revenues in 2025 to be US$1.52b, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to grow 15% to US$3.70. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$1.52b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$4.01 in 2025. The analysts seem to have become a little more negative on the business after the latest results, given the minor downgrade to their earnings per share numbers for next year.
It might be a surprise to learn that the consensus price target was broadly unchanged at US$79.33, with the analysts clearly implying that the forecast decline in earnings is not expected to have much of an impact on valuation. 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. The most optimistic Crane NXT analyst has a price target of US$100.00 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$62.00. This shows there is still a bit of diversity in estimates, but analysts don't appear to be totally split on the stock as though it might be a success or failure situation.
Looking at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can make sense of these forecasts is to see how they measure up against both past performance and industry growth estimates. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that Crane NXT's revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues to the end of 2025 expected to display 2.0% growth on an annualised basis. This is compared to a historical growth rate of 4.8% over the past five years. By way of comparison, the other companies in this industry with analyst coverage are forecast to grow their revenue at 7.3% per year. Factoring in the forecast slowdown in growth, it seems obvious that Crane NXT is also expected to grow slower than other industry participants.