There's been a notable change in appetite for iHeartMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:IHRT) shares in the week since its second-quarter report, with the stock down 15% to US$21.98. Revenues of US$862m beat expectations by a respectable 6.5%, although statutory losses per share increased. iHeartMedia lost US$0.22, which was 43% more than what the analysts had included in their models. The analysts typically update their forecasts at each earnings report, and we can judge from their estimates whether their view of the company has changed or if there are any new concerns to be aware of. We thought readers would find it interesting to see the analysts latest (statutory) post-earnings forecasts for next year.

See our latest analysis for iHeartMedia

Taking into account the latest results, the most recent consensus for iHeartMedia from nine analysts is for revenues of US$3.48b in 2021 which, if met, would be a satisfactory 7.0% increase on its sales over the past 12 months. The loss per share is expected to greatly reduce in the near future, narrowing 37% to US$1.31. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$3.41b and losses of US$1.15 per share in 2021. While this year's revenue estimates held steady, there was also a noticeable increase in loss per share expectations, suggesting the consensus has a bit of a mixed view on the stock.

As a result, there was no major change to the consensus price target of US$31.67, with the analysts implicitly confirming that the business looks to be performing in line with expectations, despite higher forecast losses. It could also be instructive to look at the range of analyst estimates, to evaluate how different the outlier opinions are from the mean. Currently, the most bullish analyst values iHeartMedia at US$36.00 per share, while the most bearish prices it at US$23.00. 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.

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. For example, we noticed that iHeartMedia's rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with revenues forecast to exhibit 14% growth to the end of 2021 on an annualised basis. That is well above its historical decline of 17% a year over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 5.0% per year. Not only are iHeartMedia's revenues expected to improve, it seems that the analysts are also expecting it to grow faster than the wider industry.