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Shareholders of CIFI Holdings (Group) Co. Ltd. (HKG:884) will be pleased this week, given that the stock price is up 19% to HK$5.60 following its latest full-year results. It looks like the results were a bit of a negative overall. While revenues of CN¥55b were in line with analyst predictions, statutory earnings were less than expected, missing estimates by 8.1% to hit CN¥0.81 per share. 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. Readers will be glad to know we've aggregated the latest statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their mind on CIFI Holdings (Group) after the latest results.
Check out our latest analysis for CIFI Holdings (Group)
After the latest results, the 20 analysts covering CIFI Holdings (Group) are now predicting revenues of CN¥70.0b in 2020. If met, this would reflect a sizeable 28% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to surge 27% to CN¥1.04. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of CN¥71.3b and earnings per share (EPS) of CN¥1.09 in 2020. 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.
The consensus price target held steady at CN¥6.97, with the analysts seemingly voting that their lower forecast earnings are not expected to lead to a lower stock price in the foreseeable future. That's not the only conclusion we can draw from this data however, as some investors also like to consider the spread in estimates when evaluating analyst price targets. Currently, the most bullish analyst values CIFI Holdings (Group) at CN¥8.67 per share, while the most bearish prices it at CN¥5.68. 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.
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. We can infer from the latest estimates that forecasts expect a continuation of CIFI Holdings (Group)'shistorical trends, as next year's 28% revenue growth is roughly in line with 26% annual revenue growth over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in a similar industry are forecast to see their revenues grow 15% per year. So although CIFI Holdings (Group) is expected to maintain its revenue growth rate, it's definitely expected to grow faster than the wider industry.