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Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) just released its latest quarterly results and things are looking bullish. The company beat forecasts, with revenue of US$67m, some 2.4% above estimates, and statutory earnings per share (EPS) coming in at US$0.65, 21% ahead of expectations. Following the result, the analysts have updated their earnings model, and it would be good to know whether they think there's been a strong change in the company's prospects, or if it's business as usual. 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 Business First Bancshares
Taking into account the latest results, the most recent consensus for Business First Bancshares from four analysts is for revenues of US$317.1m in 2025. If met, it would imply a huge 28% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to soar 28% to US$2.57. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$316.7m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$2.54 in 2025. The consensus analysts don't seem to have seen anything in these results that would have changed their view on the business, given there's been no major change to their estimates.
There were no changes to revenue or earnings estimates or the price target of US$31.50, suggesting that the company has met expectations in its recent result. 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 Business First Bancshares analyst has a price target of US$34.00 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$29.00. Still, with such a tight range of estimates, it suggeststhe analysts have a pretty good idea of what they think the company is worth.
Of course, another way to look at these forecasts is to place them into context against the industry itself. We can infer from the latest estimates that forecasts expect a continuation of Business First Bancshares'historical trends, as the 22% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2025 is roughly in line with the 21% annual growth over the past five years. Compare this with the broader industry, which analyst estimates (in aggregate) suggest will see revenues grow 6.7% annually. So although Business First Bancshares is expected to maintain its revenue growth rate, it's definitely expected to grow faster than the wider industry.
The Bottom Line
The most obvious conclusion is that there's been no major change in the business' prospects in recent times, with the analysts holding their earnings forecasts steady, in line with previous estimates. 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. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.