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A week ago, StealthGas Inc. (NASDAQ:GASS) came out with a strong set of first-quarter numbers that could potentially lead to a re-rate of the stock. Statutory revenue of US$42m and earnings of US$0.49 both blasted past expectations, beating expectations by 21% and 104%, respectively, ahead of expectations. Following the result, the analyst has 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 analyst is expecting for next year.
Check out our latest analysis for StealthGas
After the latest results, the sole analyst covering StealthGas are now predicting revenues of US$156.8m in 2024. If met, this would reflect a credible 6.6% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to accumulate 7.9% to US$1.55. Before this earnings report, the analyst had been forecasting revenues of US$135.3m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$0.85 in 2024. There has definitely been an improvement in perception after these results, with the analyst noticeably increasing both their earnings and revenue estimates.
It will come as no surprise to learn that the analyst has increased their price target for StealthGas 25% to US$10.00on the back of these upgrades.
These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the StealthGas' past performance and to peers in the same industry. It's clear from the latest estimates that StealthGas' rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 9.0% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2024 noticeably faster than its historical growth of 0.02% p.a. over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in a similar industry are forecast to grow their revenue at 2.2% per year. It seems obvious that, while the growth outlook is brighter than the recent past, the analyst also expect StealthGas to grow faster than the wider industry.
The Bottom Line
The most important thing here is that the analyst upgraded their earnings per share estimates, suggesting that there has been a clear increase in optimism towards StealthGas following these results. Pleasantly, they also upgraded their revenue estimates, and their forecasts suggest the business is expected to grow faster than the wider industry. There was also a nice increase in the price target, with the analyst clearly feeling that the intrinsic value of the business is improving.