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Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) just released its latest quarterly results and things are looking bullish. It was overall a positive result, with revenues beating expectations by 5.8% to hit US$884m. Woodward also reported a statutory profit of US$1.78, which was an impressive 20% above what the analysts had forecast. 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. We've gathered the most recent statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their earnings models, following these results.
Following the latest results, Woodward's eleven analysts are now forecasting revenues of US$3.45b in 2025. This would be a modest 2.7% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Statutory per-share earnings are expected to be US$6.43, roughly flat on the last 12 months. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of US$3.40b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$6.32 in 2025. So it's pretty clear that, although the analysts have updated their estimates, there's been no major change in expectations for the business following the latest results.
See our latest analysis for Woodward
With the analysts reconfirming their revenue and earnings forecasts, it's surprising to see that the price target rose 5.7% to US$205. It looks as though they previously had some doubts over whether the business would live up to their expectations. 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 Woodward at US$229 per share, while the most bearish prices it at US$167. 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. We would highlight that Woodward's revenue growth is expected to slow, with the forecast 5.5% annualised growth rate until the end of 2025 being well below the historical 7.4% p.a. growth over the last five years. By way of comparison, the other companies in this industry with analyst coverage are forecast to grow their revenue at 7.2% per year. So it's pretty clear that, while revenue growth is expected to slow down, the wider industry is also expected to grow faster than Woodward.