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It's been a good week for Whitbread plc (LON:WTB) shareholders, because the company has just released its latest half-year results, and the shares gained 6.4% to UK£32.87. Results were roughly in line with estimates, with revenues of UK£1.6b and statutory earnings per share of UK£1.60. 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. So we gathered the latest post-earnings forecasts to see what estimates suggest is in store for next year.
Check out our latest analysis for Whitbread
Taking into account the latest results, Whitbread's 17 analysts currently expect revenues in 2025 to be UK£2.96b, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to shoot up 54% to UK£2.06. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of UK£2.97b and earnings per share (EPS) of UK£2.14 in 2025. The analysts seem to have become a little more negative on the business after the latest results, given the small dip in their earnings per share numbers for next year.
It might be a surprise to learn that the consensus price target was broadly unchanged at UK£39.47, with the analysts clearly implying that the forecast decline in earnings is not expected to have much of an impact on valuation. Fixating on a single price target can be unwise though, since the consensus target is effectively the average of analyst price targets. As a result, some investors like to look at the range of estimates to see if there are any diverging opinions on the company's valuation. Currently, the most bullish analyst values Whitbread at UK£49.00 per share, while the most bearish prices it at UK£27.50. As you can see, analysts are not all in agreement on the stock's future, but the range of estimates is still reasonably narrow, which could suggest that the outcome is not totally unpredictable.
These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Whitbread's past performance and to peers in the same industry. We would highlight that Whitbread's revenue growth is expected to slow, with the forecast 0.05% annualised growth rate until the end of 2025 being well below the historical 20% 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 6.3% per year. Factoring in the forecast slowdown in growth, it seems obvious that Whitbread is also expected to grow slower than other industry participants.