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Investors in EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) had a good week, as its shares rose 3.6% to close at US$54.24 following the release of its annual results. It looks to have been a decent result overall - while revenue fell marginally short of analyst estimates at US$5.2b, statutory earnings beat expectations by a notable 72%, coming in at US$0.45 per share. 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. So we collected the latest post-earnings statutory consensus estimates to see what could be in store for next year.
See our latest analysis for EQT
After the latest results, the 14 analysts covering EQT are now predicting revenues of US$7.61b in 2025. If met, this would reflect a substantial 46% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to surge 612% to US$2.75. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$7.59b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$2.86 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 US$53.65, with the analysts clearly implying that the forecast decline in earnings is not expected to have much of an impact on valuation. There's another way to think about price targets though, and that's to look at the range of price targets put forward by analysts, because a wide range of estimates could suggest a diverse view on possible outcomes for the business. Currently, the most bullish analyst values EQT at US$73.00 per share, while the most bearish prices it at US$35.00. Note the wide gap in analyst price targets? This implies to us that there is a fairly broad range of possible scenarios for the underlying business.
Of course, another way to look at these forecasts is to place them into context against the industry itself. The analysts are definitely expecting EQT's growth to accelerate, with the forecast 46% annualised growth to the end of 2025 ranking favourably alongside historical growth of 12% per annum over the past five years. Compare this with other companies in the same industry, which are forecast to grow their revenue 4.6% annually. Factoring in the forecast acceleration in revenue, it's pretty clear that EQT is expected to grow much faster than its industry.