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George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) shareholders are probably feeling a little disappointed, since its shares fell 2.7% to CA$219 in the week after its latest quarterly results. Results were roughly in line with estimates, with revenues of CA$19b and statutory earnings per share of CA$10.75. 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 thought readers would find it interesting to see the analysts latest (statutory) post-earnings forecasts for next year.
See our latest analysis for George Weston
Taking into account the latest results, the consensus forecast from George Weston's six analysts is for revenues of CA$64.1b in 2025. This reflects a reasonable 4.7% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to shoot up 160% to CA$12.23. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of CA$64.2b and earnings per share (EPS) of CA$12.42 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.
The analysts reconfirmed their price target of CA$241, showing that the business is executing well and in line with 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. There are some variant perceptions on George Weston, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at CA$269 and the most bearish at CA$185 per share. 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.
Another way we can view these estimates is in the context of the bigger picture, such as how the forecasts stack up against past performance, and whether forecasts are more or less bullish relative to other companies in the industry. We can infer from the latest estimates that forecasts expect a continuation of George Weston'shistorical trends, as the 3.7% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2025 is roughly in line with the 4.3% annual growth over the past five years. Compare this with the broader industry, which analyst estimates (in aggregate) suggest will see revenues grow 2.8% annually. So although George Weston is expected to maintain its revenue growth rate, it's definitely expected to grow faster than the wider industry.