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Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) shareholders are probably feeling a little disappointed, since its shares fell 8.9% to US$114 in the week after its latest quarterly results. The result was positive overall - although revenues of US$831m were in line with what the analysts predicted, Kirby surprised by delivering a statutory profit of US$1.55 per share, modestly greater than expected. 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 gathered the latest post-earnings forecasts to see what estimates suggest is in store for next year.
View our latest analysis for Kirby
Following the latest results, Kirby's five analysts are now forecasting revenues of US$3.49b in 2025. This would be an okay 6.9% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to shoot up 28% to US$6.75. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$3.51b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$6.81 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.
There were no changes to revenue or earnings estimates or the price target of US$138, suggesting that the company has met expectations in its recent result. 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. There are some variant perceptions on Kirby, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$141 and the most bearish at US$134 per share. Still, with such a tight range of estimates, it suggeststhe analysts have a pretty good idea of what they think the company is worth.
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. The period to the end of 2025 brings more of the same, according to the analysts, with revenue forecast to display 5.5% growth on an annualised basis. That is in line with its 5.8% annual growth over the past five years. Compare this with the broader industry, which analyst estimates (in aggregate) suggest will see revenues grow 0.5% annually. So it's pretty clear that Kirby is forecast to grow substantially faster than its industry.