Last week, you might have seen that Lifestyle Communities Limited (ASX:LIC) released its annual result to the market. The early response was not positive, with shares down 8.5% to AU$8.35 in the past week. Lifestyle Communities beat revenue expectations by 4.0%, at AU$242m. Statutory earnings per share (EPS) came in at AU$0.45, some 7.8% short of analyst estimates. 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.

View our latest analysis for Lifestyle Communities

After the latest results, the ten analysts covering Lifestyle Communities are now predicting revenues of AU$261.8m in 2025. If met, this would reflect a credible 8.0% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to jump 20% to AU$0.50. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of AU$294.4m and earnings per share (EPS) of AU$0.67 in 2025. It looks like sentiment has declined substantially in the aftermath of these results, with a substantial drop in revenue estimates and a pretty serious reduction to earnings per share numbers as well.

The consensus price target fell 9.7% to AU$11.39, with the weaker earnings outlook clearly leading valuation estimates. 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 Lifestyle Communities, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at AU$18.70 and the most bearish at AU$8.20 per share. This is a fairly broad spread of estimates, suggesting that analysts are forecasting a wide range of possible outcomes for the business.

Of course, another way to look at these forecasts is to place them into context against the industry itself. We would highlight that Lifestyle Communities' revenue growth is expected to slow, with the forecast 8.0% annualised growth rate until the end of 2025 being well below the historical 16% p.a. growth over the last five years. Juxtapose this against the other companies in the industry with analyst coverage, which are forecast to grow their revenues (in aggregate) 2.2% per year. So it's pretty clear that, while Lifestyle Communities' revenue growth is expected to slow, it's still expected to grow faster than the industry itself.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that the analysts downgraded their earnings per share estimates, showing that there has been a clear decline in sentiment following these results. Regrettably, they also downgraded their revenue estimates, but the latest forecasts still imply the business will grow faster than the wider industry. Furthermore, the analysts also cut their price targets, suggesting that the latest news has led to greater pessimism about the intrinsic value of the business.

Keeping that in mind, we still think that the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for investors to consider. We have forecasts for Lifestyle Communities going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Even so, be aware that Lifestyle Communities is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.