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Shareholders will be ecstatic, with their stake up 32% over the past week following Leggett & Platt, Incorporated's (NYSE:LEG) latest quarterly results. The result was positive overall - although revenues of US$1.0b were in line with what the analysts predicted, Leggett & Platt surprised by delivering a statutory profit of US$0.22 per share, modestly greater than expected. This is an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance in its report, look at what experts are forecasting for next year, and see if there has been any change to expectations for the business. We thought readers would find it interesting to see the analysts latest (statutory) post-earnings forecasts for next year.
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After the latest results, the consensus from Leggett & Platt's four analysts is for revenues of US$4.15b in 2025, which would reflect a measurable 3.7% decline in revenue compared to the last year of performance. Leggett & Platt is also expected to turn profitable, with statutory earnings of US$1.05 per share. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$4.17b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$0.99 in 2025. The analysts seems to have become more bullish on the business, judging by their new earnings per share estimates.
View our latest analysis for Leggett & Platt
The analysts have been lifting their price targets on the back of the earnings upgrade, with the consensus price target rising 7.1% to US$10.00. 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 Leggett & Platt, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$11.00 and the most bearish at US$9.00 per share. The narrow spread of estimates could suggest that the business' future is relatively easy to value, or thatthe analysts have a strong view on its prospects.
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. These estimates imply that revenue is expected to slow, with a forecast annualised decline of 4.9% by the end of 2025. This indicates a significant reduction from annual growth of 0.03% over the last five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the same industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 4.4% annually for the foreseeable future. So although its revenues are forecast to shrink, this cloud does not come with a silver lining - Leggett & Platt is expected to lag the wider industry.