In This Article:
A week ago, SMA Solar Technology AG (ETR:S92) came out with a strong set of second-quarter numbers that could potentially lead to a re-rate of the stock. The company beat forecasts, with revenue of €398m, some 4.6% above estimates, and statutory earnings per share (EPS) coming in at €0.45, 96% ahead of expectations. 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. With this in mind, we've gathered the latest statutory forecasts to see what the analysts are expecting for next year.
Check out our latest analysis for SMA Solar Technology
Taking into account the latest results, the current consensus, from the six analysts covering SMA Solar Technology, is for revenues of €1.63b in 2024. This implies a chunky 13% reduction in SMA Solar Technology's revenue over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are forecast to nosedive 70% to €1.42 in the same period. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of €1.64b and earnings per share (EPS) of €1.34 in 2024. So the consensus seems to have become somewhat more optimistic on SMA Solar Technology's earnings potential following these results.
There's been no major changes to the consensus price target of €31.67, suggesting that the improved earnings per share outlook is not enough to have a long-term positive impact on the stock's valuation. Fixating on a single price target can be unwise though, since the consensus target is effectively the average of analyst price targets. As a result, some investors like to look at the range of estimates to see if there are any diverging opinions on the company's valuation. There are some variant perceptions on SMA Solar Technology, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at €40.00 and the most bearish at €27.00 per share. These price targets show that analysts do have some differing views on the business, but the estimates do not vary enough to suggest to us that some are betting on wild success or utter failure.
Of course, another way to look at these forecasts is to place them into context against the industry itself. These estimates imply that revenue is expected to slow, with a forecast annualised decline of 25% by the end of 2024. This indicates a significant reduction from annual growth of 16% over the last five years. Compare this with our data, which suggests that other companies in the same industry are, in aggregate, expected to see their revenue grow 8.6% per year. It's pretty clear that SMA Solar Technology's revenues are expected to perform substantially worse than the wider industry.