The analysts covering Swiss Prime Site AG (VTX:SPSN) delivered a dose of negativity to shareholders today, by making a substantial revision to their statutory forecasts for this year. Both revenue and earnings per share (EPS) forecasts went under the knife, suggesting the analysts have soured majorly on the business.

After the downgrade, the consensus from Swiss Prime Site's five analysts is for revenues of CHF617m in 2024, which would reflect a measurable 7.7% decline in sales compared to the last year of performance. Statutory earnings per share are presumed to soar 115% to CHF2.43. Prior to this update, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of CHF695m and earnings per share (EPS) of CHF2.82 in 2024. Indeed, we can see that the analysts are a lot more bearish about Swiss Prime Site's prospects, administering a substantial drop in revenue estimates and slashing their EPS estimates to boot.

See our latest analysis for Swiss Prime Site

Analysts made no major changes to their price target of CHF90.83, suggesting the downgrades are not expected to have a long-term impact on Swiss Prime Site's valuation.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Swiss Prime Site's past performance and to peers in the same industry. One thing that stands out from these estimates is that shrinking revenues are expected to moderate over the period ending 2024 compared to the historical decline of 15% per annum over the past five years. Compare this against analyst estimates for companies in the broader industry, which suggest that revenues (in aggregate) are expected to decline 5.7% annually. So it's pretty clear that Swiss Prime Site sales are expected to decline at a faster rate than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The biggest issue in the new estimates is that analysts have reduced their earnings per share estimates, suggesting business headwinds lay ahead for Swiss Prime Site. Unfortunately they also cut their revenue estimates for this year, and they expect sales to lag the wider market. That said, earnings per share are more important for creating value for shareholders. The lack of change in the price target is puzzling in light of the downgrade but, with a serious decline expected this year, we wouldn't be surprised if investors were a bit wary of Swiss Prime Site.

There might be good reason for analyst bearishness towards Swiss Prime Site, like its declining profit margins. Learn more, and discover the 3 other concerns we've identified, for free on our platform here.