There's been a notable change in appetite for VAT Group AG (VTX:VACN) shares in the week since its half-year report, with the stock down 14% to CHF443. VAT Group reported CHF450m in revenue, roughly in line with analyst forecasts, although statutory earnings per share (EPS) of CHF3.13 beat expectations, being 3.3% higher than what the analysts expected. The analysts typically update their forecasts at each earnings report, and we can judge from their estimates whether their view of the company has changed or if there are any new concerns to be aware of. We've gathered the most recent statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their earnings models, following these results.

Check out our latest analysis for VAT Group

Taking into account the latest results, the consensus forecast from VAT Group's 15 analysts is for revenues of CHF1.01b in 2024. This reflects a decent 14% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to grow 13% to CHF7.54. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of CHF1.02b and earnings per share (EPS) of CHF7.68 in 2024. So it's pretty clear that, although the analysts have updated their estimates, there's been no major change in expectations for the business following the latest results.

It will come as no surprise then, to learn that the consensus price target is largely unchanged at CHF475. The consensus price target is just an average of individual analyst targets, so - it could be handy to see how wide the range of underlying estimates is. There are some variant perceptions on VAT Group, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at CHF700 and the most bearish at CHF343 per share. Note the wide gap in analyst price targets? This implies to us that there is a fairly broad range of possible scenarios for the underlying business.

Another way we can view these estimates is in the context of the bigger picture, such as how the forecasts stack up against past performance, and whether forecasts are more or less bullish relative to other companies in the industry. It's clear from the latest estimates that VAT Group's rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 31% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2024 noticeably faster than its historical growth of 12% p.a. over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in a similar industry are forecast to grow their revenue at 6.7% per year. It seems obvious that, while the growth outlook is brighter than the recent past, the analysts also expect VAT Group to grow faster than the wider industry.