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Last week, you might have seen that The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) released its third-quarter result to the market. The early response was not positive, with shares down 6.4% to US$11.17 in the past week. Revenues were US$1.0b, approximately in line with whatthe analysts expected, although statutory earnings per share (EPS) crushed expectations, coming in at US$0.78, an impressive 81% ahead of estimates. 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. With this in mind, we've gathered the latest statutory forecasts to see what the analysts are expecting for next year.
View our latest analysis for Western Union
Taking into account the latest results, Western Union's 16 analysts currently expect revenues in 2025 to be US$4.21b, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are expected to dip 9.6% to US$1.81 in the same period. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$4.21b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$1.83 in 2025. 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 US$12.97. It could also be instructive to look at the range of analyst estimates, to evaluate how different the outlier opinions are from the mean. There are some variant perceptions on Western Union, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$18.00 and the most bearish at US$10.00 per share. This is a fairly broad spread of estimates, suggesting that analysts are forecasting a wide range of possible outcomes for the 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 also worth noting that the years of declining revenue look to have come to an end, with the forecast stauing flat to the end of 2025. Historically, Western Union's top line has shrunk approximately 4.5% annually over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in a similar industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 4.6% per year. Although Western Union's revenues are expected to improve, it seems that it is still expected to grow slower than the wider industry.