Investors in Azimut Holding S.p.A. (BIT:AZM) had a good week, as its shares rose 3.2% to close at €35.82 following the release of its third-quarter results. It was a workmanlike result, with revenues of €390m coming in 2.7% ahead of expectations, and statutory earnings per share of €3.71, in line with analyst appraisals. 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. Readers will be glad to know we've aggregated the latest statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their mind on Azimut Holding after the latest results.
Following the latest results, Azimut Holding's five analysts are now forecasting revenues of €1.78b in 2027. This would be a meaningful 13% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to increase 7.6% to €3.87. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of €1.78b and earnings per share (EPS) of €3.87 in 2027. The consensus analysts don't seem to have seen anything in these results that would have changed their view on the business, given there's been no major change to their estimates.
Check out our latest analysis for Azimut Holding
There were no changes to revenue or earnings estimates or the price target of €41.83, suggesting that the company has met expectations in its recent result. 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 Azimut Holding, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at €50.00 and the most bearish at €35.10 per share. This shows there is still a bit of diversity in estimates, but analysts don't appear to be totally split on the stock as though it might be a success or failure situation.
Looking at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can make sense of these forecasts is to see how they measure up against both past performance and industry growth estimates. One thing stands out from these estimates, which is that Azimut Holding is forecast to grow faster in the future than it has in the past, with revenues expected to display 9.9% annualised growth until the end of 2027. If achieved, this would be a much better result than the 1.3% annual decline over the past five years. Compare this against analyst estimates for the broader industry, which suggest that (in aggregate) industry revenues are expected to decline 3.5% per year. So although Azimut Holding is expected to return to growth, it's also expected to grow revenues during a time when the wider industry is estimated to see revenue decline.
The Bottom Line
The most important thing to take away is that there's been no major change in sentiment, with the analysts reconfirming that the business is performing in line with their previous earnings per share estimates. On the plus side, they made no changes to their revenue estimates - and they expect it to perform better than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at €41.83, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.
With that said, the long-term trajectory of the company's earnings is a lot more important than next year. We have forecasts for Azimut Holding going out to 2028, and you can see them free on our platform here.
However, before you get too enthused, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Azimut Holding (1 is significant!) that you should be aware of.
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