Earnings Beat: Spire Inc. Just Beat Analyst Forecasts, And Analysts Have Been Updating Their Models

It's been a good week for Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) shareholders, because the company has just released its latest third-quarter results, and the shares gained 2.6% to US$81.97. Spire beat expectations by 3.1% with revenues of US$420m. It also surprised on the earnings front, with an unexpected statutory profit of US$3.57 per share a nice improvement on the losses that the analysts forecast. This is an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance in its report, look at what experts are forecasting for next year, and see if there has been any change to expectations for the business. We thought readers would find it interesting to see the analysts latest (statutory) post-earnings forecasts for next year.

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Taking into account the latest results, the current consensus from Spire's ten analysts is for revenues of US$2.98b in 2027. This would reflect a decent 12% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to shoot up 20% to US$5.47. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$2.92b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$5.47 in 2027. So it looks like there's been no major change in sentiment following the latest results, although the analysts have made a small increase to to revenue forecasts.

View our latest analysis for Spire

It may not be a surprise to see thatthe analysts have reconfirmed their price target of US$95.00, implying that the uplift in revenue is not expected to greatly contribute to Spire's valuation in the near term. It could also be instructive to look at the range of analyst estimates, to evaluate how different the outlier opinions are from the mean. Currently, the most bullish analyst values Spire at US$103 per share, while the most bearish prices it at US$85.00. With such a narrow range of valuations, the analysts apparently share similar views on what they think the business is worth.

Of course, another way to look at these forecasts is to place them into context against the industry itself. The analysts are definitely expecting Spire's growth to accelerate, with the forecast 9.3% annualised growth to the end of 2027 ranking favourably alongside historical growth of 2.9% per annum 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 7.1% per year. It seems obvious that, while the growth outlook is brighter than the recent past, the analysts also expect Spire to grow faster than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most obvious conclusion is that there's been no major change in the business' prospects in recent times, with the analysts holding their earnings forecasts steady, in line with previous estimates. Happily, they also upgraded their revenue estimates, and are forecasting them to grow faster than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at US$95.00, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.

With that in mind, we wouldn't be too quick to come to a conclusion on Spire. Long-term earnings power is much more important than next year's profits. We have forecasts for Spire going out to 2028, and you can see them free on our platform here.

And what about risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Spire (of which 1 can't be ignored!) you should know about.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.