Analysts Are Updating Their Leonardo S.p.a. (BIT:LDO) Estimates After Its Third-Quarter Results

Leonardo S.p.a. (BIT:LDO) shareholders are probably feeling a little disappointed, since its shares fell 7.1% to €48.07 in the week after its latest quarterly results. The result was positive overall - although revenues of €5.3b were in line with what the analysts predicted, Leonardo surprised by delivering a statutory profit of €0.51 per share, modestly greater than expected. 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. So we gathered the latest post-earnings forecasts to see what estimates suggest is in store for next year.

We've found 21 US stocks that are forecast to pay a dividend yield of over 6% next year. See the full list for free.

Taking into account the latest results, the consensus forecast from Leonardo's 17 analysts is for revenues of €24.8b in 2027. This reflects a notable 16% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to rise 8.1% to €2.85. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of €24.8b and earnings per share (EPS) of €2.86 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.

See our latest analysis for Leonardo

The analysts reconfirmed their price target of €68.07, showing that the business is executing well and in line with expectations. 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 Leonardo, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at €82.00 and the most bearish at €55.00 per share. These price targets show that analysts do have some differing views on the business, but the estimates do not vary enough to suggest to us that some are betting on wild success or utter failure.

Of course, another way to look at these forecasts is to place them into context against the industry itself. It's clear from the latest estimates that Leonardo's rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 12% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2027 noticeably faster than its historical growth of 8.9% 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 9.6% per year. Factoring in the forecast acceleration in revenue, it's pretty clear that Leonardo is expected to grow much faster than its 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. Fortunately, they also reconfirmed their revenue numbers, suggesting that it's tracking in line with expectations. Additionally, our data suggests that revenue is expected to grow faster than the wider industry. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.

Following on from that line of thought, we think that the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. We have forecasts for Leonardo going out to 2028, and you can see them free on our platform here.

It might also be worth considering whether Leonardo's debt load is appropriate, using our debt analysis tools on the Simply Wall St platform, here.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.