Revenue Beat: Hera S.p.A. Exceeded Revenue Forecasts By 26% And Analysts Are Updating Their Estimates

Hera S.p.A. (BIT:HER) came out with its third-quarter results last week, and we wanted to see how the business is performing and what industry forecasters think of the company following this report. Revenue of €3.8b beat expectations by an impressive 26%, while statutory earnings per share (EPS) were €0.32, in line with estimates. 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. With this in mind, we've gathered the latest statutory forecasts to see what the analysts are expecting for next year.

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Taking into account the latest results, Hera's five analysts currently expect revenues in 2027 to be €14.0b, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Statutory per share are forecast to be €0.32, approximately in line with the last 12 months. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of €12.9b and earnings per share (EPS) of €0.33 in 2027. So it's pretty clear consensus is mixed on Hera after the latest results; whilethe analysts lifted revenue numbers, they also administered a small dip in per-share earnings expectations.

Check out our latest analysis for Hera

There's been no major changes to the price target of €4.50, suggesting that the impact of higher forecast revenue and lower earnings won't result in a meaningful change to the business' valuation. It could also be instructive to look at the range of analyst estimates, to evaluate how different the outlier opinions are from the mean. The most optimistic Hera analyst has a price target of €4.80 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at €4.20. Still, with such a tight range of estimates, it suggeststhe analysts have a pretty good idea of what they think the company is worth.

Of course, another way to look at these forecasts is to place them into context against the industry itself. 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 2027. Historically, Hera's top line has shrunk approximately 3.3% 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 5.9% per year. So it's pretty clear that, although revenues are improving, Hera is still expected to grow slower than the industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that the analysts downgraded their earnings per share estimates, showing that there has been a clear decline in sentiment following these results. Fortunately, they also upgraded their revenue estimates, although our data indicates it is expected to perform worse than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at €4.50, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.

Keeping that in mind, we still think that the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for investors to consider. We have estimates - from multiple Hera analysts - going out to 2028, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Don't forget that there may still be risks. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Hera that you should be aware of.

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