West Bancorporation, Inc. (NASDAQ:WTBA) Just Reported And Analysts Have Been Lifting Their Price Targets
West Bancorporation, Inc. (NASDAQ:WTBA) last week reported its latest quarterly results, which makes it a good time for investors to dive in and see if the business is performing in line with expectations. It was a credible result overall, with revenues of US$29m and statutory earnings per share of US$0.67 both in line with analyst estimates, showing that West Bancorporation is executing in line with expectations. The analyst 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. We thought readers would find it interesting to see the analyst latest (statutory) post-earnings forecasts for next year.
Following the latest results, West Bancorporation's single analyst are now forecasting revenues of US$124.7m in 2027. This would be a decent 16% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to step up 17% to US$2.81. In the lead-up to this report, the analyst had been modelling revenues of US$122.9m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$2.82 in 2027. So it's pretty clear that, although the analyst has updated their estimates, there's been no major change in expectations for the business following the latest results.
View our latest analysis for West Bancorporation
With the analyst reconfirming their revenue and earnings forecasts, it's surprising to see that the price target rose 10% to US$29.00. It looks as though they previously had some doubts over whether the business would live up to their expectations.
Taking a look at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can understand these forecasts is to see how they compare to both past performance and industry growth estimates. For example, we noticed that West Bancorporation's rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with revenues forecast to exhibit 13% growth to the end of 2027 on an annualised basis. That is well above its historical decline of 2.3% a year over the past five years. Compare this against analyst estimates for the broader industry, which suggest that (in aggregate) industry revenues are expected to grow 7.7% annually. Not only are West Bancorporation's revenues expected to improve, it seems that the analyst is also expecting it to grow faster than the wider industry.
The Bottom Line
The most important thing to take away is that there's been no major change in sentiment, with the analyst reconfirming that the business is performing in line with their previous earnings per share 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 also a nice increase in the price target, with the analyst clearly feeling that the intrinsic value of the business is improving.
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 analyst estimates for West Bancorporation going out as far as 2028, and you can see them free on our platform here.
It is also worth noting that we have found 1 warning sign for West Bancorporation that you need to take into consideration.
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