Agfa-Gevaert NV (EBR:AGFB): Are Analysts Optimistic?

With the business potentially at an important milestone, we thought we'd take a closer look at Agfa-Gevaert NV's (EBR:AGFB) future prospects. Agfa-Gevaert NV develops, produces, and distributes various analog and digital imaging systems, and IT solutions worldwide. With the latest financial year loss of €221m and a trailing-twelve-month loss of €209m, the €174m market-cap company alleviated its loss by moving closer towards its target of breakeven. As path to profitability is the topic on Agfa-Gevaert's investors mind, we've decided to gauge market sentiment. In this article, we will touch on the expectations for the company's growth and when analysts expect it to become profitable.

Check out our latest analysis for Agfa-Gevaert

According to the 3 industry analysts covering Agfa-Gevaert, the consensus is that breakeven is near. They anticipate the company to incur a final loss in 2024, before generating positive profits of €24m in 2025. The company is therefore projected to breakeven just over a year from today. What rate will the company have to grow year-on-year in order to breakeven on this date? Using a line of best fit, we calculated an average annual growth rate of 95%, which signals high confidence from analysts. Should the business grow at a slower rate, it will become profitable at a later date than expected.

Underlying developments driving Agfa-Gevaert's growth isn’t the focus of this broad overview, though, keep in mind that typically healthcare tech companies, depending on the stage of product development, have irregular periods of cash flow. So, a high growth rate is not out of the ordinary, particularly when a company is in a period of investment.

Before we wrap up, there’s one aspect worth mentioning. The company has managed its capital prudently, with debt making up 4.2% of equity. This means that it has predominantly funded its operations from equity capital, and its low debt obligation reduces the risk around investing in the loss-making company.

Next Steps:

There are too many aspects of Agfa-Gevaert to cover in one brief article, but the key fundamentals for the company can all be found in one place – Agfa-Gevaert's company page on Simply Wall St. We've also put together a list of relevant aspects you should further research:

1. Valuation: What is Agfa-Gevaert worth today? Has the future growth potential already been factored into the price? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether Agfa-Gevaert is currently mispriced by the market.
2. Management Team: An experienced management team on the helm increases our confidence in the business – take a look at who sits on Agfa-Gevaert’s board and the CEO’s background.
3. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.

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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.