Analysts Are More Bearish On Ballard Power Systems Inc. (TSE:BLDP) Than They Used To Be

The analysts covering Ballard Power Systems Inc. (TSE:BLDP) delivered a dose of negativity to shareholders today, by making a substantial revision to their statutory forecasts for next year. Both revenue and earnings per share (EPS) forecasts went under the knife, suggesting analysts have soured majorly on the business.

Following the downgrade, the latest consensus from Ballard Power Systems' nine analysts is for revenues of US$132m in 2021, which would reflect a notable 12% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. Losses are predicted to fall substantially, shrinking 28% to US$0.15. Yet prior to the latest estimates, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$152m and losses of US$0.12 per share in 2021. Ergo, there's been a clear change in sentiment, with the analysts administering a notable cut to next year's revenue estimates, while at the same time increasing their loss per share forecasts.

Check out our latest analysis for Ballard Power Systems

There was no major change to the consensus price target of US$23.94, signalling that the business is performing roughly in line with expectations, despite lower earnings per share forecasts. The consensus price target is just an average of individual analyst targets, so - it could be handy to see how wide the range of underlying estimates is. There are some variant perceptions on Ballard Power Systems, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$34.85 and the most bearish at US$27.27 per share. Analysts definitely have varying views on the business, but the spread of estimates is not wide enough in our view to suggest that extreme outcomes could await Ballard Power Systems shareholders.

One way to get more context on these forecasts is to look at how they compare to both past performance, and how other companies in the same industry are performing. We can infer from the latest estimates that forecasts expect a continuation of Ballard Power Systems'historical trends, as next year's 12% revenue growth is roughly in line with 11% annual revenue growth over the past five years. Compare this with the wider industry, which analyst estimates (in aggregate) suggest will see revenues grow 7.8% next year. So it's pretty clear that Ballard Power Systems is forecast to grow substantially faster than its industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to note from this downgrade is that the consensus increased its forecast losses next year, suggesting all may not be well at Ballard Power Systems. While analysts did downgrade their revenue estimates, these forecasts still imply revenues will perform better than the wider market. We're also surprised to see that the price target went unchanged. Still, deteriorating business conditions (assuming accurate forecasts!) can be a leading indicator for the stock price, so we wouldn't blame investors for being more cautious on Ballard Power Systems after the downgrade.

Still, the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for Ballard Power Systems going out to 2024, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Of course, seeing company management invest large sums of money in a stock can be just as useful as knowing whether analysts are downgrading their estimates. So you may also wish to search this free list of stocks that insiders are buying.

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