Bell Food Group AG Just Beat EPS By 8.5%: Here's What Analysts Think Will Happen Next

Last week saw the newest full-year earnings release from Bell Food Group AG (VTX:BELL), an important milestone in the company's journey to build a stronger business. The result was positive overall - although revenues of CHF4.3b were in line with what the analyst predicted, Bell Food Group surprised by delivering a statutory profit of CHF20.37 per share, modestly greater than expected. Following the result, the analyst has updated their earnings model, and it would be good to know whether they think there's been a strong change in the company's prospects, or if it's business as usual. We've gathered the most recent statutory forecasts to see whether the analyst has changed their earnings models, following these results.

View our latest analysis for Bell Food Group

After the latest results, the lone analyst covering Bell Food Group are now predicting revenues of CHF4.47b in 2023. If met, this would reflect an okay 3.6% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. Statutory per-share earnings are expected to be CHF20.37, roughly flat on the last 12 months. In the lead-up to this report, the analyst had been modelling revenues of CHF4.48b and earnings per share (EPS) of CHF20.43 in 2023. The consensus analyst doesn'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.

The consensus price target rose 5.5% to CHF280despite there being no meaningful change to earnings estimates. It could be that the analystare reflecting the predictability of Bell Food Group's earnings by assigning a price premium.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Bell Food Group's past performance and to peers in the same industry. It's clear from the latest estimates that Bell Food Group's rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 3.6% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2023 noticeably faster than its historical growth of 2.5% p.a. over the past five years. Compare this with other companies in the same industry, which are forecast to grow their revenue 4.2% annually. Factoring in the forecast acceleration in revenue, it's pretty clear that Bell Food Group is expected to grow at about the same rate as the wider 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 analyst holding their earnings forecasts steady, in line with previous estimates. They also reconfirmed their revenue estimates, with the company predicted to grow at about the same rate as the wider industry. We note an upgrade to the price target, suggesting that the analyst believes the intrinsic value of the business is likely to improve over time.

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 analyst estimates for Bell Food Group going out as far as 2025, 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 Bell Food Group that you should be aware of.

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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.