Earnings Beat: Compañía Cervecerías Unidas S.A. Just Beat Analyst Forecasts, And Analysts Have Been Updating Their Models

Compañía Cervecerías Unidas S.A. (SNSE:CCU) 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 looks to have been a decent result overall - while revenue fell marginally short of analyst estimates at CL$525b, statutory earnings beat expectations by a notable 29%, coming in at CL$13.60 per share. 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. We thought readers would find it interesting to see the analysts latest (statutory) post-earnings forecasts for next year.

See our latest analysis for Compañía Cervecerías Unidas

Taking into account the latest results, the most recent consensus for Compañía Cervecerías Unidas from five analysts is for revenues of CL$2.73t in 2024. If met, it would imply an okay 8.0% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to increase 9.9% to CL$323. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of CL$2.93t and earnings per share (EPS) of CL$319 in 2024. The consensus seems maybe a little more pessimistic, trimming their revenue forecasts after the latest results even though there was no change to its EPS estimates.

The average price target was reduced 7.7% to CL$6,130, with the lower revenue forecasts indicating negative sentiment towards Compañía Cervecerías Unidas, even though earnings forecasts were unchanged. It could also be instructive to look at the range of analyst estimates, to evaluate how different the outlier opinions are from the mean. Currently, the most bullish analyst values Compañía Cervecerías Unidas at CL$7,400 per share, while the most bearish prices it at CL$4,200. These price targets show that analysts do have some differing views on the business, but the estimates do not vary enough to suggest to us that some are betting on wild success or utter failure.

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. The analysts are definitely expecting Compañía Cervecerías Unidas' growth to accelerate, with the forecast 17% annualised growth to the end of 2024 ranking favourably alongside historical growth of 10% per annum over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in a similar industry are forecast to grow their revenue at 7.3% per year. It seems obvious that, while the growth outlook is brighter than the recent past, the analysts also expect Compañía Cervecerías Unidas 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 analysts reconfirming that the business is performing in line with their previous earnings per share estimates. Regrettably, they also downgraded their revenue estimates, but the latest forecasts still imply the business will grow faster than the wider industry. Yet - earnings are more important to the intrinsic value of the business. Furthermore, the analysts also cut their price targets, suggesting that the latest news has led to greater pessimism about the intrinsic value of the business.

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 Compañía Cervecerías Unidas analysts - going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.

It might also be worth considering whether Compañía Cervecerías Unidas' debt load is appropriate, using our debt analysis tools on the Simply Wall St platform, 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.