Bearish: Analysts Just Cut Their ApicHope Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd (SZSE:300723) Revenue and EPS estimates

The analysts covering ApicHope Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd (SZSE:300723) delivered a dose of negativity to shareholders today, by making a substantial revision to their statutory forecasts for this year. Both revenue and earnings per share (EPS) estimates were cut sharply as the analysts factored in the latest outlook for the business, concluding that they were too optimistic previously.

After this downgrade, ApicHope Pharmaceutical's six analysts are now forecasting revenues of CN¥2.8b in 2024. This would be a solid 18% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are presumed to leap 34% to CN¥0.52. Before this latest update, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of CN¥3.4b and earnings per share (EPS) of CN¥1.02 in 2024. Indeed, we can see that the analysts are a lot more bearish about ApicHope Pharmaceutical's prospects, administering a substantial drop in revenue estimates and slashing their EPS estimates to boot.

View our latest analysis for ApicHope Pharmaceutical

It'll come as no surprise then, to learn that the analysts have cut their price target 8.3% to CN¥32.98.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the ApicHope Pharmaceutical's past performance and to peers in the same industry. It's clear from the latest estimates that ApicHope Pharmaceutical's rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 18% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2024 noticeably faster than its historical growth of 12% p.a. over the past five years. Other similar companies in the industry (with analyst coverage) are also forecast to grow their revenue at 14% per year. Factoring in the forecast acceleration in revenue, it's pretty clear that ApicHope Pharmaceutical is expected to grow at about the same rate as the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that analysts cut their earnings per share estimates, expecting a clear decline in business conditions. Lamentably, they also downgraded their sales forecasts, but the business is still expected to grow at roughly the same rate as the market itself. After such a stark change in sentiment from analysts, we'd understand if readers now felt a bit wary of ApicHope Pharmaceutical.

Even so, the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for the value creation of shareholders. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for ApicHope Pharmaceutical going out to 2026, 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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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.