Continental Aktiengesellschaft Just Beat Analyst Forecasts, And Analysts Have Been Updating Their Predictions

Investors in Continental Aktiengesellschaft (ETR:CON) had a good week, as its shares rose 8.4% to close at €60.26 following the release of its quarterly results. It looks like a credible result overall - although revenues of €9.8b were in line with what the analysts predicted, Continental surprised by delivering a statutory profit of €2.43 per share, a notable 11% above expectations. This is an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance in its report, look at what experts are forecasting for next year, and see if there has been any change to expectations for the business. We've gathered the most recent statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their earnings models, following these results.

View our latest analysis for Continental

Taking into account the latest results, the most recent consensus for Continental from 17 analysts is for revenues of €41.5b in 2025. If met, it would imply a credible 3.6% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to jump 76% to €8.87. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of €41.7b and earnings per share (EPS) of €8.83 in 2025. The consensus analysts don'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.

It will come as no surprise then, to learn that the consensus price target is largely unchanged at €76.72. There's another way to think about price targets though, and that's to look at the range of price targets put forward by analysts, because a wide range of estimates could suggest a diverse view on possible outcomes for the business. The most optimistic Continental analyst has a price target of €108 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at €55.00. This is a fairly broad spread of estimates, suggesting that analysts are forecasting a wide range of possible outcomes for the business.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Continental's past performance and to peers in the same industry. The analysts are definitely expecting Continental's growth to accelerate, with the forecast 2.9% annualised growth to the end of 2025 ranking favourably alongside historical growth of 1.3% 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 5.6% per year. So it's clear that despite the acceleration in growth, Continental is expected to grow meaningfully slower than the industry average.

The Bottom Line

The most obvious conclusion is that there's been no major change in the business' prospects in recent times, with the analysts holding their earnings forecasts steady, in line with previous estimates. Fortunately, the analysts also reconfirmed their revenue estimates, suggesting that it's tracking in line with expectations. Although our data does suggest that Continental's revenue is expected to perform worse than the wider industry. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.

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 forecasts for Continental going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Plus, you should also learn about the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Continental .

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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.