Bechtle AG Just Missed EPS By 8.0%: Here's What Analysts Think Will Happen Next

It's been a good week for Bechtle AG (ETR:BC8) shareholders, because the company has just released its latest third-quarter results, and the shares gained 4.9% to €33.46. It looks like the results were a bit of a negative overall. While revenues of €1.5b were in line with analyst predictions, statutory earnings were less than expected, missing estimates by 8.0% to hit €0.44 per share. Following the result, the analysts have 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. So we collected the latest post-earnings statutory consensus estimates to see what could be in store for next year.

View our latest analysis for Bechtle

Taking into account the latest results, the most recent consensus for Bechtle from twelve analysts is for revenues of €6.88b in 2025. If met, it would imply an okay 7.8% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to expand 13% to €2.24. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of €6.94b and earnings per share (EPS) of €2.29 in 2025. So it looks like there's been a small decline in overall sentiment after the recent results - there's been no major change to revenue estimates, but the analysts did make a small dip in their earnings per share forecasts.

The consensus price target held steady at €47.18, with the analysts seemingly voting that their lower forecast earnings are not expected to lead to a lower stock price in the foreseeable future. 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. There are some variant perceptions on Bechtle, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at €59.00 and the most bearish at €31.00 per share. There are definitely some different views on the stock, but the range of estimates is not wide enough as to imply that the situation is unforecastable, in our view.

Looking at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can make sense of these forecasts is to see how they measure up against both past performance and industry growth estimates. It's clear from the latest estimates that Bechtle's rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 6.2% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2025 noticeably faster than its historical growth of 5.0% p.a. 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 7.7% per year. It seems obvious that, while the future growth outlook is brighter than the recent past, Bechtle is expected to grow slower than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The biggest concern is that the analysts reduced their earnings per share estimates, suggesting business headwinds could lay ahead for Bechtle. On the plus side, there were no major changes to revenue estimates; although forecasts imply they will 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. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for Bechtle going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here..

You can also see whether Bechtle is carrying too much debt, and whether its balance sheet is healthy, for free on our 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.