Analyst Estimates: Here's What Brokers Think Of L'Oréal S.A. (EPA:OR) After Its Annual Report

Shareholders might have noticed that L'Oréal S.A. (EPA:OR) filed its yearly result this time last week. The early response was not positive, with shares down 3.3% to €348 in the past week. Results were roughly in line with estimates, with revenues of €43b and statutory earnings per share of €11.95. 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. Readers will be glad to know we've aggregated the latest statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their mind on L'Oréal after the latest results.

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Taking into account the latest results, the current consensus from L'Oréal's 19 analysts is for revenues of €45.5b in 2025. This would reflect a reasonable 4.6% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to increase 7.4% to €12.88. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of €45.6b and earnings per share (EPS) of €12.96 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.

View our latest analysis for L'Oréal

There were no changes to revenue or earnings estimates or the price target of €383, suggesting that the company has met expectations in its recent result. The consensus price target is just an average of individual analyst targets, so - it could be handy to see how wide the range of underlying estimates is. The most optimistic L'Oréal analyst has a price target of €440 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at €275. 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.

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 pretty clear that there is an expectation that L'Oréal's revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues to the end of 2025 expected to display 4.6% growth on an annualised basis. This is compared to a historical growth rate of 10% over the past five years. Juxtapose this against the other companies in the industry with analyst coverage, which are forecast to grow their revenues (in aggregate) 4.7% annually. So it's pretty clear that, while L'Oréal's revenue growth is expected to slow, it's expected to grow roughly in line with the 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. They also reconfirmed their revenue estimates, with the company predicted to grow at about the same rate as 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.

Following on from that line of thought, we think that the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. We have forecasts for L'Oréal going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here.

You can also see whether L'Oréal 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.