Analyst Estimates: Here's What Brokers Think Of COFACE SA (EPA:COFA) After Its Third-Quarter Report

Last week, you might have seen that COFACE SA (EPA:COFA) released its quarterly result to the market. The early response was not positive, with shares down 6.6% to €14.40 in the past week. COFACE reported in line with analyst predictions, delivering revenues of €450m and statutory earnings per share of €1.75, suggesting the business is executing well and in line with its plan. 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.

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After the latest results, the three analysts covering COFACE are now predicting revenues of €1.96b in 2026. If met, this would reflect a credible 2.2% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to increase 6.5% to €1.64. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of €2.01b and earnings per share (EPS) of €1.65 in 2026. So it looks like the analysts have become a bit less optimistic after the latest results announcement, with revenues expected to fall even as the company is supposed to maintain EPS.

View our latest analysis for COFACE

The average price target was steady at €18.05even though revenue estimates declined; likely suggesting the analysts place a higher value on earnings. It could also be instructive to look at the range of analyst estimates, to evaluate how different the outlier opinions are from the mean. There are some variant perceptions on COFACE, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at €21.80 and the most bearish at €16.50 per share. With such a narrow range of valuations, the analysts apparently share similar views on what they think the business is worth.

Taking a look at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can understand these forecasts is to see how they compare to both past performance and industry growth estimates. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that COFACE's revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues to the end of 2026 expected to display 1.7% growth on an annualised basis. This is compared to a historical growth rate of 5.7% over the past five years. By way of comparison, the other companies in this industry with analyst coverage are forecast to grow their revenue at 4.9% per year. Factoring in the forecast slowdown in growth, it seems obvious that COFACE is also expected to grow slower than other industry participants.

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. On the negative side, they also downgraded their revenue estimates, and forecasts imply they will perform worse than the wider industry. Still, earnings per share are more important to value creation for shareholders. 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. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for COFACE going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here..

And what about risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for COFACE you should know about.

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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.