Analysts Just Made A Major Revision To Their AXA SA (EPA:CS) Revenue Forecasts

Market forces rained on the parade of AXA SA (EPA:CS) shareholders today, when the analysts downgraded their forecasts for this year. This report focused on revenue estimates, and it looks as though the consensus view of the business has become substantially more conservative.

After the downgrade, the consensus from AXA's ten analysts is for revenues of €93b in 2024, which would reflect a not inconsiderable 9.1% decline in sales compared to the last year of performance. Per-share earnings are expected to jump 20% to €3.53. Prior to this update, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of €105b and earnings per share (EPS) of €3.60 in 2024. Indeed we can see that the consensus opinion has undergone some fundamental changes following the recent consensus updates, with a measurable cut to revenues and some minor tweaks to earnings numbers.

Check out our latest analysis for AXA

The average price target was steady at €35.26 even though revenue estimates declined; likely suggesting the analysts place a higher value on earnings.

Of course, another way to look at these forecasts is to place them into context against the industry itself. Over the past five years, revenues have declined around 2.7% annually. Worse, forecasts are essentially predicting the decline to accelerate, with the estimate for an annualised 9.1% decline in revenue until the end of 2024. Compare this against analyst estimates for companies in the broader industry, which suggest that revenues (in aggregate) are expected to grow 5.3% annually. So while a broad number of companies are forecast to grow, unfortunately AXA is expected to see its sales affected worse than other companies in the industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that there's been no major change in sentiment, with analysts reconfirming that earnings per share are expected to continue performing in line with their prior expectations. Unfortunately analysts also downgraded their revenue estimates, and industry data suggests that AXA's revenues are expected to grow slower than the wider market. Given the stark change in sentiment, we'd understand if investors became more cautious on AXA after today.

Still, 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 AXA going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Another way to search for interesting companies that could be reaching an inflection point is to track whether management are buying or selling, with our free list of growing companies 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.