Earnings Miss: Quadient S.A. Missed EPS By 12% And Analysts Are Revising Their Forecasts

Last week, you might have seen that Quadient S.A. (EPA:QDT) released its yearly result to the market. The early response was not positive, with shares down 2.1% to €15.86 in the past week. Revenues were in line with forecasts, at €1.1b, although statutory earnings per share came in 12% below what the analysts expected, at €1.94 per share. 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. With this in mind, we've gathered the latest statutory forecasts to see what the analysts are expecting for next year.

Taking into account the latest results, the consensus forecast from Quadient's six analysts is for revenues of €1.12b in 2026. This reflects a modest 2.2% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to shoot up 27% to €2.45. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of €1.12b and earnings per share (EPS) of €2.58 in 2026. 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 minor downgrade to their earnings per share forecasts.

See our latest analysis for Quadient

The consensus price target held steady at €24.47, with the analysts seemingly voting that their lower forecast earnings are not expected to lead to a lower stock price in the foreseeable future. It could also be instructive to look at the range of analyst estimates, to evaluate how different the outlier opinions are from the mean. The most optimistic Quadient analyst has a price target of €29.00 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at €18.00. 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. One thing stands out from these estimates, which is that Quadient is forecast to grow faster in the future than it has in the past, with revenues expected to display 2.2% annualised growth until the end of 2026. If achieved, this would be a much better result than the 0.04% annual decline over the past five years. Compare this against analyst estimates for the broader industry, which suggest that (in aggregate) industry revenues are expected to grow 5.6% annually for the foreseeable future. So although Quadient's revenue growth is expected to improve, it is still expected to grow slower than the industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that the analysts downgraded their earnings per share estimates, showing that there has been a clear decline in sentiment following these results. On the plus side, there were no major changes to revenue estimates; although forecasts imply they will perform worse than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at €24.47, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.

With that said, the long-term trajectory of the company's earnings is a lot more important than next year. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for Quadient going out to 2028, and you can see them free on our platform here..

However, before you get too enthused, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Quadient (1 is potentially serious!) that you should be aware of.

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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.