W.A.G payment solutions plc (LON:WPS) Analysts Just Trimmed Their Revenue Forecasts By 12%

The analysts covering W.A.G payment solutions plc (LON:WPS) delivered a dose of negativity to shareholders today, by making a substantial revision to their statutory 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.

Following the latest downgrade, the current consensus, from the seven analysts covering W.A.G payment solutions, is for revenues of €2.0b in 2024, which would reflect a noticeable 2.4% reduction in W.A.G payment solutions' sales over the past 12 months. Prior to the latest estimates, the analysts were forecasting revenues of €2.3b in 2024. It looks like forecasts have become a fair bit less optimistic on W.A.G payment solutions, given the substantial drop in revenue estimates.

See our latest analysis for W.A.G payment solutions

We'd point out that there was no major changes to their price target of €1.48, suggesting the latest estimates were not enough to shift their view on the value of the business. It could also be instructive to look at the range of analyst estimates, to evaluate how different the outlier opinions are from the mean. Currently, the most bullish analyst values W.A.G payment solutions at €1.69 per share, while the most bearish prices it at €1.06. Analysts definitely have varying views on the business, but the spread of estimates is not wide enough in our view to suggest that extreme outcomes could await W.A.G payment solutions shareholders.

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. These estimates imply that sales are expected to slow, with a forecast annualised revenue decline of 2.4% by the end of 2024. This indicates a significant reduction from annual growth of 17% over the last five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the industry are forecast to see their revenue decline 9.5% annually for the foreseeable future. So it's pretty clear that W.A.G payment solutions' revenues are expected to shrink slower than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The clear low-light was that analysts slashing their revenue forecasts for W.A.G payment solutions this year. The analysts also expect revenues to perform better than the wider market. Often, one downgrade can set off a daisy-chain of cuts, especially if an industry is in decline. So we wouldn't be surprised if the market became a lot more cautious on W.A.G payment solutions after today.

Unanswered questions? At least one of W.A.G payment solutions' seven analysts has provided estimates out to 2026, which can be seen for 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.