IQE plc (LON:IQE) Analysts Just Slashed This Year's Estimates

Market forces rained on the parade of IQE plc (LON:IQE) shareholders today, when the analysts downgraded their forecasts for this year. Both revenue and earnings per share (EPS) estimates were cut sharply as the analysts factored in the latest outlook for the business, concluding that they were too optimistic previously.

Following the downgrade, the consensus from four analysts covering IQE is for revenues of UK£113m in 2023, implying a concerning 33% decline in sales compared to the last 12 months. The loss per share is anticipated to greatly reduce in the near future, narrowing 63% to UK£0.029. Yet prior to the latest estimates, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of UK£131m and losses of UK£0.021 per share in 2023. So there's been quite a change-up of views after the recent consensus updates, with the analysts making a serious cut to their revenue forecasts while also expecting losses per share to increase.

Check out our latest analysis for IQE

One way to get more context on these forecasts is to look at how they compare to both past performance, and how other companies in the same industry are performing. These estimates imply that sales are expected to slow, with a forecast annualised revenue decline of 33% by the end of 2023. This indicates a significant reduction from annual growth of 1.7% over the last five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the same industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 26% annually for the foreseeable future. It's pretty clear that IQE's revenues are expected to perform substantially worse than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to note from this downgrade is that the consensus increased its forecast losses this year, suggesting all may not be well at IQE. Regrettably, they also downgraded their revenue estimates, and the latest forecasts imply the business will grow sales slower than the wider market. We wouldn't be surprised to find shareholders feeling a bit shell-shocked, after these downgrades. It looks like analysts have become a lot more bearish on IQE, and their negativity could be grounds for caution.

That said, the analysts might have good reason to be negative on IQE, given a short cash runway. For more information, you can click here to discover this and the 2 other risks we've identified.

Of course, seeing company management invest large sums of money in a stock can be just as useful as knowing whether analysts are downgrading their estimates. So you may also wish to search this free list of stocks 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.