News Flash: Analysts Just Made A Notable Upgrade To Their First Pacific Company Limited (HKG:142) Forecasts

First Pacific Company Limited (HKG:142) shareholders will have a reason to smile today, with the covering analyst making substantial upgrades to this year's forecasts. Consensus estimates suggest investors could expect greatly increased statutory revenues and earnings per share, with the analyst modelling a real improvement in business performance.

Following the upgrade, the most recent consensus for First Pacific from its one analyst is for revenues of US$9.7b in 2022 which, if met, would be a modest 6.3% increase on its sales over the past 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to surge 99% to US$0.11. Before this latest update, the analyst had been forecasting revenues of US$8.5b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$0.10 in 2022. There has definitely been an improvement in perception recently, with the analyst substantially increasing both their earnings and revenue estimates.

Check out our latest analysis for First Pacific

Despite these upgrades, the analyst has not made any major changes to their price target of US$0.54, suggesting that the higher estimates are not likely to have a long term impact on what the stock is worth.

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. It's clear from the latest estimates that First Pacific's rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 6.3% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2022 noticeably faster than its historical growth of 2.9% p.a. over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in a similar industry are forecast to grow their revenue at 8.5% per year. It seems obvious that, while the future growth outlook is brighter than the recent past, First Pacific is expected to grow slower than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The biggest takeaway for us from these new estimates is that the analyst upgraded their earnings per share estimates, with improved earnings power expected for this year. Pleasantly, the analyst also upgraded their revenue estimates, and their forecasts suggest the business is expected to grow slower than the wider market. Some investors might be disappointed to see that the price target is unchanged, but we feel that improving fundamentals are usually a positive - assuming these forecasts are met! So First Pacific could be a good candidate for more research.

Still, the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. We have analyst estimates for First Pacific going out as far as 2024, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Of course, seeing company management invest large sums of money in a stock can be just as useful as knowing whether analysts are upgrading 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.