Results: WH Group Limited Exceeded Expectations And The Consensus Has Updated Its Estimates

The full-year results for WH Group Limited (HKG:288) were released last week, making it a good time to revisit its performance. It looks like a credible result overall - although revenues of US$26b were in line with what the analysts predicted, WH Group surprised by delivering a statutory profit of US$0.13 per share, a notable 14% above expectations. 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. So we gathered the latest post-earnings forecasts to see what estimates suggest is in store for next year.

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Taking into account the latest results, the current consensus from WH Group's 16 analysts is for revenues of US$26.5b in 2025. This would reflect a reasonable 2.3% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to increase 2.7% to US$0.12. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of US$26.6b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$0.12 in 2025. The consensus analysts don't seem to have seen anything in these results that would have changed their view on the business, given there's been no major change to their estimates.

View our latest analysis for WH Group

It will come as no surprise then, to learn that the consensus price target is largely unchanged at HK$8.35. It could also be instructive to look at the range of analyst estimates, to evaluate how different the outlier opinions are from the mean. There are some variant perceptions on WH Group, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at HK$15.28 and the most bearish at HK$6.89 per share. So we wouldn't be assigning too much credibility to analyst price targets in this case, because there are clearly some widely different views on what kind of performance this business can generate. With this in mind, we wouldn't rely too heavily the consensus price target, as it is just an average and analysts clearly have some deeply divergent views on the business.

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. The analysts are definitely expecting WH Group's growth to accelerate, with the forecast 2.3% annualised growth to the end of 2025 ranking favourably alongside historical growth of 1.0% per annum over the past five years. Compare this with other companies in the same industry, which are forecast to see revenue growth of 4.8% annually. So it's clear that despite the acceleration in growth, WH Group is expected to grow meaningfully slower than the industry average.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that there's been no major change in sentiment, with the analysts reconfirming that the business is performing in line with their previous earnings per share estimates. Fortunately, the analysts also reconfirmed their revenue estimates, suggesting that it's tracking in line with expectations. Although our data does suggest that WH Group's revenue is expected to perform worse than the wider industry. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.

With that in mind, we wouldn't be too quick to come to a conclusion on WH Group. Long-term earnings power is much more important than next year's profits. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for WH Group going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here..

And what about risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for WH Group (of which 1 is potentially serious!) you should know about.

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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.