RemeGen Co., Ltd. (HKG:9995) Analysts Just Cut Their EPS Forecasts Substantially

The latest analyst coverage could presage a bad day for RemeGen Co., Ltd. (HKG:9995), with the analysts making across-the-board cuts to their statutory estimates that might leave shareholders a little shell-shocked. Both revenue and earnings per share (EPS) forecasts went under the knife, suggesting the analysts have soured majorly on the business. The stock price has risen 5.6% to HK$46.15 over the past week. It will be interesting to see if this downgrade motivates investors to start selling their holdings.

Following the downgrade, the consensus from twelve analysts covering RemeGen is for revenues of CN¥1.1b in 2022, implying a stressful 23% decline in sales compared to the last 12 months. After this downgrade, the company is anticipated to report a loss of CN¥1.46 in 2022, a sharp decline from a profit over the last year. Yet before this consensus update, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of CN¥1.3b and losses of CN¥0.80 per share in 2022. 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.

See our latest analysis for RemeGen

The consensus price target fell 22% to CN¥67.55, implicitly signalling that lower earnings per share are a leading indicator for RemeGen's valuation. Fixating on a single price target can be unwise though, since the consensus target is effectively the average of analyst price targets. As a result, some investors like to look at the range of estimates to see if there are any diverging opinions on the company's valuation. The most optimistic RemeGen analyst has a price target of CN¥119 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at CN¥50.37. So we wouldn't be assigning too much credibility to analyst price targets in this case, because there are clearly some widely differing views on what kind of performance this business can generate. As a result it might not be possible to derive much meaning from the consensus price target, which is after all just an average of this wide range of estimates.

Of course, another way to look at these forecasts is to place them into context against the industry itself. We would highlight that sales are expected to reverse, with a forecast 23% annualised revenue decline to the end of 2022. That is a notable change from historical growth of 149% over the last three years. Compare this with our data, which suggests that other companies in the same industry are, in aggregate, expected to see their revenue grow 31% per year. It's pretty clear that RemeGen'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 RemeGen. Unfortunately analysts also downgraded their revenue estimates, and industry data suggests that RemeGen's revenues are expected to grow slower than the wider market. After such a stark change in sentiment from analysts, we'd understand if readers now felt a bit wary of RemeGen.

Even so, the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for the value creation of shareholders. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for RemeGen going out to 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 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.