J.K. Cement Limited Just Missed EPS By 10%: Here's What Analysts Think Will Happen Next

Shareholders might have noticed that J.K. Cement Limited (NSE:JKCEMENT) filed its second-quarter result this time last week. The early response was not positive, with shares down 7.8% to ₹5,900 in the past week. It was not a great result overall. Although revenues beat expectations, hitting ₹30b, statutory earnings missed analyst forecasts by 10%, coming in at just ₹20.78 per share. Following the result, the analysts have updated their earnings model, and it would be good to know whether they think there's been a strong change in the company's prospects, or if it's business as usual. So we gathered the latest post-earnings forecasts to see what estimates suggest is in store for next year.

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After the latest results, the 22 analysts covering J.K. Cement are now predicting revenues of ₹135.2b in 2026. If met, this would reflect a satisfactory 4.7% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to rise 2.3% to ₹137. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of ₹134.7b and earnings per share (EPS) of ₹145 in 2026. The analysts seem to have become a little more negative on the business after the latest results, given the minor downgrade to their earnings per share numbers for next year.

See our latest analysis for J.K. Cement

It might be a surprise to learn that the consensus price target was broadly unchanged at ₹6,905, with the analysts clearly implying that the forecast decline in earnings is not expected to have much of an impact on valuation. 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 J.K. Cement, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at ₹8,503 and the most bearish at ₹3,351 per share. Note the wide gap in analyst price targets? This implies to us that there is a fairly broad range of possible scenarios for the underlying business.

Another way we can view these estimates is in the context of the bigger picture, such as how the forecasts stack up against past performance, and whether forecasts are more or less bullish relative to other companies in the industry. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that J.K. Cement's revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues to the end of 2026 expected to display 9.7% growth on an annualised basis. This is compared to a historical growth rate of 15% over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in a similar industry are forecast to see their revenue shrink 0.5% per year. So it's clear that despite the slowdown in growth, J.K. Cement is still expected to grow meaningfully faster than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that the analysts downgraded their earnings per share estimates, showing that there has been a clear decline in sentiment following these results. Fortunately, they also reconfirmed their revenue estimates, suggesting that it's tracking in line with expectations. Their estimates also suggest that J.K. Cement's revenue is expected to perform better than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at ₹6,905, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.

Following on from that line of thought, we think that the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. We have estimates - from multiple J.K. Cement analysts - going out to 2028, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Before you take the next step you should know about the 1 warning sign for J.K. Cement that we have uncovered.

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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.