Analysts Have Made A Financial Statement On UltraTech Cement Limited's (NSE:ULTRACEMCO) First-Quarter Report

Last week, you might have seen that UltraTech Cement Limited (NSE:ULTRACEMCO) released its quarterly result to the market. The early response was not positive, with shares down 2.7% to ₹11,516 in the past week. UltraTech Cement reported in line with analyst predictions, delivering revenues of ₹181b and statutory earnings per share of ₹243, suggesting the business is executing well and in line with its plan. This is an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance in its report, look at what experts are forecasting for next year, and see if there has been any change to expectations for the business. Readers will be glad to know we've aggregated the latest statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their mind on UltraTech Cement after the latest results.

View our latest analysis for UltraTech Cement

Taking into account the latest results, the current consensus from UltraTech Cement's 34 analysts is for revenues of ₹769.4b in 2025. This would reflect a credible 8.0% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to climb 17% to ₹284. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of ₹778.9b and earnings per share (EPS) of ₹296 in 2025. So it looks like there's been a small decline in overall sentiment after the recent results - there's been no major change to revenue estimates, but the analysts did make a small dip in their earnings per share forecasts.

The consensus price target held steady at ₹11,715, with the analysts seemingly voting that their lower forecast earnings are not expected to lead to a lower stock price in the foreseeable future. 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. There are some variant perceptions on UltraTech Cement, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at ₹13,620 and the most bearish at ₹7,000 per share. These price targets show that analysts do have some differing views on the business, but the estimates do not vary enough to suggest to us that some are betting on wild success or utter failure.

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. We would highlight that UltraTech Cement's revenue growth is expected to slow, with the forecast 11% annualised growth rate until the end of 2025 being well below the historical 14% p.a. growth over the last five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in a similar industry are forecast to see their revenue shrink 6.1% per year. So it's clear that despite the slowdown in growth, UltraTech 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 UltraTech Cement's revenue is expected to perform better than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at ₹11,715, 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 UltraTech Cement analysts - going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here.

However, before you get too enthused, we've discovered 1 warning sign for UltraTech Cement that you should be aware of.

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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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com