Celebrations may be in order for Italgas S.p.A. (BIT:IG) shareholders, with the analysts delivering a significant upgrade to their statutory estimates for the company. The analysts have sharply increased their revenue numbers, with a view that Italgas will make substantially more sales than they'd previously expected.
Our free stock report includes 2 warning signs investors should be aware of before investing in Italgas. Read for free now.Following the latest upgrade, Italgas' eleven analysts currently expect revenues in 2025 to be €2.5b, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to swell 12% to €0.66. Prior to this update, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of €2.2b and earnings per share (EPS) of €0.63 in 2025. Sentiment certainly seems to have improved in recent times, with a solid increase in revenue and a small lift in earnings per share estimates.
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With these upgrades, we're not surprised to see that the analysts have lifted their price target 6.6% to €6.99 per share.
These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Italgas' past performance and to peers in the same industry. These estimates imply that sales are expected to slow, with a forecast annualised revenue decline of 1.9% by the end of 2025. This indicates a significant reduction from annual growth of 6.7% over the last five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the same industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 3.8% annually for the foreseeable future. So although its revenues are forecast to shrink, this cloud does not come with a silver lining - Italgas is expected to lag the wider industry.
The Bottom Line
The most important thing to take away from this upgrade is that analysts upgraded their earnings per share estimates for this year, expecting improving business conditions. Pleasantly, analysts also upgraded their revenue estimates, and their forecasts suggest the business is expected to grow slower than the wider market. There was also a nice increase in the price target, with analysts apparently feeling that the intrinsic value of the business is improving. Seeing the dramatic upgrade to this year's forecasts, it might be time to take another look at Italgas.
With that said, the long-term trajectory of the company's earnings is a lot more important than next year. We have estimates - from multiple Italgas analysts - going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here.
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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.