SoftBank Group Corp. Just Missed Earnings With A Surprise Loss - Here Are Analysts Latest Forecasts

Last week, you might have seen that SoftBank Group Corp. (TSE:9984) released its quarterly result to the market. The early response was not positive, with shares down 3.6% to JP¥7,588 in the past week. Revenues came in at JP¥1.7t, in line with estimates, while SoftBank Group reported a statutory loss of JP¥122 per share, well short of prior analyst forecasts for a profit. 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.

Check out our latest analysis for SoftBank Group

Taking into account the latest results, the most recent consensus for SoftBank Group from 16 analysts is for revenues of JP¥7.10t in 2025. If met, it would imply a credible 2.8% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to soar 308% to JP¥159. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of JP¥7.06t and earnings per share (EPS) of JP¥158 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.

With no major changes to earnings forecasts, the consensus price target fell 5.4% to JP¥10,876, suggesting that the analysts might have previously been hoping for an earnings upgrade. There's another way to think about price targets though, and that's to look at the range of price targets put forward by analysts, because a wide range of estimates could suggest a diverse view on possible outcomes for the business. There are some variant perceptions on SoftBank Group, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at JP¥13,760 and the most bearish at JP¥7,900 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.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the SoftBank Group's past performance and to peers in the same industry. For example, we noticed that SoftBank Group's rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with revenues forecast to exhibit 3.8% growth to the end of 2025 on an annualised basis. That is well above its historical decline of 0.8% a year over the past five years. Compare this against analyst estimates for the broader industry, which suggest that (in aggregate) industry revenues are expected to grow 2.9% annually. Not only are SoftBank Group's revenues expected to improve, it seems that the analysts are also expecting it to grow faster than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most obvious conclusion is that there's been no major change in the business' prospects in recent times, with the analysts holding their earnings forecasts steady, in line with previous estimates. Happily, there were no major changes to revenue forecasts, with the business still expected to grow faster than the wider industry. The consensus price target fell measurably, with the analysts seemingly not reassured by the latest results, leading to a lower estimate of SoftBank Group's future valuation.

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 forecasts for SoftBank Group going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Don't forget that there may still be risks. For instance, we've identified 4 warning signs for SoftBank Group (1 is concerning) 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.