Analysts Just Published A Bright New Outlook For Belships ASA's (OB:BELCO)

Shareholders in Belships ASA (OB:BELCO) may be thrilled to learn that the analysts have just delivered a major upgrade to their near-term forecasts. The analysts greatly increased their revenue estimates, suggesting a stark improvement in business fundamentals. The market seems to be pricing in some improvement in the business too, with the stock up 4.7% over the past week, closing at kr17.80. Could this big upgrade push the stock even higher?

After the upgrade, the consensus from Belships' four analysts is for revenues of US$602m in 2022, which would reflect a discernible 7.5% decline in sales compared to the last year of performance. Statutory earnings per share are presumed to jump 34% to US$0.55. Before this latest update, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$490m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$0.46 in 2022. So we can see there's been a pretty clear increase in analyst sentiment in recent times, with both revenues and earnings per share receiving a decent lift in the latest estimates.

Check out our latest analysis for Belships

With these upgrades, we're not surprised to see that the analysts have lifted their price target 9.6% to US$2.35 per share. 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. The most optimistic Belships analyst has a price target of US$24.72 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$17.99. 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.

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. These estimates imply that sales are expected to slow, with a forecast annualised revenue decline of 7.5% by the end of 2022. This indicates a significant reduction from annual growth of 45% over the last five years. Compare this with our data, which suggests that other companies in the same industry are, in aggregate, expected to see their revenue grow 9.1% per year. It's pretty clear that Belships' revenues are expected to perform substantially worse than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The biggest takeaway for us from these new estimates is that analysts upgraded their earnings per share estimates, with improved earnings power expected for this year. Pleasantly, analysts also upgraded their revenue estimates, and their forecasts suggest the business is expected to grow slower than the wider market. Given that the consensus looks almost universally bullish, with a substantial increase to forecasts and a higher price target, Belships could be worth investigating further.

Analysts are definitely bullish on Belships, but no company is perfect. Indeed, you should know that there are several potential concerns to be aware of, including dilutive stock issuance over the past year. For more information, you can click through to our platform to learn more about this and the 4 other warning signs we've identified .

We also provide an overview of the Belships Board and CEO remuneration and length of tenure at the company, and whether insiders have been buying the stock, 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.