MPC Container Ships ASA Just Beat EPS By 19%: Here's What Analysts Think Will Happen Next

MPC Container Ships ASA (OB:MPCC) just released its latest first-quarter results and things are looking bullish. MPC Container Ships beat earnings, with revenues hitting US$127m, ahead of expectations, and statutory earnings per share outperforming analyst reckonings by a solid 19%. 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. Readers will be glad to know we've aggregated the latest statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their mind on MPC Container Ships after the latest results.

We've discovered 3 warning signs about MPC Container Ships. View them for free.

After the latest results, the consensus from MPC Container Ships' three analysts is for revenues of US$458.2m in 2025, which would reflect a chunky 12% decline in revenue compared to the last year of performance. Statutory earnings per share are expected to reduce 9.5% to US$0.51 in the same period. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$468.7m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$0.45 in 2025. While revenue forecasts have been revised downwards, the analysts look to have become more optimistic on the company's cost base, given the nice increase in to the earnings per share numbers.

See our latest analysis for MPC Container Ships

There's been no real change to the average price target of kr16.46, with the lower revenue and higher earnings forecasts not expected to meaningfully impact the company's valuation over a longer timeframe. The consensus price target is just an average of individual analyst targets, so - it could be handy to see how wide the range of underlying estimates is. There are some variant perceptions on MPC Container Ships, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at kr18.17 and the most bearish at kr14.40 per share. With such a wide range in price targets, analysts are almost certainly betting on widely divergent outcomes in the underlying business. With this in mind, we wouldn't rely too heavily the consensus price target, as it is just an average and analysts clearly have some deeply divergent views on the business.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the MPC Container Ships' past performance and to peers in the same industry. We would highlight that revenue is expected to reverse, with a forecast 16% annualised decline to the end of 2025. That is a notable change from historical growth of 24% over the last five years. Yet aggregate analyst estimates for other companies in the industry suggest that industry revenues are forecast to decline 1.6% per year. The forecasts do look bearish for MPC Container Ships, since they're expecting it to shrink faster than the industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing here is that the analysts upgraded their earnings per share estimates, suggesting that there has been a clear increase in optimism towards MPC Container Ships following these results. Unfortunately they also cut their revenue estimates for next year. Forecasts imply the business' revenue is expected to perform worse than the wider industry. That said, earnings per share are more important for creating value for shareholders. Even so, long term profitability is more important for the value creation process. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.

With that in mind, we wouldn't be too quick to come to a conclusion on MPC Container Ships. Long-term earnings power is much more important than next year's profits. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for MPC Container Ships going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here..

You should always think about risks though. Case in point, we've spotted 3 warning signs for MPC Container Ships you should be aware of, and 2 of them are potentially serious.

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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.