Earnings Miss: Wallenius Wilhelmsen ASA Missed EPS By 10% And Analysts Are Revising Their Forecasts

Shareholders might have noticed that Wallenius Wilhelmsen ASA (OB:WAWI) filed its quarterly result this time last week. The early response was not positive, with shares down 4.2% to kr73.45 in the past week. It was not a great result overall. While revenues of US$1.3b were in line with analyst predictions, earnings were less than expected, missing statutory estimates by 10% to hit US$0.53 per share. Following the result, the analysts have updated their earnings model, and it would be good to know whether they think there's been a strong change in the company's prospects, or if it's business as usual. So we gathered the latest post-earnings forecasts to see what estimates suggest is in store for next year.

We've discovered 2 warning signs about Wallenius Wilhelmsen. View them for free.

After the latest results, the consensus from Wallenius Wilhelmsen's four analysts is for revenues of US$5.22b in 2025, which would reflect a perceptible 2.4% decline in revenue compared to the last year of performance. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to increase 9.3% to US$2.63. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$5.36b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$2.87 in 2025. It's pretty clear that pessimism has reared its head after the latest results, leading to a weaker revenue outlook and a minor downgrade to earnings per share estimates.

View our latest analysis for Wallenius Wilhelmsen

Despite the cuts to forecast earnings, there was no real change to the kr93.27 price target, showing that the analysts don't think the changes have a meaningful impact on its intrinsic value. 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. Currently, the most bullish analyst values Wallenius Wilhelmsen at kr124 per share, while the most bearish prices it at kr69.08. As you can see the range of estimates is wide, with the lowest valuation coming in at less than half the most bullish estimate, suggesting there are some strongly diverging views on how analysts think this business will perform. As a result it might not be a great idea to make decisions based on the consensus price target, which is after all just an average of this wide range of estimates.

Taking a look at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can understand these forecasts is to see how they compare to both past performance and industry growth estimates. These estimates imply that revenue is expected to slow, with a forecast annualised decline of 3.2% by the end of 2025. This indicates a significant reduction from annual growth of 12% over the last five years. Yet aggregate analyst estimates for other companies in the industry suggest that industry revenues are forecast to decline 1.8% per year. The forecasts do look bearish for Wallenius Wilhelmsen, since they're expecting it to shrink faster than the 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. Unfortunately they also downgraded their revenue estimates, and our analysts estimates suggest that Wallenius Wilhelmsen is still expected to perform worse than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at kr93.27, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.

Keeping that in mind, we still think that the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for investors to consider. We have estimates - from multiple Wallenius Wilhelmsen analysts - going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here.

However, before you get too enthused, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Wallenius Wilhelmsen (1 is a bit unpleasant!) 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.